Red River St, Hancock

People go downtown and often overlook the cool clubs that are not on the 6th street strip. The Red River clubs usually are more laid back, less glitzy, and just as cool as their 6th street cousins. Stubbs is an Austin classic, and Emo's is a big favorite as well. Be careful walking around as you get close to Trinity St. where the homeless shelter is, try to stay close to the main drags on Red River, 6th and 5th. There are also a few good restaurants here as you go farther north towards the capital.

Sixth Street may get all the credit for being the heart of Austin nightlife, but Red River is really where it's at for the local Austin music scene. Sure, big venues like Stubb's and Emo's may get a lot of the national acts, but here there are lots of cool, dingy rock clubs for the more adventurous music enthusiast.

Red River street in downtown Austin is where you'll find more of the rock clubs of Austin. At the intersection with 6th street there is Emo's, a three stage all ages multiplex which features both touring and local acts. I like their big outdoor hang out area in between two of the stages, which is one of the few places left to smoke cigarettes while you drink in Austin. Clubs like Mohawk and DeVille draw more rock acts and feature neat decor, Headhunter's caters to the heavy metal crowd, and Stubb's is a 3,000 person venue with the bigger national bands. Walking down here at night is always a little scary though, so make sure you remain vigilant or with friends. Austin has a pretty low crime rate, but there are a lot of random shady people prowling here and in adjoining alley ways (probably due to the proximity to ARCH, a homeless shelter a block away).