Best damn rock dive in the entire 518. I've been in bands who have played here, and I've gone to see countless bands as well, and I always have a great time. Good beer selection, great owner and staff, lots of amazing bands get booked, and there's pizza literally next door. What more could you want from a music hall and beer joint?
Review Source:Went to see the Deadbeats weekly show on Wednesday night. It's a dive but a perfect space for a low key show. I didn't realize there is another space upstairs and never went up there.
The drinks should be a dollar cheaper - that's my only complaint. The bartender and doorman were both really nice.
I love Valentine's for live shows - was just there for a nerdcore show on 11/10/11 with Brandon Patton and Mc Frontalot. Â Nerdcore shows don't get much of a turn out in this area, yet, so the crowd was sparse but I've been there for packed shows on both the top and bottom floors and it's always a treat. Quick tip! Shows upstairs always get wicked hot, so it may be a blizzard outside but dress for the show you're going for! My show had about 50 Â give or take people and I was sweating my nads off so if your going to a sold out show, dress sparse and for GODS SAKE - Wear Deodorant!
Review Source:One of the best shows I've ever been to was held at Valentine's: Spoon opened for Guided By Voices, whilst in between sets, a big, bearded fellow in an orange-yellow jacket read poems about his favorite indie rock bands (complete with echo effect).
That's about all I can recall, because that was ten years ago.
Unfortunately, I haven't found much reason to go back (although I suppose this always subject to change).
I've been a show there upstairs. The stage is low, so if your towards the back, you might have problems seeing. The thing I didn't get was they booked a local hardcore band, with The Early November. A lot of people were anoyed because local kids who knew the band started moshing. They got kicked out.
Review Source:Despite growing up in Albany, I never really got into the music scene here. The occasional show at SPAC or the Knick, but that's it. Most of my live music education has come from dives in Boston (and more recently, NYC). That being the case, I didn't even know about Valentine's until the Tuesday's Hold Steady show came into my radar last December. It's got just about the most non-descript exterior you can find, which explains how I've driven by it thousands of times without ever noticing it was there. Wedged between the late, great Quintessence diner and a sketchy-looking dry cleaners with hospital ID discounts, it's identifiable only by its brick color awning and swarm of smokers huddled just outside the door.
Valentine's is a dump of a music hall, but doesn't quite fit the definition of a dive. Dives imply former greatness, like grand old ballrooms gone to seed, but I have a strong feeling that Valentine's has always been a shithole. The bathrooms are identified by paper plates with genders scrawled on them with Sharpie taped to the doors. They're also carved out of the floor space, which makes the middle of floor space very narrow.
The flipside of the small space of a storefront location is that there really aren't any bad views of the band. The upstairs space is dominated by the stage, and the floorspace wraps around it on both sides. That many people crammed into such a small space generates unbearable body heat, but also a really intimate experience.
The acoustics are less than fantastic, with vocals too muddy to identify on the songs I didn't already have memorized. The band's fantastic keyboardist was a bit drowned out by a bass- and guitar-heavy mix from the soundboard. That was probably the biggest dissappointment, even though I've experienced worse.
Crowd wasn't the best either, heavy on burnt out intellectuals wearing Armani glasses, with only scattered dancing. Not sure if that's a symptom of the band or the venue, though.
I used to go here on ocassion while i lived in Albany mostly for the Goth club upstairs Saturday evenings. I also went to a few hardcore stuff as well though. Yes it is dark and cramped but the music is usually good. Â The drinks not too pricey it was one of the best places to go and see a band
Review Source:It's loud. It's cramped. It's dark. And you're most likely to get the shit kicked out of you on the floor. Perfect for a hardcore show. I've never been to the downstairs portion, but my friends and I would make the hour fifteen minute trip up to Albany during the heyday of the Albany hardcore scene (arguably over five or six years ago now) . When I moved to Madison Ave back in 2006, I was pumped that I would be living within walking distance of something that I used to consider to be one of the holy grails of hardcore/punk venues in the area. Unfortunately, we grow older, the scene changes, and not as many hardcore acts that I enjoy come through here anymore.
Review Source:This place is a few steps above shit hole and I LOVE IT! Â I have been to more shows here than any other venue. Â It is kinda small for some of the shows they put on here but that leads to better pits and shows! Â For shows their is the bar downstairs that has a small stage in back as well as the main music venue upstairs.
Review Source:Valentines is the place to go to see live music. It's an Albany icon.
It's dirty and grimy and is the closest approximation of an urban rock club in the area. The drinks aren't great, but they're fairly cheap and the bathrooms are grungy.
They tend to promote primarily local bands, but I've also seen some bigger names here too - like the Hold Steady, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Akron/Family, Vetiver, Mary Timony, Theo and the Skyscrapers, Peelander-Z etc. Â
The bartenders are gruff but nice. They often have underages shows upstairs, which I appreciate. I'm not underage and I don't usually care for the music, but it's good to see someplace that offers teenagers somewhere to go to see music. Howe Glassman really does a good job here doing what he can to promote the local music scene.
If you're into hardcore acts, you'll definitely find something here too.
There's a definite Valentines smell though - be warned. I can't quite place my finger on what it is, but it's not good. Sometimes even after a quick shower, I still sort of smell like last night's Valentines' experience. Chalk it up to local color I guess.
I've seen a couple shows here and enjoyed the place enough. Its not very big, and used to attract mid-level bands and punk acts quite a bit. Not sure if they still do, I don't live in Albany anymore. Its dark and the bar is situated next to the stage, which can fit a band of 7 comfortably. Its a good venue to see shows, especially since a lot of bigger places like the egg and the palace are a bit stiff and pristine, its good to see rock shows here.
Review Source:
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