Inside: Red Room

Bartender Matt Wade, who also co-hosts the Magical Powers Music Show on Mondays. (Credit: Hank Dean Stephenson/Special to Metromix)

Bar reviews

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Music and alcohol are forever intertwined in human history.  Whichever came first is of no importance—when the two came together, the world changed. Red Room, inside downtown diner Grill, acknowledges this deep connection and takes it to new levels. Seven nights a week, music fills the air and bargoers drain their glasses. Whether you’re a musician or just a regular Joe who likes your beer with some good background noise, Red Room offers up the best in live and recorded music and cheap booze. 

Entertainment: Starting around 10 Sunday and Monday nights, the servers and bartenders take over playing danceable vinyl you may or may not know with “Jam out with Your Clam out” with Alix and Carlee and “The Magical Powers Record Show” with Matt and Dan, respectively. Almost every other night, again around 10, local and touring musicians entertain and mystify the masses. Tucson’s most famous musicians make regular appearances and solid, three-hour jam sessions are common.

Also, and this is key: There is never a cover charge.

Libations: A full bar, a few draft beers, reasonably priced wines and the drinks-of-choice with all the regulars, including $1 Miller High Life and $2 Session Lager. There are no happy hour specials and, please, don’t bother the bartenders with more than three ingredients in a beverage unless it’s slow and you tip well.

Setup: The Red Room is a long and skinny room with the amplifiers and walls directing all the sound from the small stage through the bar like a tunnel. The music hits like you're standing waist-deep in a choppy ocean. Conversation is difficult during sets, but the bands are paid with food and drinks and often take cigarette breaks—allowing for spurts of “they were good” and no-shout refills.

A half-dozen barstools crowd around the tiny wood bar at the back of the room and shiny metal tables line both walls, leaving a thin strip of walkway, often clogged with people standing shoulder-to-shoulder jamming out to local music.

During rare off-hours without live music or DJs, a record player, sitting atop the broken-down photo booth, spins constantly, playing, a little more softly, the bartender’s pick. There’s no jukebox, so patrons aren’t subject to one drunk’s dire need to hear “Radar Love” at exactly 1 a.m., like other bars. You'll find no darts, pool tables or video poker to entertain the crowd—again, this is a bar for bands and booze.

Scene: Red Room is inside Grill, downtown’s only 24-hour tater-tot spot, so Thursday through Sunday it’s pretty much packed while rest of the week brings in a crowd of locals, young hipsters and old barflies, gathering for cheap drinks and good music.

The service, as one bartender proudly said, is “half-fast.”  The bartenders serve stiff drinks and lots of beer (the High Life is usually served warm on busy nights) and feel no need to make small talk or listen to your problems. Tip: If you want to talk, start with music. 

Bottom line: Dollar beers all day and night (well, at least until cut-off at 2 a.m.), free live music most days and a wide array of records in between, and comfort food after last call. For the bargoer with a musical mind, Red Room is the place on Congress for cheap drinks and live shows.

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