Inside: Vaudeville Cabaret

Austin's Thunderosa (Credit: Leesa Leilani/Special to Metromix)

Bar reviews

Where's good, where's bad, where's so-bad-it's-good

Historically, the term vaudeville signifies a type of variety show—where an array of classical musicians, comedians, impersonators and trained animals share a common stage.

Although that genre of entertainment lost its steam around the 1930s, the same practices can be seen at Vaudeville downtown, but with a modern panache.

Instead of classical musicians, for example, you get punks, rappers, rockers and DJs. Instead of impersonators, you get posers. And instead of trained animals, you get hipsters with graphic octopus t-shirts.

Vaudeville is the chameleon of the Tucson bar scene. Different crowds share the stage depending on the night, but there’s always one thing in common: No matter who’s there, doing what, drinking what, dancing what, Vaudeville will never be a chill-out bar.

Setup: The club’s feng shui is partly to blame. Most of Vaudeville’s space is taken up by the slightly elevated stage, dancefloor and bulky bar area. The size of the countertop combines with the (always) high decibel level, making it nearly impossible to chat with the bartenders. There are few tables and chairs, so it’s also hard to find a seat. Most of the time when you’re there you end up dancing and staring at the mahogany-painted walls or one of the many vintage psychedelic posters.

Entertainment: As previously stated, the speakers at Vaudeville manage to create a sound volume previously uncultivated in the early 1930s. If a liquor baron was at the club, he might mistake the explosion of noise to be a barrage of John Dillinger gun shots. But he would get used to it, because music is best played loud, anyway.

If you like your ears blown out, you have a number of options: Friday is hip-hop night with two popular DJs and Two Bit Tuesdays offer a mix of rap, electronica and indie rock. Saturdays most often see live punk or hard rock bands taking to the stage.

The remaining days are taken up by a variety of bands and DJs, sometimes with a cover price.

Libations: Vaudeville’s prices are generally low, but standard for downtown: $1 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Old Milwaukee and Keystone Light. Well drinks are always $3, and Long Islands are the same.

Vaudevillle’s front patio also allows you to sip and smoke at the same time, a privilege not to be taken lightly in Tucson.

Service: The bartenders are usually younger, attractive members of the downtown scene. They’re reasonably prompt, but the bar area never gets crowded enough to merit a long wait. You often find yourself screaming the name of your drink so they can hear you, though.

Bottom line: If you wanna dance but are weary of crashing Club Congress for the 73rd time, Vaudeville is a more obscure alternative. You usually have to mingle with the hipster spill-off from Grill or Arts Incubator next door, but that’s not always so bad. Sometimes they wear vintage clothing. 

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