Empire Control Room & Garage — Attraction in Austin

This review is going to be an outlier. This is to document our horrible experience. It's going to be long.

A small gripe: the mixed drinks sucked. It may not have been due to the fault of the workers, but the alcohol was disgusting. I asked for a rum and coke, and the entire drink tasted like a dirty tequila. "That sounds like you got a lot of alcohol." Yeah, it sounds that way, but it didn't give me any intoxication feeling, so it wasn't that much. I'm really not sure what I was given. Whatever it was tasted a few months expired. My girlfriend had the same experience with an entirely different mixed drink. Also, I got a notification that I was double charged for my tab the following day. I have seen a few other low-rated reviews that also mention overcharging/double charging.

The real issue. We meet a woman in her 50s here. During the performance, she fainted and was unconscious on the ground for 4 minutes before a single worker came up to help us with her. Finally, an older man who worked here came to help us move her. From the second that man arrived, it went downhill. My brother and a stranger were helping move this lady to a safer spot where she could sit and get some air to recover. The employee couldn't have cared less about this lady. All he cared about was getting her off the property, and he was actually repeating "she's a liability" over and over and over. He also kept telling my brother to go away. While all he was doing was trying to make sure she was going to get taken care of, since we have been with her since she lost consciousness. He got so annoyed that he looked like he was on the verge of fighting my brother. He even told me to get my brother to walk away, all because we didn't want to leave the woman until we knew she was okay. Once she was outside the venue, not a single employee tried to make sure she was okay. We had to tell one of them to give her a chair to sit on. After this point, we stayed outside the venue with this woman because it was clear the workers were not going to help her and were not trained to either. No one was called to check on her. The older man cared more to argue with us after this point than anything and had to be told to walk away by his manager. Even the younger manager cared more about arguing with us than checking on this woman. He definitely got upset as well and didn't let us go back in after this point. After about 20 minutes of being outside, I helped move the lady's chair farther from the exit door, but at an angle where she could still see the performance. This caused a third lady who worked there to start telling me how she couldn't be there; it's in the way of the exit. It was further out of the way than where the employee originally put the chair. As a note, there were 2 different employees sitting in chairs, way more in the way of the exit than we ever were. It was just another person going on a power trip trying to argue with us. Once the older lady was out, they didn't even want her to be able to see inside.

I'm sure both employees did exactly what they had been trained to do, other than argue, obviously lol. But it was the most business HR-trained BS I have ever seen from a venue. Every other venue I have been to where something similar happened, there is always someone trained to help people in need and deescalate the situation.

I would not come back. I'm also sure they couldn't care less about it.

I guess some pros? There was a nice outdoor seating area, so that's good. Some people were allowed to bring in their own...

This review is well overdue since I have been seeing shows here for two years. I have been to public shows, SXSW, New Year's Eve and a private event at this music venue. The location is great because you can grab a bite to eat very close and the parking under the highway makes for a short walk which is hard to say about a place downtown normally.

The control room inside was where the private event that I went to for BlackFret. It was pretty full but, the bartenders are always quick with a drink and keeping your tab straight with two bars servicing this area. The inside stage lended itself well to the overall event and the visuals were impressive. There wasn't a bad view of the stage and everyone was dancing and having a good time. The line for the bathroom can get a bit long but, it usually moves pretty quickly. There are also video games in this area if that is your thing.

If you need a break from all the action inside the patio is cozy with picnic tables and a foe grass covering. There is also a small stage out there that I have seen a band playing on once and an art market going on during SXSW.

The garage area has a covering over the huge stage and an uncovered outdoor space. The sound is always perfect and there are bathrooms located in this area as well. Also, there is a food truck that has been open a few times since I have been coming here. You can easily grab a drink out here as well from their pop up bars.

The New Year's eve event that I attended the year before last was one of the better parties that I have been to. Definitely an authentic Austin type experience away from all the glitzy overpriced events.

I went to their crawfish boil, music tech mashup, day parties and the 2 short concert during SXSW. The daytime crawfish boil and day parties were a nice break from all the overrun touristy options that run rampant during this time of the year. The music tech mashup and 2 short concert were the highlights of my SXSW.

During normal times of the year (not festival or private events) the music varies from hip hop to heavy metal and they also have Stand Up Empire (which I need to check out). I saw Badfish the Sublime tribute band here and it was one of the concert highlights of my year. One of my favorite things about this place is that their events are creative and unlike anything else happening in town.

The staff is always extremely friendly and you can tell they care about their jobs and making sure everyone has a positive experience. If you are going to a ticketed show make sure you get them in advance because I have seen more well known acts sell out. It's also nice that the ticket pricing is very reasonable. The clientele that hangs out here is always friendly and pretty diverse in age. A solid place to spend a night and see a great band that you may or may not...

I have seen mixed reviews about this place and was a little hesitant to go at first. However, my kids (11 and 15) wanted to see Good Kid and Kevin Walkman so after confirming they would be allowed into the venue, I purchased VIP tickets at $75 a piece. I personally thought we got our money's worth. We each received a swag bag that had custom pin and a signed poster. There was a private acoustic performance and then a Q&A with the band and group pics with them. We also got personal autographs from each member. Afterwards was the actual concert with Kevin opening and then Good Kid performing. The concert was indoors, there's no seating and if you're short and in the back, forget about seeing anything. Knowing this is why I bought VIP tickets and we got there at the suggested timeframe sent to us in email. Because of that we were right up front by the stage and my kids had an amazing time. I think as long as you look into the details of the concert you're choosing, follow up with an email if you have questions, then there should be no surprises by what you're getting. I didn't give it 5 stars mainly because of the small space overall and the long wait time between the private performance and the main one. That being said I would totally come back for another concert. We had...