Red Lion’s Club Max Scores High in Convenience
by Jim Ivy
The Austin Traditional Jazz Society’s June 11th All Star Event was held at the Red Lion Hotel’s Club Max. The event was attended by approximately 180 members and guests. Members and guests were invited to share their thoughts about Club Max as a venue and to make suggestions via a survey on the ATJS web site. The results are in!
Overall, Club Max scored particularly high as a convenient location. The Red Lion is located at the intersection of IH-35 and US 290 making it easy to get to from just about anywhere in Austin.
The survey asked respondents to rank the convenience of the location on a scale from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent). Those who responded to the survey ranked the Red Lion high for convenience with an average score of 4.36.
Parking at the Red Lion was also ranked high in the list of things that ATJS members and guests liked about the location. There were plenty of parking spaces and getting from the parking lot into Club Max is a short stroll that does not involve any elevation changes. The survey shows an average score of 4.52 for adequate parking at the Red Lion Hotel.
When asked “How pleased were you with the service and wait staff?", the rankings fell somewhat but still stayed in the “Good” range. It is important to note that this was the first event held at the Red Lion and the management did not know to expect a turnout of 180 traditional jazz fans! Even though the Club Max staff was not prepared for such a large turnout, the average score on this question was still a respectable 3.00. Any future events at this venue would most probably have a larger wait staff contingent and thus boost this ranking even higher.
A correlated question on the survey asked respondents if they had ordered food or drinks during the event. An overwhelming number of respondents indicated that they had ordered either food or drinks during the event at Club Max. Hopefully the hotel’s profit margin was sufficient to encourage them to host other ATJS events.
Of course the meat of any jazz performance is the music itself. Club Max was designed as a discothèque, not as a concert venue. Emphasis was upon creating an environment where hotel guests could have a drink and talk among themselves, with an occasional foray to the dance floor. The public address system was designed for a DJ and to contain the sound on the dance floor so that guests could carry on conversations at their tables. The sound system was not intended to furnish concert quality audio to the entire room. In fact the sound system was designed for bass/drum heavy pop music and not for a live jazz performance. Even so, the respondents gave the quality of sound a respectable rating of 3.783.
The visual aspect of a live jazz performance is almost as important as the audible aspect. In this respect, Club Max’s design as a discotheque creates a challenge. The room is “L” shaped with the dance floor located in the angle of the “L”. For a significant portion of the audience the band stand is hidden behind a large DJ booth.
Anticipating that members of the audience seated in various sections of the club might have a differing experience, a question was included in the survey about where the respondent was sitting in the room and another question to determine if the seating was comfortable. The respondents were evenly divided between areas near the entrance, directly in front of the band (and at the bar), and in the area adjacent to the large DJ booth. The average score for comfortable seating was 3.542.
When asked to rank their view of the band, the average score was 3.560. Again, a respectable score.
When asked “How would you rate the Red Lion overall as a site for future ATJS events?” the average score was 3.875. Obviously, most of the respondents would consider attending another function hosted at Club Max, especially if the issues with the sound and line of site from all portions of the room can be rectified.
How would you rate the Red Lion overall as a site for future ATJS events?
The final question on the survey gave respondents an opportunity to make comments and give suggestions. Their comments are included verbatim in the table below:
Response to “Comments and Suggestions for future events” |
| Need a better view of the stage from all points in the room |
| We thought think that the Red Lion Hotel is a great venue and hope that they think the same of the ATJS. |
| This venue had comfortable seating, a reasonably good sound system (announcements made from one of the microphones was not audible), all types of food and drink available. It was a real pleasure to attend at this venue |
| None. I really like the Red Lion. I'm sure its mangement has ideas like: more bartenders(2-3), waitstaff(2-3), bus person. Where did all those people come from and who were they? Only about 25% or less were ATJS. We may need bigger quarters. I sure hope the remodel includes better stage lighting, and a decent sound system that can be heard way in the back. I couldn't understand one word spoken by Connie Jones. Others around me echoed this and turned back to their table conversation & drinks. Still, all in all, I really like the Red Lion. |
| I liked the feel of the room, although not all the seats have a good position to the stage (the DJ booth blocks the views to the left side). The accoustics were adequate. It is not a bad place for future ATJS events - although having a stage directly in front of every seat would be ideal. |
| The Red Lion was too noisey, especially the side room next to the stage. There used to be a German named dance hall that held big band dances. Darn if I can remember the full name. I know it started with a G. It was a great venue for music and dancing. I don't know if it still exists. Do you by chance recall the place? How about a senior center, like Shoal Creek or the one on Manchaca, a VFW hall, Elks club, American Legion, volunteer fire hall. |
| Spotlights are needed to be able to see the performers. Waitstaff did an excellent job of trying to cover needed service but they were terribly understaffed. |
| Bandstand needs lighting so we can see the performers. Definitely more waitstaff is needed. More A/C needed - was too warm in there. Heard that people over on the side couldn't hear, let alone see - guess they should have gotten there earlier! |
| Get lights on the stage. Warn everybody that if they want a decent view of the stage, they'd better get there at least 90 minutes early. I heard all the good seats were gone by 1:30 p.m. We have a 50-minute drive and didn't plan very well. We could hear all the instruments clearly from our lousy seats except the clarinet and piano. A sound system might be in order to fix that. I'm sure the society has a problem with finding a venue, but I'm guessing fully two-thirds of the audience probably couldn't see the stage very well at Red Lion. |
| It could have been somewhat cooler, especially for the band which suffered with the heat. perhaps fans for them if the AC cant handle the crowd |
| I liked the location, but the hotel needed to provide more waitstaff and more air conditioning. I was quite uncomfortable with the heat. Also, seating was inadequate, and there was not enough light on the stage to see the band well. At that temperature, however, a spotlight on the band would have made the heat for them unbearable. I didn't pay for my drinks so I don't know about the value. I can comment, however, that they were good, but came in a very small glass. |
| If they remodel the room, they should take out the DJ podium. |
| Be sure there is a large enough dance floor. Prefer on North side of Austin. |
| The Holiday Inn that we talked about before...is it available for our new season? Becky Oh, and we need to remedy the sound system to accomidate speaking voice as well as music. |
| I think this venue is great in every way, but it was really hard to hear the music |
