Empire Control Room & Garage

This venue is the equivalent of «Cheers» for me. With one of the most diverse music scenes in the area, theres never a lack of events to attend. Even on «slow» nights without performances, you can grab and drink and play some Street Fighter.

This place is fun, BUT two broken toilets in girls bathroom and y’alls drinks are expensive. To the point where it makes people mad, making the bar tenders mad, making it a bad atmosphere at the bar. It’s at a point where quite frequently people leave to go to another bar to get a few drinks elsewhere then come back for the show. Only the bar backs are friendly.

Empire Control Room & Garage is my second favorite music venue in the area behind nearby Mohawk. While you probably aren’t going to catch many big names performing here, there’s still plenty of good music to be heard. To clarify the name, there are actually three stages crammed into this music venue. The largest stage is «The Garage» and is located outside under the remains of an old auto repair shop. The «Control Room» is an indoor stage that probably only allows for a crowd 10-​people deep (fantastic view) and is set up with some impressive projection capabilities. The third stage is outdoors on the patio along Waller Creek but barely qualifies as an actual stage.
If you have any misgivings with less-​than-​clean bathrooms, you should probably go before you come here. But I guess that comes with the divey music venue label.

I’ve been here a couple of times in several incarnations — bar, body rock, boss babes. And you know, it’s cool. It’s fine. The bartenders figure out how to deal with the crowd. Drinks are pretty inexpensive and the space works pretty well.
The women’s room also smells like 100 people peed all over the walls (which is surprising… given most women’s rooms don’t smell like that.) But you know, eat 7^th. I’m down with the dive-​y awesomeness man. I’ll come see a show (or a garage sale or a DJ or a sxsw rager) here anytime.

Now that they have done a little remodeling and got the outside up to par, I love the place. It has a nice open flow to it. I came to the Do512 app launch party here and it was great. Never really a line to wait for a drink and all the bartenders are great and make the drinks strong. Also the stage outside is great for small shows. Not a bad few anywhere. I also love the separate patio/​smoking section they have so people are trying to light up right there next to you during the concert. Any who, I look forward to more shows here and enjoying the new Empire CRG

Saw a show here, the place does not look desirable from the outside and is not on the inside at all. Restrooms (women) was filthy, trash everywhere. But what do you expect from a bunch of drunks at a bar right? The venue is small so we were able to see the band closer then at any other venue. Staff is friendly and prompt when ordering drinks. They have a back yard patio for the smokers and on the particular night we were there they had live comedy. For the price of the tickets and to be able to be close to the band it was worth it. I would go to another show here if the opportunity presented itself.

Went last night for the tribute to Beyonce. The venue was great (had a cool vibe) but parking sucks! The drinks were reasonably priced as well. The main thing I didn’t like about the venue was that it was extremely hot and stuffy. This place would be five stars if they had air conditioning.

My vintage shop, Cointrelle, recently did a popup shop here as part of the Empire Garage Sale. Not only was the event a success, the people who work here are soooo nice, friendly, and helpful! They offered to loan me a spare popup tent they had and even set it up for me. The security/​door guy was very attentive and made sure the vendors merch was safe as we set up. The bartenders greet you with a smile and the drinks are reasonably priced. Venue is spacious and kept clean. Thank you so much for hosting this event and going the extra mile!

I saw Deicide here and a local band called Id opened for them. The indoor part seemed small. Bartender was cool. Live sound was great. Will return for Arch Enemy next week.

Indoor stage is mad decent. Trippy projections in the walls are great. Back patio is a hidden jem. It really feels like you are at a backyard party at a friends place. Staff are actually helpful and not snobby. Bathrooms pretty clean but staff needs to refill paper towels more frequently. Drinks are made properly and the beer temperatures are perfectly chilly. Vintage arcade machines are fun as hell. Looking forward to seeing more shows here.

I hate parking and walking to this spot, but damnit, once your in, its all good!
I come here every month for Body Rock, hosted by Riders Against the Storm (RAS), so if you know anything about this, you KNOW its a funky good time. Unfortunately the area that they perform in, is disgustingly hot and stuffy. IDK if it can be made better, but they seriously need to look into ventilation, fans, open doors, idk, something. Even if you don’t dance your ass off, you look like you did. so when you DO, shit, you come out lookin like you were in the pool. It makes for really ugly pictures! But, the space is decent.
A hidden gem that took me a few trips to locate was the muthafluffin patio!!! OMG. THATS where its at! Huge outside area, usually amped with a DJ, lots of dancin, a bar, and a huge area for smoking, equipped with picnic tables. Inside bar is slow, but the drinks are powerful and affordably priced!
See ya on the 1^st Friday of each month!

This is the best Metal music venue I have been to in Austin! The staff was great and when I had an issue regarding tickets, Xavier was the go to manager. He is on point! I highly recommend seeing bands here over any other venue in Asutin. Also, the lighting and effects are some of the coolest I have seen so far. Keep up the good work!

It’s a great venue with a wonderful staff. I was there with some of the acts for SXSW.
I didn’t perform, but I came through to show support for other artists. It was fun and I am looking forward to performing there in the near future.
Look out for Dell G coming soon.

I haven’t had a chance to play here since the new uprising of Empire, but I must say, any place willing to host Austin’s very first Hip-​Hop music festival must be a gem in the making. From what I know they’ve only been Empire for about 2, maybe going on 3 years and already they’ve eared the listing as an official SXSW venue. The music is always dope and they know how to throw a party. P. S. Body Rock ATX just moved there from Sahara Lounge. They must be doing something right!

I’ve been here for a few events and its quickly becoming one of my favorite small venues. Great drink prices, good sound, and good vibes are what this place is about.
Saw Shaky Graves in the «Garage» portion of the venue and it was a full house. My short 4’11″ stature makes it hard for me to see in a crowd and this place was no exception. The stage was high enough that I could get a peek but not the most amazing view. It gets hot on a summer day too
I come down for the Super Mario events they have on Sunday’s every now and then. Turn out is hit or miss but it’s always a good time.
I’ll be looking for more shows and events here in the future for sure.

You won’t be find 2 Chainz spitting his hot new single here, but what you will be able to see is tons of local and indie artists who, although lacking in popularity, might actually be better than 2 Chainz. Tickets are cheap and occasionally has free shows. Musicians come from a wide variety of genres including EDM, indie, and hip-​hop. This venue has one of the hands down best lighting systems in Austin, with projections on the walls that move in rhythm to the music. Staff is extremely friendly and courteous. Bathroom is in fair condition compared to the other music venues. If you live in Austin and love explore new music, Empire is the place to go.

I’ve been to Empire 3 times now and all 3 times to see my friends band, Ghostbunny. (Check them out btw, they’re really good and getting better.) Nonetheless, went to see them again last weekend for FREE week and what a great show. The guys are really doing it right and the venue puts on a great show and the staff is pretty friendly.
As always, they had great beer specials and all in all it was a great night. I was kind of confused that they we’re pushing 2 different cans of beer that I’d never heard of before. Every time I ordered a Lone Star (it’s my go to when I’m drinking on the cheap) the guy would reference these other 2 «craft» beers for the same price. I asked if they we’re local, because I’m always willing to give the local guy a try, but he said they we’re not. So it was rather confusing, but nonetheless I stuck with my Lone Star and it was a smashing night.
You’re probably not going to see any big name bands here, but go check out the local talent and see this great venue. These guys seem to really be excited about what they’re doing and it’s fun to try.

Empire has quickly captivated the live music scene in the Red River District. Yes, we all know this was once a real automotive shop, Creekside existed as the premier dance spot next to it, and then it was the one and only lesbian bar Lipstick 512 for a brief time. I first saw a show at Empire almost a year ago. Somewhere in between then and now, they acquired the old car garage next door and became what it is now. Shows occur outside in the «Empire Garage» on a very large stage and shows also occur inside in the «Empire Control Room.» Makes sense right? I think the sound is good quality for shows inside and even outside. This is very important! Because why would you go if the sound sucked? Exactly.
There is one large wrap around bar inside. There are a couple pop up tent bars outside for shows. Port-​a-​potties are outside, and surprisingly the bathrooms inside are in remarkable shape! Normally, at very crowded shows wherever I am, I usually hurry the fuck up to get out of the stall because they aren’t very well kept up and dirty. This was not the case on my most recent visit, on a very busy night. If you have ever been to this location in the past before it was known as Empire, the patio is still intact, large and spacious with easy access from the inside (Control room) of Empire to the outside («Garage» part). I am happy to have another good venue to catch small or large shows in this district. Well done, Empire.

Came here for an after fun fun fun fest concert. Cool place! Small stage, but this just makes it seem more intimate. Staff at the bar were super fast & beer prices were very reasonable. They also have a small area in the back too that looked cool & relaxing.

Empire certainly did the best they could with what they had. While the Control Room inside is concrete, whoever is mixing sound in there kicks ass. Plus, the crazy awesome lighting. The indoor a/​c is plenty good. Free water.
The back deck has likewise amazing sound, but like all other outdoor Austin ‘patios’ — no misters. They did have a giant fan, though. Also, the back patio sound is well segregated from what is going on in the concrete box, so another kudo for that, Empire. (Not sure how well having music on this stage works if somebody is playing in the Garage).
Bonus: the main bar inside is separated from the indoor stage and the outdoor stages. While they pump the mix in there from one of the shows, it’s not deafeningly loud (though still relatively typical barroom volume). This way you can escape the events around you to some degree, and the bar staff may even still be able to hear you order beverages.
Finally — the ‘Garage’ portion, which is not open for every show, (only those they suspect will warrant its opening based on audience member numbers), as some other reviewers have mentioned, is kinda eh. Sightline is not the greatest, and last time I checked, no easy way to cool down. I’m not sure I’d want to see a big show out there when the place is full.
Overall, for a venue located where it is located, good job, Empire. If you want to get your rock n’ roll on for smaller shows, there’s not a whole lot better than this in our (down) town.