Entry No. 39 — the Memphis file — filed under: dive
Hi-Tone (the downstairs Small Room)
Hi-Tone runs two rooms out of one address on N Cleveland: the Big Room upstairs, all ages unless flagged otherwise, and the Small Room downstairs, which is always 21+ with the sole exception of the performers. The downstairs booking is where the club's actual personality lives — a free comedy open mic every Tuesday from 7 to 8, Neil Hamburger on Sept 13, Dungeons & Drag Queens on Oct 2 — the kind of calendar that assumes you'll show up for something you've never heard of. The venue also runs Yokai Sushi Gang out of the building, doing made-to-order sushi and dumplings with Grab 'n' Go on Mondays and Wednesdays, 5 to 10. It is not a pretty room, and the schedule already stretches to a Colour Revolt date in December, so it's not going anywhere.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Memphis — never the same twice
The story
Hi-Tone runs two venues out of one address on North Cleveland, and the thing separating them is a staircase. The Big Room upstairs is all ages unless a listing says otherwise, and it takes the bookings with names attached — Neil Hamburger on Sept 13, a Dungeons & Drag Queens night on Oct 2, Colour Revolt in December. The Small Room downstairs is the other proposition entirely: 21 and up as a standing house rule, performers excepted, and priced low enough that the calendar can afford to be strange.
Downstairs is where the club's personality actually lives. Most Small Room tickets land between $13.50 and $20.50 — Choir Boy with Optic Sink and Decoration Policy on Oct 23, the drone-metal band Aseethe on Oct 15, a Pestilence Presents bill in November, and Emo Phillips doing stand-up in a basement rock room on Dec 12. Every Tuesday there's a free comedy open mic down there, doors at 7 and show at 8, no cover at all, which is the cheapest possible way to find out whether the room is for you. It is not a pretty space and shows no sign of wanting to be.
The building also feeds you. Yokai Sushi Gang operates out of Hi-Tone doing made-to-order sushi and dumplings, with a Grab 'n' Go window every Monday and Wednesday from 5 to 10 — sushi in a punk club being exactly the kind of arrangement an independent venue can make and a chain cannot. Hi-Tone is a member of NIVA and the National Independent Venue Foundation, which is the paperwork version of the same argument, and its calendar is already filled into December.
What it's like
Bring ID — the downstairs room is 21+ and the venue states the only exception is performers, though the calendar does occasionally post an all-ages matinee down there, so read your listing rather than assuming. Check which room your show is in before you buy: upstairs and downstairs sell separately and share nothing but a street address. Parking is street parking on Cleveland. On a Tuesday, turn up near 7 when doors open for the free comedy open mic, get a drink, and treat the fact that nobody paid to get in as an obligation to be a generous audience — open mics run entirely on that. On show nights the Small Room is small enough that standing anywhere is standing close, which is the whole reason to choose it over the Big Room.
The move: Go on a Tuesday: eat first, then take the free 7pm comedy open mic downstairs — an hour, no cover, 21+ — and stay for whatever's booked after. If Tuesday doesn't work, Monday or Wednesday gets you Yokai sushi from the window between 5 and 10 before a Small Room show.
📍 Before you go Downstairs is 21+ with no exceptions except performers; bring ID. Upstairs is all ages unless the listing says otherwise, so check which room your show is in before you buy. Comedy open mic is Tuesdays 7-8pm and free. Yokai Sushi Gang's Grab 'n' Go window runs Mondays and Wednesdays 5-10pm only. Street parking on Cleveland.
- 📍 Memphis
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 282-284 N Cleveland St, Memphis, TN 38104
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Green Room at Crosstown Arts — Roughly half a mile north inside Crosstown Concourse and the exact acoustic opposite — a purpose-built, acoustically treated listening room with no bar in it, where a jazz jam session costs seven dollars.
- Memphis Listening Lab — In that same Crosstown building and free to walk into, so John King's 35,000 45s make a daytime front half to a Small Room night.
- B-Side — About three-quarters of a mile south on Madison, where local bands play nightly without a ticket — the no-cover counterpart to Hi-Tone's ticketed downstairs bills.
More weird in Memphis
Good to know
How do I know which room my show is in?
Every listing is labeled either Big Room-Upstairs or Small Room-Downstairs, and the two sell tickets separately. Upstairs is all ages unless the listing specifies otherwise; downstairs is 21+, with performers the stated exception.
Is there anything free?
Yes — the comedy open mic downstairs runs most Tuesdays with no cover, doors at 7 p.m. and show at 8 p.m., 21+. Some upstairs events are also free, including a September pop-culture art market and a Memphis miniFEST date.
What do Small Room shows cost?
Most sit between $13.50 and $20.50. Choir Boy with Optic Sink and Decoration Policy on Oct 23 is $20.50-$23.50 at the top of the range, and Emo Phillips on Dec 12 is $13.50 at the bottom.
Can I eat there?
Yokai Sushi Gang works out of the building with made-to-order sushi and dumplings, but the Grab 'n' Go window only runs Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 to 10 p.m., so it lines up with some show nights and not others.
Where is it, and where do I park?
282-284 N Cleveland St, Memphis, TN 38104, in Midtown. Parking is on the street along Cleveland.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: hitonecafe.com
last checked: 2026-08-26