Wednesday, April 26, 2017

#78: Vulcan Gas Company

The Bar


Vulcan Gas Company. 418 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 4/26/17 @ 11pm.

The Drink



Gin and tonic. $3.

The guy who made this was not their regular bartender (on Wednesdays I guess they can afford to turn the keys over to the JV squad), and as a consequence he was not putting up with any of my nonsense about "drinks that best represent the bar". He was adamantine in his refusal to accept the burden of choosing me a drink, so after I'd finally exhausted my repertoire of synonyms for "whatever you recommend", I accepted defeat and just ordered my go-to of a G&T. It worked out for both of us though, because in return for my simple order he made me one of the most eye-wateringly stout G&Ts I've had in a long time, the kind of drink where you take one sip and go "Whoo!" while making that involuntary half-pained/half-incredulous facial expression like one of the wretched lush characters in a William Hogarth print. A gin and tonic might be one of the few drinks that can actually claim some legitimate health benefits, beyond that legendarily apocryphal "one glass of red wine a day" thing, but a few of these would take you right back to the hospital. Hooray for bargains!

The Crew


Hannah, Travis, Aaron, Davis.


Notes


If you're here, you're here to dance. Vulcan has a long history as a music venue first and foremost, and even on a Wednesday with a bare smattering of patrons, all the action was on the dance floor. As we were walking in, the doorman said half-jokingly "Where's the party at?" and I confidently proclaimed "The party's here!" As it turned out we were not the party; not even close. Perched on our barstools chatting amongst ourselves as we were, we couldn't match the revelry of the small group grooving their hearts out on the floor to the music of the band, or even the liveliness of the couple in the corner playing beer pong. But whatever: we're on a bar crawl, not a dance crawl.

Vulcan has multiple levels, which weren't quite so relevant on the quiet Wednesday we visited, but are necessary when there's a big show there, which there has been the past few times I've been there. Unlike the old Vulcan, which was legendary for its place in the 1970s "cosmic cowboy" psychedelic rock scene in Austin, the new venue focuses more on hip hop and EDM. If you're sad about that, just accept that times change, and music popularity changes as well, no matter how great the music scene in Austin was back then. EDM (let's, just call it that, because getting into subgenres is indistinguishable from mental illness) is a $7 billion market segment, it's fun to party to, and you really can't ask for more than that. Also unlike the old Vulcan, they sell alcohol. That's great for their operating revenue, seeing as how crucial a moneymaker alcohol can be for music venues. but this was unbarlike enough to ensure we didn't stick around for very long.

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