Mark Hooper, a local music aficianado, took in the Lee Boys show last Thursday at the Revolution Room and files this report:
Intro to a Revolution in the Rock: Revolution – THE Music Room
I finally caught a show at Revolution (the Music Room), so I wanted to take a moment to talk about Little Rock’s newest venue for live music. FINALLY!!!
Finally someone has stepped into this marquee location in the Rivermarket and put together something that isn’t a ramshackle of corrugated sheets of metal and plywood (Pourhouse) or a sad rendition of Cocktail the movie (Coconuts)…two bad experiments gone worse in reality. Chris and his staff have now stepped into two locations that had a bad case of the flops (remember Six Bridges Restaurant?) and have produced two winners. Sticky Fingerz is well established within the Rivermarket community and it appears that Rhumba/Revolution are not far off path.
After enjoying my second fabulous dinner at Rhumba (which I HIGHLY recommend – try their empanadas and go for a mojito or two), I was ready to break on through to the other side. When I stepped into Revolution I could not believe it. This place is HUGE! As a former musician, the first thing I noticed is that heavy consideration was given to musicians and an ample stage is in place to accommodate the largest of ensembles. Not as colorful as Stikcy Fingerz, Revolution still had a festive vibe.
Mostly a big black shell of a room. Revolution has cool little booth areas adorned with red pillows and silver beads hanging throughout the room. The club is two tiered with ample seating for people to kick back and watch live music on the upper lever or get onto the dance floor and mix it up on the lower level. I’m not sure what the maximum capacity is for this room, but I think it could easily hold 500 people for a marquee entertainer.
Little Rock has been shackled by not having a place like Revolution for many many years. Acts can come to town and play smaller clubs, which is nice. More established acts can also roll into the city and perform at Alltell, or the amphitheatre or even Robinson Music Center. But, a clean, safe, well managed club capable of accommodating a crowd of 400 to 500 people was not a viable option for performers travelling through Little Rock. Not anymore.
(More after the jump)