d e.
Yelp
The header next to the review stars says "could've been better," well, my evening there could have been a LOT better. This was the second time in one week we were at Joe's Pub, so it was not as if we did not know what to expect. We were there both times for the Habibi Festival which is a great way to hear Middle Eastern artists.
Our first evening was great, the program was wonderful and the miking was fine.
So what was not great ? Joe's Pub is a nice small venue, so why did the volume in the second half have to be deafening. It was so loud that everyone over the age of 50 left no more than halfway through, and even outside, it was so loud that you could listen quite comfortably -- if you did not ind standing, there was no place to sit.
And how do I know about all the people leaving ? I am not young enough to be unconcerned about my hearing which is still very good and which I will protect as much as I can. About one-third of the way through, even with improvised earplugs, I could not stand the decibel level, so I went outside. Within a minute, two dozen people left, all saying things like, "I have had enough." What they had had enough of was the volume, you cannot hear music properly when the sound level is dangerous.
Since no one left during the first band, which was loud, but not so loud that you could not hear the music, it was clearly the miking of the post-post-intermission band that created the problem. I don't know who makes these decisions but it is simply not acceptable for Joe's Pub to allow this dangerous volume.
When the wait staff came out, they said they should put earplugs in before they went back inside, one young staff member mentioned taking hours to recover (the second band had played the previous night).
I have read the comments about food and you really have to know what to order, some of the food is ok, but nothing is really special. It appears to be a way to make money, not give customers a happy food experience. The drinks are generous, and the wait staff is friendly and efficient.
But I will think twice about buying music tickets. $40 plus food was a lot to pay for an experience like this.