The Red Room @ Cafe 939

It might as well rain until September, because the Fabulous Judith Owen & the Legendary Lee Sklar bring Indian Summer & West Coast Sunshine to Boston’s Red Room & Café 939 on September 23. You don’t want to miss the Best «After Party Tour» of 2015!

I came here for a Berklee performance, and it was lovely! I didn’t have any of the food, but it seemed like a place for students and regular Bostonians alike.
The venue was small and intimate – really nice! This was a cabaret of broadway tunes. The students were really talented and the show was free! A wonderful Boston gem.

Went here for the first time Saturday night to see Andrew Ripp. This place is run by Berklee School of Music but is a hidden gem for music lovers, sort of has that coffee shop vibe. (Same entrance as Cactus Club) I’m not a musican by any means but I love music and a good time and this place «performed» on all levels ;) The show was standing only, probably about 50 people there which made it pretty intimate. Small theater vibe with big stage sound made for a really great show. The crowd was all ages from 18 – 50 but majority was in their 20’s. I’d be interested to check out other performers here for sure.

I didn’t have the food. I went there for a concert.
It’s a perfect room for that. The sound levels, the intimacy, the cleanliness, and the lack of boozy pick-​up activity make it perfect for catching an act.

This place is a cool, intimate venue. I saw Reignwolf there a few months ago and I had a great time. The adjoining restaurant has some good food too. If you’re in Boston definitely check it out for a show!

A real cool classy venue. I have seen quite a few shows here. Sometimes they have chairs out for a more intimate setting and other times its all standing. Either way its a great way to see and hear a show. Recently I had the chance to play here and I had a ball. The sound techs are Berklee students and they really know what they are doing. The sound was great and they made us feel really comfortable. The green room is small but nice with large comfy couches. They staff also had food prepared for us. Wether your coming here to see/​listen to a show or to play one you are going to have a great time.

We recently attended a concert in the Red Room. Livingston Taylor (whom, it turns out, teaches at Berklee) and 4 other performers who are students, gave a concert. It was a very enjoyable evening. Unfortunately, Liv Taylor was not at his best until the last song — which was great. I think he didn’t want to out-​perform the students, who BTW, were terrific. It was done in a round-​robin style. Each performer played/​sang 4 songs, each one taking turns around the circle, including Liv Taylor. The quality was good enough to keep our attention for the 1.5 hours or so we were there. But still, I was disappointed that Mr. Taylor did not strut his stuff more.
Oh, did I say it was a free concert? It was. So we got lots more than we paid for.
The venue is small, informal, cozy, folksy. It was like going to a diner and having a surprisingly good meal. But it was still a diner.
Oh, by the way, the Cactus Club across the hall makes some mean margaritas!

Great place to see some talented musicians.
We went to see Charlie peacock and it was a pleasant experience!
The café had great coffee and the room was rocking!

Reviewing as a music venue.
Terrible experience here. None of the staff had any idea what was going on or where people should line up. It’s like they had never heard of will-​call before. Because of the lack of line, despite the fact that I got there 3 hours early for a highly-​anticipated show, a ton of people who only showed up as the doors opened got through ahead of me. The doors also opened a half hour late. The concert was standing only, which stinks for me since I’m short. I had been near the front of the stage at the beginning, but the crowded pulled me back to the middle of the froom throughout the show and I couldn’t see anything.
Not wasting my money on another concert at this venue.

It is a very small venue but that is the point of this place. It’s meant to be cozy and intimate and for what I saw – a one woman show — it was perfect.
However, it was about 30 degrees tonight and it was absolutely freezing in here!!! Get some heat!

Man, where to begin? Some of the Café staff members were short with us (they were just about to go off-​shift, apparently), while others were awesome. The prices are a bit high, but not too bad for the quality of the products. The Red Room itself is tiny. The only seating is two couches on either side of the space — something that was supposedly clear on the website but I guess I’d missed or forgotten. My mom had just thrown her back out, so thank goodness the venue manager was understanding and saved her a seat on the couch (THANK YOU!). The acoustics were okay; my ears are still ringing the night after the show. One bite of their chocolate chunk cookies and all was forgiven — they were divine.

I am reviewing this as a place to hear music. I like the open atmopshere and the acoustics are fantastic to hear live music. It’s an intimite setting and I will come back here everytime I am in town and I want to hear an new fresh artist.
I have seen Jay Nash here 2x.

A nice venue to see some great artists play in Boston. My bro and I came to see David Choi the other night and it was awesome times =D Some seating rather than a central standing area would’ve been welcome, but the acoustics are very good and it was fantastic concert.
And as the name implies, the room is indeed very red.

Small venue, very intimate, in a nice location, and is easy to get to.
The floor is pretty flat, narrow, and long which really sucks if you’re stuck in the back and are short. You really need to be up front or you won’t be able to see at all. Unless you’re sitting. And I don’t want to be at any hippie jam band show where fans are sitting and not rocking out. There, I said it.

Like a ruby, the Red Room is an underappreciated gem.
Run by the Berklee School of Music’s students this venue is made for musicians. It is small and has a capacity of not very many (I have no idea what it officially is), but it is made for intimate shows. Want to get to know an artist and feel their emotions strictly through music? This is the place do it.
The show I was most recently at (Ryan Star, Lion of Ido, and Matt Duke) suited this venue so well. Even with just around 60 people present, everything was very efficiently run. One is easily drawn to the stage as the lighting keeps you from the distractions that surround you and focused on the artist, who performs on a low stage. The sound resonates beautifully throughout the venue but can be quiet at times so if you must hold a conversation during the performance, TAKE IT OUTSIDE. If you don’t, staff will ask you to do so. It was so refreshing to have the chatter boxes be asked to just step out for the sake of the artist on stage.
There is a beautiful baby grand piano as part of the house set up. While I am biased as it allowed me to hear one of my all time favorite songs, it is in tune and a wonderful piece to have as part of the normal set up.
A range of artists perform here, from solo acoustic acts (Matt Duke) to major label artists about to make their big break (Ryan Star) to big local names (how did I miss TREOS here?!) to Berklee students and all for extremely low ticket prices. Door service is a little awkward but since I think Berklee kids may still be getting used to interacting with people with a bit more perk to their lives, like me, it’s fine. Everyone is friendly.
In short, just check out The Red Room. Get to know some new artists to hear and feel what they have to say before everyone else does.

I have to say, The Red Room hosts some really top notch acts, of a genre that I really love. Elizabeth and the Catapult, the Spring Standards.. . it’s a clean venue where people aren’t freaked out about sitting on the floor during an acoustic set.
I haven’t had a bad time here. I don’t know much about the food, but what I’ve seen reminds me of college cafeteria fare: Edible but nothing special.
Unfortunately, within the space, the vantage points on the stage are few and far between. You basically have to be standing in the front row to see anything (true at many concert venues, but this one is small enough that’s really impossible to see anything once the room gets full). Acoustics aren’t bad, there are a few couches for the extremely weary among you.. .
The advantage of a non-​alcohol infused space is that no one is there to use the music as background filler while they get buzzed and talk on their phones. People are pretty respectful of the acts on stage, even the openers.
My chief complaint is this: Berklee students don’t dance. They don’t even toe-​tap unless things REALLY get going. It’s as though by moving their bodies, they might reveal that they secretly enjoy music, and therefore negate all the cred they have been building throughout their. Back in my day (which was about five minutes ago) if we liked a band, we would dance like idiots because it was FUN. Even if it was an acoustic folk set. Even if it was my friend playing bongos on the front porch. Cause seriously, guys, I bet nobody’s pants are actually so tight that they can’t shake it a little.

This review is only based on the concerts that I have been to. I have not eaten the food at this venue so I can’t really comment on it.
I have been here for two concerts. The first one was a double performance, featuring Landon Pigg and Erin McCarley accompanied by a live band. The second performance featured David Choi (
) solo with only an acoustic guitar. I thought all the performances were really good, and I also got an opportunity to talk and get some pictures with all three performers at the end of each show.
This is a somewhat decent venue to watch a live concert. It has a small and intimate atmosphere unlike a large auditorium and it kind of feels like you are really close to the performance no matter how far you are. Seating is very limited. The only seats are located on the walls and the consist of leather sofas/​chairs. There is a large open area, you can either stand or sit. For Landon Pigg/​Erin McCarley, my friends and I stood, but for David Choi, we sat down and it was really uncomfortable on the legs, since it was so crowded. The sound quality was great, made the live performances enjoyable.
This might not be a bad choice to check out some good independent music. You might be seeing a potential recording superstar. I’m giving this place four stars since all the performances I have been to at this place were surprisingly good and hopefully I can find another great concert at this venue.

I have to agree with Lisa’s assessment of the BLT: though it wasn’t the worst BLT I have ever had, it was a little weird. The tomatoes didn’t seem up to par, the bacon, while good, was overwhelming, and the toasted wheat bread wasn’t that great. I think I was kind of expecting mayo, but if it was in there, it was nonexistant (if it’s not in there, that’s fine, but if it is, I couldn’t taste it).
On the plus sides, the Café is relatively affordable: that BLT (with chips and a soda) was $ 6. Not too shabby considering the options in the general area around Boylston. And it seems like a nice place to see a show.
So I’d be willing to try the other options again, but I wasn’t a big fan of the BLT.

When I came to see a show here, the MC greeted us with, «Welcome to the nicest, shiniest, cleanest room in town.» Which is spot-​on. The music venue portion (Café 939 may serve sandwiches, but essentially it’s a glorified portal to a stage) is just a big red climate-​controlled box. A music venue this sterile is normally really unsettling, but here it seems to match the baby-​faced performers and their baby-​faced friends in the audience. Both the big red box and the kids who perform inside will gain character as they mature.
For the time being, the appeal of coming here for a show is that you’re likely to see a talented young person. Plus you get the added bonus of feeling really old. Such fun!

I came to see Priscilla Ahn play at café 939… and maybe my love for Priscilla rubbed off a little on 939… but either way my friends and I had a good time here.
The space is on the smallish end and is good for smallish concerts. I think the capacity is supposedly 200, but it definitely takes less people to make the room look full. The tables and couch are kind of randomly strewn about, but I was glad to be able to slouch down on a chair rather than stand for like 3 hours, and the crowd seemed to be young and Berklee-​esque with handfuls of other people thrown in. I have no clue what the food or drinks are like (and oh yeah no alkies here), but I’ll be back for future concerts