Shedding Skin: Welcome to new live music venue the Coral Snake
Sometimes, change is a good thing. There’s an expectancy in Austin that things will always stay the same. But in the case of The Coral Snake, the bar moving into its new skin is an essential evolution because as the East Side changes, the bars and what they offer need to evolve, too.
First, the location was Stay Gold, which was a meat and potatoes dive with a live music program, but during COVID, the bar became The Long Play Lounge, offering vinyl sessions, jazz, blues, some rock, and roll, while under a glittery disco ball. And now, Long Play has become the Coral Snake, which according to GM Emily Becker, wants to be a home for all kinds of music, “we’re going to play rock and roll, for sure. People had all kinds of ideas of what we’d be doing, all of them were hilarious because they were wrong. We’re going to do live music, country, rock and roll, and even DJs spinning records, sometimes. We’re working on a Sunday brunch with fancy tacos, even. We felt like Long Play was kind of this purgatory thing. When we opened in February of 2021, we never had a Grand Opening. This is a fresh start.”
Sitting with Emily, one of the owners Matt Rade, who also plays in local rippers, Eagle Claw, and Assistant GM Andy Bianculli, who’s in another Austin band, Star Parks, offered the low down on what’s up with the bar. “We want this to be a place for people who love live music,” Andy added when asked about the bar’s personality. “We’re not going to be just a rock bar, or just a metal bar.” Emily continued on the point, which is easy to make given the space’s general character: “People said we were going to be a biker bar and then someone said we’re getting an internet jukebox. No fucking way. We’re not going to be the place to hear Journey all night. We’d kill ourselves.”
“We want approachable, affordable craft cocktails. We’re not the Roosevelt Room. We’ll have shots and cheap beers. We’ll even have Pappy Van Winkle.” Matt said, of what kind of drinks we could expect in the joint. At first glance, the Coral Snake has personality; it’s darker, and the black color of the snake runs throughout, but with hits of red and yellow, offering a distinct personality. The floor looks like a gateway into hell with splashes of crimson and sunshine. Anyone drinking in the prior incarnations will notice that The Coral Snake’s stage is much more substantial to accommodate a bigger band that’s more than just a quintet. (Once the place gets moving, this is an obvious destination for anyone booking SXSW.)
The rebranded venue celebrates their grand opening this Thursday, May 25 with performances by Magnifico and Think Lizzy. Check Coral Snake’s Facebook page for information on more shows this weekend.
As the East Side changes with Austin’s ups and downs, Coral Snake has a great shot to be a spot for the locals to kick up their heels, but also a place for the tourists to get an authentic piece of local culture that wasn’t a cheap marketing tactic: these are music people through and through, and they want their bar to be a place where musicians want to play but also hang out after the rock and roll has stopped, which is never a bad thing.
Photos courtesy of Coral Snake
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