2720 Cherokee

IN SHORT: An interesting venue in a dodgy part of town. It's the sort of place where you go to see up-and-coming acts, niche performances or performance art. YMMV.

THE FULL STORY: I went to 2720 Cherokee to see The Protomen, which is an underground rock band that fuses the style of STYX and Queen in a rock opera set based around a dark prequel story that occurs in the world of the Megaman video game series.

So, yeah, pretty much the perfect act for a place like 2720 Cherokee, which can house about 200 people comfortably (almost entirely standing room -- there's very little seating) and which is a dive venue in every sense of the word.

When you arrive at the doors, you'll see that the sign and the initial walls are spray-painted, which suggests that this venue is not the most polished place. The upstairs section is a stand-alone art studio. Some of that art must have migrated downstairs, because there are interesting pieces hanging up on the walls, some of which are more accessible than others. There's also a row of antique pinball machines which are badly in need of calibration -- a sort of performance art, I'm sure, as people get angry feeding quarters into the stupid things only to lose the game seconds later. There's a cool Star Wars toy diorama above the bar area. The seating looks like it was left behind from the previous owners of the joint and that someone decided it was too heavy to move -- it's haphazardly placed around the room and seems more like an afterthought than anything.

The bar serves a few popular favorites and some craft beers. The building must have a lot of metal rebar in the walls and floors, because cell phone signals are really spotty inside. The bathrooms are surprisingly usable considering that they're in a music venue. I heard that there's an outdoor garden area, but it wasn't open the night we were there.

I'm not sure what else to say about 2720 Cherokee, other than your mileage may vary (YMMV) depending upon your enthusiasm for the act performing. I had a good time. I didn't think the dive-y style of the venue was so much a deliberate choice as a practical one. This is not a part of town where you'd expect the Fabulous Fox -- 2720 really fits the vibe.

Cherokee Street is still a scary place at night, so lock your cars and keep valuables out of sight. There are lots of great Mexican restaurants in the area, as well as some good bars. But plan your post-event celebrating for another part of town.

Pretty nifty place. Definitely a hipster kinda grunge fest type of scene but hey, I like a change of pace every so often.
I came here a little while ago with Cherie O. and Sean H. for the Speed Rack bartending fundraiser competition thingy.
Not really sure what to say beyond it has a cool vibe/atmosphere. Even Sean couldn't resist the Star Wars diorama thing they had going on in the corner. (Wonder if that's a year round thing or if they change it up every now and then?)
I am guessing that it's normally a concert venue based on other reviews and it sounds like they also have art shows and other such events like the bartending competition here.
Kind of a drive for me, so I probably wouldn't go out of my way to come here on any ol' Fri or Sat night but maybe if they had an event that piqued my interest, I might return.

There's nothing fancy about 2720, but when it comes down to finding great acts and packing people on to a dance floor this place comes alive.  I've been here to see everything from Beggar's Carnival events to some of the biggest names in the EDM scene.  I've, also, had the opportunity to perform there and was pleased with how attentive the management was with us.  There's a bit of gallery up the stairs featuring some pretty cool emerging artists hosted by Art Dimensions.  There are a few drawbacks to this place.  There's a single bar, and when it gets busy you'll wait a good 10-15 minutes for a drink.  Also, for a large space, it gets steamy in there during shows, and I've had to escape outside for a few for relief.