Plush is a dance floor.
Over the past decade, the pair of 1200s nestled between the tiny brick walls of 617 Red River have spun a collision course of underground music culture. To expound upon the sum of its parts would be to righteously denote that electronic dance music and its deejay purveyors hold some place in Austin. In the mid-to-late-nineties, the building was a dark and seedy hole-in-the-scene called the Blue Flamingo—a gender-bent, drug infested, punk rock pit stop for weirdoes. Everything and nothing has changed.
When the bar on the corner of 7th and Red River reopened as Plush, it was just that—modernly sleek inside, with new management and a sexy staff that embraced a sound just as contradictory to the muck-rock of Red River as the bar’s name itself. Early on, revered selectors such as Coy West, Merrick Brown, Nikola Baytala, Brett Johnson, Thomas Sahs, Eddie Spettro and J.A.M.O.N aesthetically embedded house and techno grooves into the floors of Plush, forever synching the bar’s pulse with the 4/4.
Meanwhile, notable producer/deejays Rion King and Crisp Arson helped erect a drum and bass residency on Tuesday nights that exists to this day—jungle never died. Local legends DJ Mel, Phyfteen, BabyG and NickNack blazed a new haven for underground hip hop heads. The dance floor was a fresh niche, and it was being carved right in the gut of Red River.
2005: a shift in management leads to a louder, dirtier Plush, one whose talents and diversity grew with it’s sound system. The slick and polished coziness morphed into a turn-and-burn, graffiti-coated, bass-hangar of collegiate undergrounders partying alongside turntable purists. The staff were animals of the same breed and from those changes, Table Manners was born, the longest running hip hop ‘2x4’ turntable residency in the Lone Star state. With a pleasant mix of Internet buzz-hop and Golden Era classics, DJs Tatsu, Digg and Dirty Harry helped narrow the social gap between the Austin underground and the mainstream coeds.
Before Car Stereo(Wars) was a mash-up collective rocking Lollapalooza, it was a Friday night residency for the oh-so-hip. Mike Resinthol and Paco Davis’s Hump! Disco ball was first hung above the DJ booth years ago, and on any given night, some of Texas’ finest b-boys and b-girls cut-a-rug with minimal space to the delightful sounds of the 70’s. Hump has moved on but in it’s place, Body Rock with DJ Chorizo Funk has brought back that breakbeat boom bap.
Bobby Grommit and his herd were the first to bring the torso-shaking bass sounds of dubstep music from the UK across the pond to Texas via Plush back in ‘06. What started as a monthly residency has now transformed into an inimitable weekly, responsible for an entire shift in bass-bred music throughout the state, earning Weight the title of Dubstep Kings.
Countless bands have cut their teeth on Beat It! Monday nights at Plush. When the turntables are pushed aside and some of the old Flamingo is resurrected, even the underbelly faithful can’t help but peek though the doors. From Exit the King to the Krum Bums, Invincible Czars to Assacre, Beta Player to Bridge Farmers, Crow to the Bulemics… all have blessed the floor-stage, while the ghosts of bands like Blort, Down Syndrome Army and Fuckemos still loom overhead. Ghostland Observatory once played on a Monday. Jonah Matranga of Far / onelinedrawing still plays Plush every SxSW, along with Cleveland punk-soulsters This Moment in Black History and Boston space-rockers Constants and Junius.
Austin changes everyday. Plush remains. Still standing, as they say. Under new management and with new life, capturing the vibe that gave birth to local legends. This is the new sound, just like that old sound.
When Room 710 was still open and you could still smoke in bars… Before Transmission Entertainment and before you could get food on Red River… Hell, before there was anything open at all on 7th Street east of Red River, Plush brought electronic music to a scene of scenes. With superior customer service and a genuine care for the culture a club run by the kids who have their fingers on the pulse of an underground, we remain.
Now…come on and dance, punk.
PLUSH ATX - 512 DJ Mecca