October 9, 2008
Update on Hot Real Estate Listings: El Sol y La Luna Moving into Emo's Lounge
Back in August of 2007, we found a hot real estate listing for Emo's Lounge, and today we have a resolution. Our friends at the Statesman are reporting that Emo's Lounge will soon be the home of El Sol y La Luna, a popular SoCo restaurant.
El Sol, a 13 year resident of south Congress, specializes in Interior Mexican, Border Tex-Mex and Central American food, and is situated in the Austin Motel. It is unclear what, if anything, will replace it in 78704, but City Council Member Mike Martinez assures us that there will be more details later today.
We've never been too sure about Emo's Lounge as a legitimate music venue, but always saw possibilities in the space as a low-key alternative to the larger, more drippy areas of Emo's. And really, some kind of food sounds awesome. We were hoping for tapas. What remains to be seen is whether or not El Sol y La Luna can transplant a distinctly south Austin group of regulars (read: long hairs and yuppies) to the hustle-bustle of downtown nightlife.
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This joint has been going out of business since the day it opened. Dizzy Rooster has better sound.
I heard that there is a new lounge act in town called 'fuck emos, lounge', which should be cool.
another one bites the dust.
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It is sad to watch that place go from what it was to what it is today. It will be interesting to see how long the other parts of emos make it. Thanks C3.
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Cue the automatic internet cynicism...
Emo's isn't going anywhere. Almost every show is packed, not to mention all the beer they sell. The lounge never fit in the Emo's family, and the stage is half blocked by a railing and a staircase.
El Sol isn't even that great, but at least it will be another option for food in that area since Torchy's left.
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My own take is similar to Brain's take.
The Lounge was a great addition for Emo's to be able to book more local acts, but it was severely hampered by the fact that you couldn't go to the other two rooms for one cover. A lot of times, I'd make the conscious decision to choose the inside/outside setup over a show in the Lounge, just because I knew I could see 6 or more bands inside of being trapped with 4 in the Lounge.
Additionally, they opened the Lounge way too frequently. Why not just be open there on Thursday/Friday/Saturday and filter the bands a tad bit instead of HOPING for a good turnout on a Tuesday for local bands?
Anyway, I always thought the sound in the Lounge was the best of the 3 rooms and the bartenders were always pretty hospital. And, for the bands playing, it was always a good time. It just needed to have a few kinks worked out to be a better addition to the Emo's family. Oh well.
I wish people wouldn't piss and moan and blame it on C3. C3 might be booking the touring acts, but all those local bands (which was 90% of the Lounge's acts) were booked by Emo's. Blame Frank and Emo's, if you must, for whatever happened between Graham and Emo's.. but C3 wasn't exactly responsible for this.
Something else will spring up for bands: Mohawk, Scoot, or some unknown, unnamed, unopened venue. That's the way it works.
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Or even hospitable for that matter! Oops!
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can we please stop with the Soco's
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I agree, good points. Except for the 'every show is packed' thing. I'm a long time emo's fan, but lately that has just not been the case, it has changed. Like with any club, things change when new bookers come in. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I want them to be here forever, but if the same people that book fogerty and jack johnson and foo fighters are booking emo's, its only a matter of time. It just feels different now, and no matter how its spun, this is not good news for emo's. great news for la luna though.
Bright side - Glad to have a chance at late night enchiladas.
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nooooooooo......I luvs me some El Sol Y La Luna.I luvs me the patio on Congress....not on shithole 6th st....please don't move there.....and...the lounge was sorta fun place to play but they still treat local bands like poop....fuck emos!...my fav band
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Bummer. I love to go there for lunch but unless you've had 2-3 drinks you suddenly realize that 6th street is both dirty AND smelly.
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I haven't been to Emo's in a couple of years and I am proud to say I never set foot in the lounge.
I have several friends who work at Emo's and the few times I've spoken with Frank, he seemed like a genuine person. But that place has lost its sense of identity. What was the shark jump? I think when Frank took payola from Camel to install that cigarette mural in the big room. Prior to that, it was a live music venue that brought challenging, interesting, and unconventional music to Austin music fans. Back then, a local band could work its way from the inside stage to the big stage as an opener, then as a headliner.
With the big stage expansion, C3 booking arrangements, etc. the big stage has become Stubbs Jr. The music is whatever pays the bills and is likely to include hip hop and reggae.
Frank owns the place as opposed to leasing, so its likely to limp its way off as it dies a slow death. Nothing new or interesting is taking place there. Fortunately, others are picking up the slack, so the music scene in general continues to thrive. Fuck Stubbs Jr.
Seth
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What's the over/under on El Sol going out of business after the move? I'm gonna say 9 months.
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oh no! not hip hop!
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Hip Hop and Californians!!! Is the end near? C'mon Seth, Emo's is still a great place with great shows. Maybe you should have continued to go instead of just bailing when things weren't just the way you liked them. Did it ever occur to you that how easily people like you you abandon their favorite places at the site of a Californian or a Hip Hop show may be the cause for the change to those places? When regulars leave they are giving up and opening the door for change.
As for the topic of this posting - I just don't see this as a good move, while it will be great to have more food options near the area, they'll give up a lot of what made them what they are. Maybe they'll just open it as a second location when all is said and done.
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I don't really like El Sol. I got the shits from their undercooked chicken one time and haven't been back since. I don't know why anyone would want to go to 6th street to eat dinner, like ahaley said, it's dirty and smelly. 6th Street probably gets cleaned more in a month and most streets in Austin get cleaned in a year and it still smells like puke and ass.