Entry No. 38 — the Memphis file — filed under: punk
Growlers
Growlers sits in a low brick building at 1911 Poplar, a few blocks east of Overton Park, and books like a room that has nothing to prove: 1,431 shows logged on Songkick and 22 more already on the calendar between now and December. Most nights are ten-dollar local bills — a rap showcase Thursday, a four-band metal package Saturday — with the occasional outlier that sells real tickets, like The Faint on Nov 5 ($28-32) or a TVBOO dubstep night at $30. The genre spread on a single month runs pop, hip-hop, indie, post-punk, deathcore and stand-up comedy, which tells you the booker's rule is simply whether the act can fill the floor. There's a kitchen, a bar, and no pretense about either.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Memphis — never the same twice
The story
Growlers occupies a low brick building at 1911 Poplar, a few blocks east of Overton Park, and its case rests mostly on arithmetic. Songkick has 1,432 concerts logged at the address and more than twenty already on the books between now and December. That is not the profile of a room that books carefully. It's the profile of a room that books constantly, and the difference shows up in what a single month looks like on the calendar.
Take September 2026 as the sample: a Wednesday alternative bill at ten dollars, a rock package at fifteen, a DJ night, a 2000s emo party, an Americana show with Matt Axton, a stand-up tour date, an indie bill, a hip-hop showcase, an electronic set, and something billed as Hot Fix Sideshow. October adds a metalcore package, a doom-and-stoner double, and an all-day Delta Doom Fest with doors at two in the afternoon. The booker's only visible rule is whether an act can move people onto the floor, which is why the sideline in themed nights — a Shrek rave, a Memphis anime rave, a Taylor Swift dance party, a pickle festival — sits on the schedule without apology beside touring bands.
The economics are the real pitch. Most local bills are ten dollars, and even the outliers with names attached stay under forty: The Faint on Nov 5 runs $28 to $32, a TVBOO dubstep night is $30, a stand-up date tops out around $40. Tickets go through SeeTickets off the venue's own calendar. There's a kitchen and a bar, neither pretending to be more than it is, and the age policy is set per show rather than by the house — the same room runs all-ages, 18+ and 21+ nights depending on who's playing.
What it's like
Parking is street and lot along Poplar, and the door is just a door — no list, no theater. Pay in, get a beer and something from the kitchen at the counter, then read the room: on a ten-dollar local bill the floor fills late, so the opener plays to whoever's already inside, which is a decent argument for arriving on time and standing near the back where you can still hear each other. Doors and showtimes are not uniform here — some nights are 7 and 8, an all-day doom fest starts at two in the afternoon, a dubstep night doesn't move until nine — so the calendar at 901growlers.com is the only reliable source, not habit. Check the age listing on your specific show before you bring anyone under 21.
The move: Pull up 901growlers.com/calendar tonight, pick whatever the $10 local bill is, and go in cold — pay at the door around 8, grab a beer and food from the counter, and stand near the back for the first band so you can talk, then move up for the headliner. It's cheap enough that a bad opener costs you nothing.
📍 Before you go Ticket prices run $10 for local shows up to $30-40 for touring acts and comedy; buy ahead on the venue calendar for anything with a name attached. Phone is (901) 244-7904. Parking is street and lot along Poplar. The calendar is the only reliable source of showtimes — doors are usually early evening but aren't posted uniformly.
- 📍 Memphis
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1911 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Shangri-La Records — A short walk south to 1916 Madison, and since it closes at 6 it slots in as the pre-show stop rather than a competing plan for the evening.
- Kwik Chek — Five minutes away at 2013 Madison, where the deli counter at the back of a corner store does bibimbap and banh mi — eat before doors, because Growlers' kitchen is a bar kitchen.
- B-Side — The other Midtown room worth knowing, about a mile west in Minglewood Plaza, where local music runs nightly with no ticket — the free counterweight to Growlers' ten-dollar bills.
More weird in Memphis
Good to know
How much are tickets?
Local bills are almost always $10. Mid-size shows run $15 to $25, and the biggest names land in the $28 to $40 band — The Faint on Nov 5 is $28-32, the TVBOO dubstep night Nov 7 is $30, and a Nov 8 stand-up date runs $25-40. Ticketing goes through SeeTickets from the venue calendar.
Is it 21 and over?
Not as a blanket rule. Age restriction is set per event, and listings here have run all ages, 18+ and 21+, so check the specific show rather than assuming either way.
What time do doors open?
There is no standard — it's posted per show and the spread is wide. Recent listings range from 2 p.m. doors for an all-day October doom festival to 9 p.m. for late DJ and dubstep nights, with 7 p.m. doors and an 8 p.m. show being the most common weeknight pattern.
Is there food, and where exactly is it?
Yes — there's a kitchen and a bar on site. The address is 1911 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38104, a few blocks east of Overton Park, with street and lot parking along Poplar; the phone is (901) 244-7904.
What kind of music actually plays here?
Effectively all of it. A two-month stretch of the calendar covers hip-hop, indie, alternative rock, Americana, funk, emo, metalcore, doom and stoner metal, dubstep, DJ nights and stand-up comedy — the genre is not the filter, drawing a crowd is.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · songkick.com
last checked: 2026-08-26