5 Stars for Scruffy City Hall! I visited Scruffy City Hall several times over the weekend of March 28 - 30 for the BIG EARS FESTIVAL. This venue had the most interesting acts (to me) -- Stephen OMalley ( Sunn O))) Mark McGuire (emeralds), Vatican Shadow, Keiji Haino, Colin Stetson -- and it grew to be my favorite venue of the weekend. When you consider that we were also hosted by the grand and glorious Bijou Theatre and Tennessee Theatre, you realize the depth of my compliment! I saw five shows at SCH and was extremely impressed each time. First, the facts. The club is located on Historic Market Square, Knoxville with a nice courtyard entrance with tables and chairs. Doormen were always fast and friendly getting us through. There are two spacious bar areas -- one right as you enter, and a second up a generous solid wood staircase to the second floor. The bartenders were friendly and efficient, and they had Lagunitas IPA on tap for $3. If you care about this sort of thing (and I do), all of the plastic glasses they used were recyclable, though I would have loved to have seen a recycle bin somewhere. Most good beers seemed to be in the $3 - $4 range, which I found to be an excellent value. Bathrooms were extremely clean and well-stocked despite the tremendous volume of people coming through for Big Ears. The venue itself is amazing. Theres room to accommodate a few hundred people on the lower level, and enough space at stages edge for ten to stand in a row. If youre not up for standing, and make it there early enough, you can have your choice of pew seating overlooking the stage on the second level. And oh, it was beautiful. The stage boasts hand-painted set pieces decorated in what has been described as heathen Gothic, Viking Celtic and Pagan Gothic, with stained glass and arches connoting a Middle Ages Christian theme. Clearly a ton of thoughtfulness went into the design and execution. We saw five shows at Scruffy City Hall and did about half and half sitting and standing. Sound quality was superb and unmatched in both areas. How the same venue accommodated Stephen OMalleys rich drone, Mark McGuires happy beats, and Colin Stetsons soaring sax with the same grace and ease is beyond me. Kudos, SCH. I dont hand out 5 of 5 stars lightly, but I really cant see how the experience could have been improved upon. Keep booking interesting acts, and I will make the drive from Atlanta for you.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 04:06:35 +0000
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