Red Palace

Seeing Red

Burlesque and Rock Music on H Street

None 3 Photos Red Palace
UD - Red Palace 3 Photos Red Palace
These are divisive times.

But today, we’re thinking of unifying. Reaching across the aisle. Bringing together all the disparate elements in our city.

Yes, we’re talking about combining rock music with burlesque.

Introducing Red Palace, your new home for indie rock, women in tassels and even the occasional sword-swallowing sideshow freak, opening this weekend on H Street.

Basically, they’ve taken two dives you know and love, Palace of Wonder and The Red & The Black, and mashed them up into one beer-soaked Rock Burlesque Superpower.

Downstairs, you can expect much the same: beer lists on chalkboards, photos on the ceiling and lit-up wizards’ heads from boardwalks gone by (never update wizards’ heads). But head upstairs, and you’ll enter a performance space of exposed beams and creaky floors, redolent of a turn-of-the-century barn about to host a midnight ramble.

And it is, more or less. You’ll visit the old wooden bar for a beer (anything from Iron City Light to Coronado Mermaid’s Red), take a peek at the carnival-style oddities on the walls (mannequins of elephant men, etc.) and then bask in the show. Most nights, this will mean an indie rock band, but the 200-capacity room will also host plenty of shows where you can see the twirling tassels of performers like GiGi La Femme and Clams Casino.

And coming by the end of the year: a full kitchen turning out an array of burgers while you take in the night’s act.

No word on whether they’ll be skewered with swords.

Vitals

Red Palace
1212 H St NE
(at 12 St NE)
Washington, DC, 20002
202-399-3201
website

Extras

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