Launchpad Night Club

My favorite place in town to see shows. The prices are great, the sound is good, and the place just has a cool vibe to it. I’ve never had an issue here, and keep coming back.

This place turned a bit better once I started drinking. As a teen you are allowed in through the back as an adult you get to go in through the front. The bartenders are gear and very lively keep conversations going with you and aren’t rude or stuck up like other places. Great drinks and sometimes great music.

Get here early to find a spot on the upper level!

A great Thursday early bird free open mic/​variety show. Plus live music!

Divey and rocking– the venues sound is pretty good too. Mostly a metal crowd, as that is the most frequent genre they book. No food, just drinks prices are on par with most of downtown. The best thing about metal shows besides the music is there was no line to use the woman’s restroom. I joked there was a 5 cocks to hen ratio. My boyfriend corrected me and said no it is like 15. That said if you are a metal chick looking for a metal head smelly greasy boyfriend this is prime territory to scoop one up.

I’ll say 3.5 stars for my review. Sometimes the bartenders are spot on and sometimes they’ll ignore me. I’ve been to the Launchpad for Burlesque shows and for events — not really to any concerts, though.

Launchpad! The name itself entices. Who doesn’t want to be rocketed into orbit, coming down several hours later, walking out, feathers strewn wildly in hair, wondering what just happened. Killin’ it, Launchpad, undeniably.
Check their calendar for the lineup. There something for everyone– chose your own space odyssey!

Ultra-​solid music venue that doesn’t have that sad air of ‘meat market’ desperation! I’ve seen some humongazoid acts there, both local & international that put the zing in zing-​O-​riffic! Drinks flow like the tears of angels and are twice as sweet, but won’t cost you your immortal soul!

Loved the vibe of this place. Great intimate setting for concerts. You are practically onstage & the upstairs bar balcony looks down on the stage. I’d recommend going up there if you can. This is because if you are on the bottom level you will be standing & you will be sweating. I attended the ‘Lights’ concert & it was a fun memory I wouldn’t trade for the world though.

Launchpad Night Club? Okay, I can understand the Night part – shows can go into the wee hours – but Club? Nope, not in my experience. While this place manages a DJ set and a bunch of clubbers as well as just about any spot, the Launchpad is BEST when it ROCKS, and this place has been outright rocking as long as I’ve lived here.
I’m talking rocking in every genre, too: hip hop, rockabilly, glam, indie, electronic… I’m not sure about smooth jazz. It’s a small music venue that can give an avid music fan their first personal taste of a band set to blow up. I’ve seen plenty of these over the years, from a collective which went on to form the Shins to underground rappers who struck paydirt after their first great tour. It’s the kind of place where you’ll probably find the band sitting down at the bar after the set.
In summary, thanks Launchpad Night Club – er, ROCK GARDEN. You make life in the 505 so much better.

Launchpad might be the venue that compares to that of Austin, TX. I lived in Austin and it’s no joke, they are the kings of the small music venues.
Launchpad has a bar immediately when you walk in. Beyond that you have the choice of passing a makeshift beer stand to get to the dance floor/​front of the stage. Or you can go upstairs where you can casually sit with friends or lean over the edge to watch the entertainers.
Make no mistake, you can hear the music from anywhere in the bar. I went for a private social so I can’t quote the venue on drink prices. But atmosphere and layout get an A+ from me!

I like that there is a nice small venue in albuquerque… but the two times i have been here, i have been in the front row and have been unable to hear the singer’s voices… just all bass or guitars. so their sound is not the best. I had to move and stand in the back just to be able to hear the vocals…, but i have been to many other shows places in the front row where i can still actually hear and get more balance of sound…

This place has so many great memories of playing here as well as visiting town and seeing bands play. I love everything about this place. The bar, the staff, the stage and the alley out back… everything. I am glad to see that this place is still breathing. Best venue in the 505.

The drink prices kept changing depending on who you were ordering from. They let drunken knuckleheads in who are just there to start fights. They have some weird system where you can’t bring your drinks to the front of the show. The bathrooms were comparable to county jail and the sound is pretty horrible. The thing that bothered me the most was the bartenders short attention span.

I attended the Weedeater show there on 3÷15÷11 and would definitely go back to this place if I did live in the area or visited again. A cheap show, easy/​close parking, and cool atmosphere make it recommended if a band you like happens to be playing. I watched the entire show from the 2^nd floor balcony and it was great. It’s the perfect venue for the type of bands that play there.

Judging from the state of touring in this day and age, Launchpad goes above and beyond for both the performing bands and the patrons who call it home. Where else can you spend an hour drinking with (rip) The Epoxies, MDC, VNV Nation, or Imperative Reaction after they get off stage?
Granted, the floor is «kid-​friendly», but this venue is so not like Gilman Street (which I am way too familiar with) and geared towards some of us older music fans that I have to rate it as nearly top-​notch…
If the bands play it cool, the kids leave due to the 11:00pm curfew, and all the older more seasoned fans hang out in the bar area and talk shit, just like it should be…
I ding this venue a star because the sound logistics of this venue are «difficult»… Get there early, and please, do a sound check.

Best live venue in town. Period. Period. Stop. All the best bands in the world play the Launchpad. If William Hung had played here he’d still be famous. If Fallout Boy had played here they would have stopped sucking. You get the idea.
It’s also a few blocks down from downtown’s main bar strip, so you don’t have to put up with drunken a-​holes on the street, and it’s easier to find parking.

Perhaps I’m biased.. .This is my regular going out spot. Best happy hour in town: From five to seven (eight if it’s a 21+ show) the whole bar is half price — top shelf and all. It was out of commission earlier this year when a dumb box left linseed oil soaked rags in an enclosed space at the adjacent bar, but it’s back with an even better sound system. Get to know the bartenders, and they’ll treat you right.
They lower a garage door between the stage and the bar areas during an all ages show, so you have to leave your drink behind or go upstairs to the balcony if you want to see the band. Thanks to this security measure, the Launchpad has fewer citations for minors drinking than almost any other spot downtown. This translates to no cops hanging around waiting to bust folks in the parking lot, as you’ll find further down Central Ave.
Oh.. .And they have great shows.

What do 7 Seconds… RL Burnside… Supersuckers… Deadbolt… June of 44… Melt Banana… Pavement… the Donnas… Mojo Nixon… Nashville Pussy… the Dropkick Murphys… have in common?
They have all played the Launchpad and I was lucky enough to be there.
I remember ABQ (night)life before the Launchpad… and what was in its place… a seemingly innocuous and forgettable venue by the name of Time Out… Good shows were a rarity… at least the out-​of-​state ones were. When it first changed ownership I remember a gasp from the community… what’s it gonna be? What’s a’gonna happen?
I’ll tell ya what happened… the stage improved, the sound system became a’hundred times better, there were places to sit… and —
Reborn was the Launchpad.
Aptly named… for it shot many an unfounded Albuquerque band into the limelight. Flake Music, anyone? You know them better as The Shins.
Or how ’bout the Eyeliners… or Scared of Chaka? Ahhhh… Those were the days.
So, anyway… I moved to California in 2001. I can try and describe the place… what with the 50s style booths in glitter and formica tables that held many an empty pint… the upstairs that boasts a few pool tables, couple of video games, and long bench for resting your weary, angst ridden yet very musical self. There’s also a small private room up there where I smoked a blunt with RL Burnside, Cedric Burnside, and Robert Cage many, MANY years ago… and then missed half the show cause I had to go to the car… I spent half the show with my face pressed against the cool glass window cause I thought I was effing dying. WTF was that, Cedric? Da Mempis Chronic?
Good times. I mean, really… some of the best.

I say «good» to the previous. The only thing that sucks is when they let underage kids in for concerts, thus restricting the drinking area.
If you are a big puss or preppy then you won’t like this place.
I say it kicks ass!