Elbow Room

Miss this place!
They used to let me paint to live bands playing music. It was a great time for a 21 year old kid. I didn’t know anything and this place holds a special place in my heart.
R.I.P. Elbow Room!

I miss you Elbow Room! Will anyone please buy this building and give DT Ypsi a lift!
The kids need a place to dance!

The Elbow Room is once again open under new management but still has the Ypsi bar feel that made it famous. The new crew is all about showing customers a good time. If you haven’t been before or since the switch you should definitely stop in. The PBR is always cold!

I went to the Elbow room many, many times to see or play music. When Leighton stopped booking shows there, it lost something, but the improvements to the interior and the inclusion of performance art kept the Elbow edgy. Their last night was last Saturday; the owner is now trying his hand at Savoy (formerly Club Divine) up the street on Washington.

Andy and his wonderful bar crew have left the Elbow Room. Therefore, a whole lotta good mojo has left the ER, too. Not to fear, though — the crew has just moved down the street to the Savoy, the former Club Divine space. The ER is currently closed.
It might take a little while to truly make it theirs, but I have full confidence they’ll turn that space into a great venue. Bands and patrons of the former Elbow over the past few years should just walk one block over to the Savoy.

Friday night out at the Elbow room was a blast. It was a great place to meet up with a bunch of friends for a night of live music and cheap drinks. I must say as soon as I found out they sold PBR and Strohs I was in love. The mixed drinks and shots were strong and cheap. While I must say the smoke got to me I will not hesitate to go back.
Next Friday anyone?

I have been here more often than I really want to think about. I’ve seen many shows and have had the honor of even helping one friend spin here. It’s a good place with some fun down to earth people.
When I moved to Chicago one of the weirdest things for me was that we have an Elbow Room too, but here it’s spelled without the w.

I miss you andy!
And, your drinks.

I’ve lived in A2 almost 15 years now, and for the majority of it, the only consistent place to see great live music was the Blind Pig. Which is why the latest incarnation of the Elbow Room is so welcome.
Smokey? Always. Loud? More often than not. Crowded? Well where else are all of us music snobs supposed to hang out? Of course its not just music snobs. The Elbow Room definitely has a local, welcome feel to it. Its full of people who like their booze cheap and plentiful, and their music homegrown and interesting. These are my people.
And that’s why the Elbow is as five star as it gets. Its quintessential dive bar, and for those of us who appreciate that sort of thing, what a rare gem to have another so close to home.

You will sincerely and genuinely, with the utmost amount of gratitude, respect and appreciation, thank Andy for the worst hangover you’ve ever had.

This place is way better since Andy renovated it slightly (okay a lot). It’s a great pseudo-​scenster hangout with a really cool local vibe. Drinks are cheaper than most places and the crowd is usually pretty cool (depends on the band playing).
The only downside is the smoky atmosphere if you’re not a smoker.

A great cute bar to catch local and national acts. Seems like a great dive bar to just spend a Tuesday night, as well.

Do you guys remember the Alley Bar in Ann Arbor? I think we all went there because of Andy, he made that place what it was. You knew you were going to have a good time when you went there. So when Andy moved everything over to the Elbow Room we all followed.
The Elbow Room is a great venue for shows in Ypsi. Another great dive bar!

Nice small venue to catch up-​and coming bands. Wasn’t blown away by the beer selection but the sound was purty good. Not terribly expensive either.

So my friends had a show at the Elbow Room last night. in Chicago, that is. With a thinning wallet there was no way I could make the trip.
I called up my friend and he told me that he was going to play guitar hero at a bar. Yup, that’s right, the Elbow Room in Ypsi has dueling guitar heroes on Thursday nights. Get there early if you want to HERO it up because around 11 they start up MOfO Karaōke. The list of songs has all the classics and as well as even Radiohead, the Flaming Lips, etc.
The staff kicks ass! Andy (known as «Body» to some) was very attentive and even bought me my first beer because we had a mutual friend. Perks of knowing people I guess… And these people are people you want to get to know because they pretty much rule at life.
So yes, treat yourself to a bubble and fog machined round of Guitar Hero on a Thursday… but just beware of Darth Vander (the reigning GH champ).
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Edited 3.2.08
Roughly a year later, I still find myself sitting (hanging on for dear life) at the bar at the Elbow Room.
Gotten to know the staff even more… still love those guys.
Don’t love the hang-​overs I leave that place with– I’m pretty sure I have never left that place sober… so enter at your own risk.

Grittifabulous. Just off the main drag in Ypsi, this divey old biker bar turned hipster show central exemplifies the draft-​beer-​in-​plastic-​cups and chilly-​toilet-​seat allure of Ann Arbor’s sister collegetown.
Drunk old tattoo canvasses come for the Natty Ice and grudgingly enjoy local scenester acts alongside college kids who come for the shows and wax rhetorical about how «authentic» it all is.
Keno players of both generations fixate on the mounted television sets, which have the kind of decades-​old flair you look for at yard sales. The ones you can see if you’re facing the stage complement the music with natural disaster documentary and old punk videos so you can marvel at homes swept away by avalanches or how incredibly young Jello Biafra was onceuponatime if the music gets boring.
The bartenders seem to have a bit of a hang up about empty bottles lingering on tables, so watch your last few sips if you want to drink them. Their hygenic enthusiasm is endearing in the same way an immaculately-​kept trailer home would be, and it’s just that sort of oblivious residual anachronism that makes the Elbow Room such a great place to spend a night.
Instead of slipping into obscurity like so many bars of its ilk, the Elbow Room is changing with the times… sort of. The result looks how talk show makeover victims must look a week or two after the episode is shot. New pigments can’t correct a lifetime of bad makeup application habits, and new music and younger drinkers can’t scrub away the Elbow Room’s leathery past. But that’s a lucky thing for those of us who need a little Ypsi-​style «authenticity» now and then.

One of the best smaller bars to catch a local show.