The Meat Locker

I came here after making a post on Facebook asking if anyone can drive me from south orange. The person that picked me up likes his music loud, maybe too loud. He offered me some downloaded music, which I accepted and guess what? It was also too loud! Wtf. I went here hoping to make some friends and the surly door lady hugged me hard, too hard! The man with the dreadlock that runs the place offered me a beer and it was cold, too cold! And his girlfriend can’t even pronounce simple words like mountain and Yosemite. The people there are stupid, maybe too stupid.

I brought my date to the meatlocker after hearing about the amazing food and drink specials. Let me tell you, they have the best fried cat I’ve ever tasted and the bleach cocktails were on point… might i add the roach-​fritters were TO DIE FOR. Some band called the Frisky Browneyes (sp?) was playing some super edgy nuwave but it was hard to hear them over the sound of some accoustic act practicing that totally drowned them out… kind of a bummer. The décor was very post-​darkages which totally captured the bistro vibe they’re going for.
Im only ranking this 1 star because i didnt have more than 3 dollars in my pocket so the door girl made me do like 20 pushups and im terribly out of shape. My girlfriend realized this and fell in love with said door girl who was imo a crass bully. Might go back again to try and get lucky with this oddly attractive vegan with a beaver tail nailed to his head. Namaste.

What a great idea. Talented metal bands having a blast. We had a very old and out of place group there and the regulars could not have been nicer. I think you bring your own and expect a different experience.

If you are a touring band. Don’t play here! If you have any respect for musicians, don’t go to shows here! If you can make over $ 200 easily, then cool. The bands will split what comes after that. If bands are cool with admission of their show admission paying for another person’s practice space, cool. ALSO, just so you know, you might have another band (s) rehearsing very close to the stage while you play your heart out. I am definitely in favor of an all ages space, BYOB, and an alternate space for music making other than a bar or normal venue. MUSICIANS: it’s not your obligation to support someone’s trashy basement playground.

Place is the best, people seem to be mad at shitty promoters, that RAW LAW record release w/​antivenom and whoever last fall was off the chain, seeing suburban scum a few times here and some other good bands no complaints

this place is horrible! from rude staff picking on the people attending shows combined with shit sound quality… 18+ and no alcohol yet the place is stuffed with minors sneaking in alcohol. it’s sad to see decent bands stuck playing this venue when they are entitled to a respectful area to preform.

Horrible. Been going to grungy punk clubs for 20 years. They charge $ 7 to see some bands that drive across the country to play shows for 30 people and then tell the bands they’re not getting paid because they have to pay their rent. I understand you have to make some money to keep your doors open but there’s absolutely no incentive for bands to play here if they can’t even make gas money. Also didn’t tell the bands they weren’t going to be paid until the show was over.
No way to run a DIY club.

This place is a graffiti covered punk rock haven located in the really nice and expensive downtown of Montclair, NJ. The kid who runs this place now is the man. I don’t think places like this exist in NYC.

interesting concert venue /​native american sweat lodge.
before i heard wavves were playing here, i’d never heard of the place. there’s no sign outside but it’s located right next to a mexican restaurant.
the entire basement space is blanketed in marker and a little spray paint here and there. it’s safe to assume that most of the writers are suffering from tourettes.
it gets hot in here. really, really hot. first the people start sweating, and eventually the walls start to sweat. once the music is playing, and everyone starts going crazy, there are several people who helicopter cold open water bottles around. it’s a crude, yet efficient cooling system and it gets the job done. the only downside is when you’re leaving the venue and walking to your car, you’re covered in water and will get strange looks from passersby.
the crowd is fun here, more so than new york crowds. they don’t seem to book many bands i’m interested in, though. it seems like it’s mostly punk stuff.
the place is all ages, and i’m pretty sure the average age of most concertgoers here is around 20, and that means no alcohol is served. there’s a bar that’s close, though, the two jakes or something, and they have really cheap beer.
i liked the sign telling people not to use drugs or face an arrest from undercover cops. we joked that people probably thought *i* was one of them because, besides a couple of the bands, i was one of the older people there.
would definitely go back if someone i liked was playing there, but would probably wear older clothes next time. i had footprints all over my jeans and my favorite pair of clae sneakers looked really unhappy at the end of the night. 8 ^(
by the way, wavves are/​were terrible and should be avoided at all costs.