A and R Music Bar

I waited over 2−½ hours for the main attraction to come on stage, Haley Reinhart is a beautiful singer but the bars soundman did a horrible job of EQ of her mic. The keyboard players vocals were loud and clear but the front man mic was so muddy we could not understand a single word she sang or spoke. If that wasn’t bad enough I heard a young lady in the audience complain about something crawling on the floor and crawling up her legs, we turned on a flashlight to find the floor covered with hundreds, maybe thousands of maggots! I don’t know where they were coming from but they were crawling everywhere, on the floor, up the walls. My party left immediately.

This is an okay place to stop before heading over to a concert at the LC. Drinks are a bit cheaper here and you can bypass the line by getting your ticket scanned while leaving the bar. Bathrooms are kind of gross and the drink selection isn’t fancy, but it is what it is.
I’ve seen a couple of shows here and it’s a nice size for a smaller band who wants to feel like they have a packed house. The brick columns are pretty annoying though and hard to see around. Sound is okay too, kind of hard to hear/​muffled at times, but listenable.
Still, we always end up here before shows at the LC.

A and R is a great spot to check out a smaller show coming through town. They have some awesome pizza and bad drink specials (bad for a normal spot, decent for a concert venue).
If you get a chance to see an act here, it’s going to be an intimate, special experience for you.
After one visit, I keep my eyes on their shows because it’s a special treat to see someone you’d be hoping to see.

You have to take this place for what it is… It’s not a bar that you would ever seek out or choose to go to if it weren’t for it’s proximity to the LC and for the live shows. It’s a good place to hang out before or after a show at the LC. As far as a venue goes — I’ve seen some great bands here and had some great times. But the layout of the bar doesn’t lend itself to a good stage setup or a good view of the stage from many locations in the audience. I’d give this place two stars, but there’s a Late Night Slice inside so I’m adding a star for that.

Concert beer prices without a concert. NOTHING local on tap, and the «bartender» looked at us sideways when my friend asked for an IPA. Not sure if he even knew what that was.
If you’re going to Lifestyle Pavillion next door and are looking to kill some time before a show, I’d bring a forty in a paper bag and hide in the alley instead.

Dumb. This place is next to the Lifestyle Pavilion and would be a convenient place to have decent drinks beforehand, but as the bartender told us, «we’re sponsored by Budweiser.»
Translation: expensive, standard, lame and unimaginative.

I’ve only been to one concert here. It was awesome, but just because it was Family Force 5 and I love them.
If you go to a show here, I’d suggest getting there early and standing in the front. Because views kinda suck anywhere else; there’s not like a pit or anything, and there was an annoying pole in the way at the one I went to. But it is a more intimate venue, and it’s very cheap and they manage to bring in some big-​ish names, so if someone cool is coming there I’d definitely go.
There’s also a small patio to take a breather, and a restroom to use when you’re outside in line for a concert at the LC.

The only time I come to this place is to enjoy some pre-​concert drinks — and when I do, I hope a DJ and the scene team from CD 102.5 are there because that feels like the only time this place is cool.
What makes this place different is of course, the awesome location next to the LC, and the cool patio that overlooks all the fun.
Other than those things A&R is just a bar.
I appreciate that they have Goose Island beers on tap (currently IPA & 312) but you could tell the lines were a little funky. I could smell how dirty the lines were IN my beer. You know what I’m talking about. There were a couple other non-​domestic choices too, which was convenient for the beer snob within me.
Prices are as high as you would expect from a bar next door to a concert venue, but can I get a hell yeah for a 32oz?! My (funky) IPA was $ 8.
You can’t go wrong pre-​gaming here before concerts. Just hope they have a cool DJ spinnin’ your kinda tunes. ;)

Eh, it’s an OK bar for a quick pre-​show drink. There’s nothing very distinctive about it. Prices are average, booze selection is average. I wish there was more seating, but evidently they leave the area open for band performances.
The patio overlooking the LC entrance is nice. And it’s cool that they have a Late Night Slice installation inside.
That’s about it.

Sound system is not the best, but I liked that it was an intimate venue.
Great way to even meet some upcoming artists.

Played a show here, and had a top notch sound guy. Always a bonus. I understand they have really upped their game as far as turning this place into a contender as a real music venue. The progress is appreciated, now if they could just lower the stage temperature about 30 degrees!

So the stage has been shifted away from the bar, it can now be viewed from three sides. Its a little higher and a little louder. The backstage area is gigantic and probably more comfortable for the talent. I’ve stopped in for a few national acts and people seem to enjoy it. There’s a lounge-​y area in the back with comfy couches. Keep in mind there are more bathrooms down the steps in the back, no need to wait!

Not a bad bar.
Stopped in for a bit just before a Janes Addition concert and had some good beer and very decent bar food.
The only down side? The bathroom situation was a bit of a disaster. Long wait for everyone, not a big fan of that.

visited A&R music bar for the first time last night and one of the male bouncers choked me until i could not breathe and slammed me against a wall numerous times. After waiting an hour and a half in line i get to the front and they let three black girls in for ten dollars. i get to the man and he says thirty dollars for you… so i pulled out my money (about twenty three dollars) and start trying to count it. the bouncer takes all the money out of my hand and says go ahead so i went in to wait for my friends to get in for about another hour and finally they would not let them in. so i tried to exit the club when the male bouncer grabbed me and tried to beat the shit out of me. (im a ⁵⁄₇ 125 pound girl) if you needed me out of the way you could have easily grabbed my arm. i was not out of control to the point where a man had to put his hands around my neck and try to strangle me??? but thanks A&r music bar for an experience i will never forget ;)

My band played a show here a few nights ago, so I probably have a slightly different perspective than the average review.
First of all, I think that A&R upstairs is actually far nicer than the Basement downstairs, even though the Basement seems to generally get better and more respected acts. The Basement is muddy sounding with poor sight lines and layout. A&R has the benefit of a large outdoor patio, a better sound system and you can see the stage from almost everywhere.
The bar’s drinks are overpriced for Columbus. For elsewhere they are ok, but it fits into the standard LC-​influenced price gouging. Zero drink specials for bands (which is atypical, since bands normally get a tab or half priced drinks most places… which still represents a huge markup on alcohol, moreso at these prices).
The one sound guy this particular night was terrible at his job and quite odd. He seemed to really hate his job, which was odd because I’ve done that before as a job and its really quite enjoyable. He had two laptops at the sound booth and rarely looked up from his Google or Facebook queries, was resistant to doing any sound checks, wearing these weird white gloves, and wouldn’t even provide the cabling that bands needed. Worst of all, he pushed the sound to a painful volume that many patrons complained about afterward with a horrible mix.
The bartenders also seemed a little bit off, not very friendly from what I saw. Took me several minutes to just get water even when the bar was almost empty. Just unobservant. The guys are the door were very nice and helpful.
There’s no green room at A&R or clear and safe place to put gear. Overall the stage is ‘ok’ sized, but was just able to fit our 6-​piece band.

Cool place, great events and nearby parking. Checked out the FlimScouts 11 shindig thrown by Synerfest and had a great time.