Nightlife: Red Room at Cafe 939

Folk rock band Ellen-Siberian Tiger energetic performance makes full use of the small stage. Photos by Kylie Obermeier

One of the most intimate music clubs in Boston is tucked away in a nondescript brick building in the Back Bay. It’s devoted to showcasing and developing music and performance. With a capacity crowd of just 200, the Berklee College of Music’s Red Room at Cafe 939 has featured nearly every style of music, including hip-hop, avant-garde, rock, jazz, and bluegrass. The photographs lining the club’s walls attest to the many famous acts who have performed there: the Lumineers, Karmin, Sixpence None the Richer, and the Civil Wars, to name a few. And in addition to Berklee talent, it’s is notable for hosting less well-known and local artists of every genre, from metal to Afro-Uruguayan percussion.

But what’s truly unique is Red Room’s focus on showcasing Berklee students and graduates. It provides a platform for them to perform for a live audience in a professional setting. Not only do student musicians perform, but music business students run the venue in tandem with professionals.

We stopped by the club, which adjoins Berklee’s student eatery, Café 939, on a recent Friday night for performances by both local acts and Berklee alumni, all rock musicians. The first thing we noticed was the signature red walls. The only seating was a few leather couches. Nearly all events are standing room only. Just five minutes before the first set, the space was nearly empty. Fewer than a dozen people—all apparently Berklee students and acquaintances of the artists, sat on the couches, chatting. We were surprised to see so few, given that many of the Red Room shows sell out in advance.

Only a few more people had arrived by the time the first act, Deja Carr, performing as Mal Devisa, took the stage with just a drum kit and a bass guitar. With her incredible voice, Carr was the night’s most interesting artist. The Northampton, Mass., resident deftly balanced avant-garde experimentation (e.g., shouting into her bass and sampling a backwards version of it in a song) with catchy bass lines and strong beats. One minute her voice was reaching near-operatic heights, instruments absolutely silent, the next she was rapping clever, cutting lyrics like, “You’ll never get rid of us/no matter how Michael Brown we are,” over a tapestry of layered beats. The small crowd was supportive, creating a positive energy that lingered through the night.

When Boston band Ellen Siberian-Tiger went on, the audience was larger. The folksy five-piece band captivated the crowd with lovely harmonies, intricate fingerpicked guitar, and songs that built from acoustic lullabies to sweeping anthems. Jon Cox’s powerful drumming was a real standout.

The headliner of the night was the Berklee-by-way-of-Asheville, N.C., band Midnight Snack. The five musicians seemed very happy to be back in Boston.

“This feels like coming home,” drummer John Johnson told the appreciative audience after their opening song.

Midnight Snack describes its music as “a blend of old-school psychedelic funk and new-school art rock,” and that was an apt description. Members of the crowd danced their hearts out to song after funky song, and when the band played a cover of Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago,” patrons responded with happy surprise. Throughout, trumpet player and singer Katie Richter handed out flowers to people near the front of the stage. The Red Room may be small, but the crowd’s energy during the performance felt enormous, like that of a lively welcome home party for good friends.

The club is largely staffed by students and includes many student performers, but there’s nothing amateurish about the venue. The acoustics and sound engineering are first-rate, just what one would expect from Berklee. With the night’s diverse array of acts, hard-to-beat intimate setting, and friendly atmosphere, the Red Room made for a very enjoyable evening.

Did we mention that many of the events at Red Room at Café 939 are free? That’s the kind of ticket price any student budget can handle.

Red Room at Cafe 939 is at 939 Boylston St., Boston; phone: 617-747-6042. Most shows start at 1 p.m. or 8 p.m. Take an MBTA Green Line trolley to Hynes Convention Center. Order tickets here or stop by the Red Room box office an hour before show time on show days. Patrons are urged to purchase tickets in advance for better-known acts. Advance tickets are also available at the Berklee Performance Center box office, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Monday to Saturday, 1 to 6 p.m., and two hours before show time on show days. Call 617-747-2261 for more information. Find the upcoming concert schedule here. Prices vary by show, although many are free.

This is part of a series featuring Boston nightlife venues of interest to the BU community. If you have any suggestions for places we should feature, leave them in the Comment section below.

Kylie Obermeier can be reached here kylieko@bu.edu.