The Bishop

mynie

Indiana

3.54/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $

Went here to see a concert. It's really more of a venue than a bar (although during the show there were more people in the bar area than the concert area, because apparently paying $5 to support some traveling bands goes against the jaded hipster ethos of Bloomington...)

Ahem... anyhow: the bar area is small and cozy. Whoever runs the place don't care too much about decorating it. The walls are painted cheaply and there's some records hung above the booths but that's it. Personally, I'd prefer this kind of setup to a place that tries too hard and winds up seeming ersatz and soulless, but I'd understand if someone else thought this was a chintzy-type joint and being turned off by it.

What I'm realizing, typing this up, is that this place is really hard to review, since it's a concert venue and not a beer bar. And partially I think I'm getting old, partially I just don't like certain scene, but I didn't find this place, as a venue, especially friendly or charming or really appealing in any way, other than that they host good shows and tap good beer.

They had 8 or so beers on tap and a coupledozen bottles, all of it good and all of it very reasonably priced. No rares or one-offs, but they still probably had the best, cheapest beer selection of any venue I've ever been to.

But, like I said, this is a venue. It's loud, even the bar area, and the regulars are of the sneering scenester variety. I'm 28 and I felt old and out of place.

06-29-2011 16:40:13 | More by mynie