Listen: I don't like Metal.
But listen again: I still had a great time at 31st Street Pub.
Now I don't know if you have to be a Metal band to be booked here, but last Saturday my friend's friend's band was playing, and all the other bands playing that night were of that genre.
It was packed, but not so packed you were squeezed up on everyone. The stage was small, but the band was close. And loud.
Plastic skulls line the walls. Signed cymbals on the ceiling. A scrolling neon sign says: F*uck pretty much every other venue in the city. A bulky golieth of a man takes your 5 dollar cover when you enter.
The crowd is extremely varied and most people smoke. A lot. But all are welcoming. I came in thinking I'd be well out of my element, but left thinking I'd like to stop in again sometime.