Spider House Ballroom

Why do I love this place? Great shows take place here! Monday night Comedy nights are my jam and its a place that has always made me feel welcomed. The outside is a cool hang out spot and the inside is a large ballroom and dark side bar. Heads up in the restroom, there is an additional step to get onto the can.

$ 9.75 for a glass of house red? No thanks. Used to have a lot of fun coming here, but if it’s going to cost me an arm and a leg I’ll find a bar on the East Side that’s still affordable.

This is a great concert venue. It’s very divey and busy with decorations everywhere. It can definitely get crowded and loud which is to be expected. The sound quality is good and the stage is low. My first and favorite concert I’ve been to here was a Valentine’s show with Calliope Musicals covering Fleetwood Mac. Such a great performance and overall awesome night.
I would suggest eating at the Spider House Café or at one of the food trucks near by and then walking over to catch your show!

Ahh yes, this is how I like to remember Austin. Cold cheap beer, divey as f$&k, loud awesome live music and strange creepy décor.
It’s an older house, bands play in what seems to had been a dining room. The restrooms are small but they kick butt. The patio area is huge, with a mix of circus décor and old patio furniture. They also have a booth outside that sales hot tea on old beat up China. Well, the tea place is located underneath a tattoo shop, next to a food truck which the path way will lead you to the bigger spiderhouse venue. And yes, all of the above is located inside the same location.
So in love with this place. We did not have much time to explore next door since we where in a tight schedule, yet next time I’m in ATX I’ll defiantly stop again.

I’ve been here a few times the past two years for SXSW 2014, 2015.
I performed outside the first year. Then performed in ballroom the second year.
The people are nice. The sound is good. The sound engineer was cool as we talked about some things and related on a lot of things.
I would perform there again.

I really dig spiderhouse. I come for the Testify show (last Thursday of every month) as often as I can. The bartenders are rad, the space is dope, the drinks are good and aren’t overtly expensive. Both the café and ballroom are two great spaces to kill time, eat, drink and check out cool shows.

Our first time here so far I love this place. Great selection on local brew and live music. Bonus the legendary Ron English has art work up here. The place is not big but makes up for it in the patio. Old furniture and carnival bumper cars. When we came the music was loud (in a good way) and the beer was cold. I ordered the thirsty goat. I noticed everyone was drinking lone star cans so this place is very hipster. They do have food but everyone was mostly drinking. I definitely will be going back great crowd. Oh there is no parking you have to park in the street.

It’s been a while since my visit as I attended New Year’s Eve at the Ballroom. We were party hopping that night and I sincerely wished I could’ve stayed longer because it was seriously better than the other parties we attended.
From the elaborate decorations to the awesome fire pit and food trucks, this party had it all.
People were nice, event was really well organized and the music was outstanding.
I also had technical issues getting tickets and the folks at Spider House Ballroom were super helpful in getting it resolved. Always appreciated when people go above and beyond!

What an awesome venue! On a Monday night, we stumbled up the Year End Review event, where comedians in groups read jokes about every month of the year. Awesome idea, lighthearted and casual, loved watching the different styles of all the comedians.

Cool venue for a comedy show. Full bar. Bartender not too friendly, however.

So I just wrote a review, and apparently I wrote the review under this venue’s former name, instead of under this current name, which was it’s former, FORMER name. Confused yet? This place has had a lot of name changes, and with it, a lot of head scratching from the public. I’d say that over the past year, it’s really started to turn around, and you can definitely thank Eva Mueller for keeping her staff happy, putting together bills that make sense, and treating the musicians as if they have value. As a musician, I know I can go play a show there and it’ll sound great, no matter who’s working the board, but if I get Gary running sound, all of a sudden I’m Parker Lewis and I can’t lose. Jackson might be the nicest bartender in Texas. On top of that, you can park.
I don’t write reviews often, but the staff here deserves praise, and is doing a stellar job of creating an oasis in a part of town that’s a definite desert, culturally speaking.

I attended a concert at he Ballroom not too long ago, the venue was great as well as the staff, honestly I can’t say enough good things about the staff and management! I ended up losing my wedding rings that night :(The bartenders found them and handed them over to the manager Eva who held on to them for me. I searched everywhere at home and couldn’t find them so I decided to shoot Eva an email. I figured it was a long shot but it was my last resort. She said they had them and were holding on to them for me. I ecstatically went and picked them up. I can’t thank Eva and her staff enough for their pure AWESOMENESS!!! They showed me there still are some good people in the world! Keep up the AWESOME work please!

My band played here the other night and I think it’s one of my favorite places I’ve played live music. It’s really beautiful, red velvet curtains, huge disco ball, vintage black leather booths around the outside of the room, open concrete floor in front of the raised stage for dancing/​jamming/​watching live music. The bar right in the next room was convenient, the atmosphere was magical. Our sound guys were really great! So nice, helpful, patient, and skilled. If you are a band, I recommend playing here, and if you are a music fan, I recommend checking out some music in this beautiful venue.

Great music! Great fun! Great staff! Great Prices all the time! Great drink specials! What more do you want? Gotta check it out!

I’ve seen some great shows/​acts here, but this review is about the 29^th Street Ballroom itself, and charging me $ 3 for a small glass full of ice and 6 oz worth of Coca-​cola (yeah, I gave a dollar in tip on top of that) was the most frivolous waste of money ever. It doesn’t pay to be a designated driver around here.

So purdy!
Lush red velvet hangings, mini chandeliers, dark lighting, intimate space with small stage – I can see why burlesque shows are performed here.
I think 29^th Street Ballroom is gorgeous. The events I went too were speaking events so I can’t comment on the sound for concerts. I can comment on the fact that they serve Thirsty Goat and 512 beers on tap. If you don’t like beer they have a full bar.
Bathrooms only have 2 stalls and are t-​i-​n-​y so probably would be a line. Something else that is tiny is the parking lot and street parking can be a bitch. Just FYI. Definitely will be putting this place on my map for future shows and concerts.

Night patio.

When I heard I’d be attending a concert at some place called the «29^th Street Ballroom,» I had no idea what we were talking about. On 29^th Street? I lived on 28^th Street in college. Near Spider House? Oh wait, owned my Spider House. It was an art supply store? Or an Army surplus? Whatever. We’re going.
Since it’s so new, the venue is remarkably clean for Austin and lacks that old beer smell. The restrooms are clean (for now). But the sound quality is kinda terrible, and they should honestly fix it. This place would kill it if they got some sound person to come in there and retrofit for music. There are so few venues within walking distance of West Campus; I can see this place getting huge.
It’s got a great, big outdoor seating area, prime for hipster-​watching. The female bartender was your typical bitchy, I’m-better-than-you old hipster, so it’s obvious she’s a transfer from the coffee shop. Sigh. The things we’ll put up with for a beer.

Oddly enough, I wandered in here for the first time recently. I note this as odd largely because during my nearly ten years in Austin, I’ve never once made it over here. I guess that’s a testimony to circadian rhythms if ever I’ve heard one. This time around, it was the clarion call of the Mortified show (and specifically the participation of Jessica «lowercase» S’s participation in said show) that brought me in. On that side note, I highly recommend A) asking Jessica what her story was about, as it was awesome and B) catching a Mortified show when you can. Who knew that I was supposed to keep all of that ridiculous tripe I wrote back then? Certainly not I.
The Spider House Special Events Center (formerly the US Art Authority, RIP) is a great venue for these types of intimate shows: it’s a small, angled space, ambient and rife with character. There’s a small bar tucked in the other room, and the stage dominates the main event space to your immediate left upon entry. It was large enough to feel semi-​anonymous on a night like this one, but small enough that even at the back of the room, you always felt part of the proceedings. And I’m sure that at least to some degree that was due to the clever and nostalgic (and frankly, hysterical) readings that demonstrated our experience. But the warm embrace of the Special Events Center didn’t hurt a bit either. It’s likely I’ll be back.

You may remember this place as the United States Art Authority. Now dubbed the Spider House Special Events Center, it seems as though the new name has ushered in a wealth of changes, and from the looks of the old reviews, they’re changes for the better.
Upon entering, I was greeted by one of the most eclectic bars I’ve ever laid eyes on. This was neon I could appreciate — no Miller or Bud Light signs here! The venue is small but very open and intimate all at the same time, the perfect setting for last night’s Mortified performance.
I enjoyed checking out the various pieces of art strewn about on the walls and even on the walls outside. If you’d written this location off before, I say give it another shot. I think you’ll like it better the second time around.