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Ipswich St @ Lansdowne St (55)
Brookline Ave @ Newbury St (19, 60, 65, 8, 9)
Ipswich St @ Boylston St (55)
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Music:
- DJ, Live
22 reviews for Axis
22 reviews in English
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Review from Alicia W.
Atlanta, GA
1/24/2008
This place is still open?? O my-geeez. It has been a long time my friend, a long time. This was the spot to go when I was in Boston some odd years ago and I honestly can't believe it's still open. Most clubs don't last that long, atleast not in Atlanta i've noticed.
I remember waiting in lonnnng lines in freezing cold to get into this place and once I stepped over the thresh holds of the door way my feet already started moving, my jacket was flung into the arms of one of my friends and straight to the bar to do a quick shot and off to the dance floor I went. Man I miss Boston! -
Review from Trish F.
Boston, MA
8/28/2007
Bouncer (searching through my bag): What's with the tea bags?
Me: I have a friend that works at Starbucks. She hooks me up with tea.
Bouncer: So you like tea bags huh? ::grins and winks::
Me (shudders): Well.. uh.. passionfruit yeah.. but if you're looking.. there's uh.. there's nothing dangerous in there.. unless you consider Jane Austen books a threat to society. ::holds up Persuasion and laughs awkwardly::
Bouncer (loses interest): You drinking tonight?
Me: Excessively.
Axis is a small venue, which I dig. I feel like every show I've been to, people from the crowd always end up on stage. There's usually a young crowd. I just remember being up front and this tween saying she wanted to rest her hand on stage. I nodded ok.. what do I care? When the concert began, she flipped her cousin It hair all over the effin place so I had to move back. They're vicious. I blame the Bratz dolls and MK and Ashley Olsen. The sound is usually awesome.. bathrooms aren't skanky although they are very dimly lit. I've never been here for a club night.. probably never will. -
Review from michael m.
Boston, MA
11/22/2006
I went here for a show last week -- 2 of my favorite local bands were playing, and I was pretty pumped: One was headlining, the other was playing immediately before. Having prebought my tickets, I figured there would be no problem, show up right before the band takes the stage, no bs.
I was wrong. I went with a dozen friends, and I was second in line. When I got to the bouncer, I gave him my ID, and he said I'd have to wait a minute. No problem, I figured he needed to blacklight it, it's happened before. So the line is cleared out, and the bouncer is calling for help. Long story short, I have to go through 3 bouncers and the manager, checking my ID, saying stupid things like 'it looks authentic', and asking me all the details off my license. After 20 minutes of this shit, I finally get the go ahead to go in with my 21+ bracelet. And the manager tells me not to be mad, that they were just doing their jobs. Ok, I understand that. But not when I missed most of my favorite bands set. And now when you don't even get me a free drink. And I'll tell you something, I did not buy a single drink at the show that night. And I will not ever be back.
Oh, and yeah, the place sucked for a show. The sound system sucked, the venue itself is set up horribly bad, and the drinks that my friends got were overpriced. If there was a 0 stars option, I'd be selecting it right now. -
Review from Lindley E.
Chicago, IL
8/26/2007
Damn I hate this place but I couldn't say no to a free night courtesy of our friend DJ Chris Ewen the 80's New Wave DJ, who brings out the goths like nobody's business. There's a lot of skirts on the floor, and not all worn by women. And studded belts, combat boots, suspenders, heavy makeup and fetish wear. I didn't realize (stupid me) that Peaches cry of "F*ck the pain away" sends these kids into paroxysms of joy. And that Ladytron counts as New Wave. But the biggest surprise was that the biggest dance floor filler was Madonna's "Get into the Groove." Go figger.
This dance night moved to Axis from Man Ray, which, in the last year was shuttered and replaced by condos. There are rumors of a new Man Ray reopening in Cambridge...
PS: the bouncers can be a little, uh, off-putting, what, as they sit on the side and stare down the dancers. At one point my stomach started to really hurt so I sat down and leaned over. A bouncer came over and asked me if I was all right. That was the one time a bouncer showed any humanity that evening. -
Review from Bruno A.
Chicago, IL
5/30/2007
Axis suffers from the same problem as the Paradise- formerly picked on, small penised bouncers that like to think of pushing around underage kids and attracting college freshman as a "cool" occupation for someone nearing thirty.
It's an alright set up; ok sound, lots of room, but the crowd always acts as if coming out to see the band is a chore and couldn't be bothered to be into the show.
I would never go there to dance or spend any time there when a band wasn't playing, it's purely a eurotrash, first time away from mommy and daddy, let's have a drink and act like a slut like my idols crowd.
There have been several times I've seen a show there only to have the band stop early because they need to let the scumbagged dance crowd in. Guess we know where Axis has its priorities.Listed in: The Hated
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Review from Kim P.
New York, NY
3/5/2007
As a music venue, Axis is pretty awesome for shows. I've been seeing bands play live here ever since I was a teenager, so this place will always have a special place in my heart. The setting is pretty intimate (re: small) and it gets just the right amount of crowded.
However, come here on normal nights and that's a totally different experience. Everyone's trying too hard (think underage girls in skanky clothing, frat-boy meatheads) and crappy music.
My piece of advice for Axis; stick to the live shows and avoid all the other nights. -
Review from Alyssa N.
New York, NY
9/9/2007 1 photo
Barefoot dancers here are very brave. I saw plenty of people with naked feet, risking getting stepped on, or stepping on lord knows what.
Like others here, I ran into a problem with the overzealous bouncers - namely, the bottle of prescription medicine that happened to be in my purse. I had to argue my case about the allergy meds to 3 different staffers before they finally let me in. What really bugged me was that they kept almost walking away with my medicine bottle. (How can I be sure they were going to bring it back?)
Other than be crowded (which I sort of expected) and smelling of terrible B.O. (which I've never experienced before, not matter how crowded the show/club), it wasn't terrible night. Most other issues I have related to that night's audience (I was there to see Infected Mushroom) than anything specific about Axis.
The club seemed to be very accommodating to the one patron saw there in a wheelchair - set her up in a good viewing area, etc... -
Review from Melissa M.
Salem, NH
5/22/2007
I went to Axis last Thursday night (May 17) to see Hush & Bons spin with an opening set by Kares. Now I've been here before on Fridays when they play hip-hop & that was less than fun: skanky hos & yo homie what's up guys that grab my ass even though my bf is standing next to me. However this night was different.
I'm not a fan of the regular club scene. I prefer raves & other EDM events. My friends Jeff & Jack over Volume Productions (http://www.volumeprodu...) have taken over Thursdays at Axis & will be doing a weekly there. May 17th was their first night. The music was great funky house music all night. The crowd was filled with familar friendly raver faces & no one tried to touch my butt. I watched my bf & his boys break dance for awhile & shook my booty to the beats as well. My only complaint was the expensive drinks, but luckily my bf paid for my drinks. I will be hitting Axis up again probably next Thursday. -
Review from Devon F.
Boston, MA
6/23/2007
This was one of my original favorite venues. Keep in mind i have only been here to see bands. Never the less, I would give this place a 5* but i had one bad experience here ... and im sure that the other kid would have said it was nothing compared to what he went through. Anyway, the band that was playing demanded that kids push up onto the stage and start jumping off of shit, so a few of them did. As soon as the first, second, then third kid got up, 6 or 7 bouncers literally, ran and tackled the kids. This is all pretty standard tho for like the staff and shit to try to take control. However, the shitty part was that one of the 3 kids got punched in the head when we was getting tackled.
After the show, the bassist got up on the mic and was bitching out the staff and calling them pussy's. The venue demanded that they shut down for the night, but the bassist lead the band to playing (which seemed like the most aggressive) 2 more songs.
Ohh yeah, fuck the bar too... if ur elbow is on that shit and ur not boozing they give you hell...
Keep in mind this was when i was mainly into hardcore and stuff like this was bound to happen, i just think the staff could have backed the hell off a little. -
Review from Richard F.
Malden, MA
4/24/2006
this place isn't getting many good reviews. I've seen many bands here before and loved every night. I will never come to any place on Landsdown for club nights, Bill's Bar is OK for bands too, but Axis is awesome. It's a little crowded, it's small, but it's clean, not too expensive, and usually 18 or 21 plus for bands. I've seen one of my favorite bands (Strung Out) there 2 times and they sounded great. The stage is practically ground level, so it's wicked personable and fun to get that close. Plus, because of the small club, they were out in the crowd talking with people during the opening bands and they come out afterwards to chill. It's pretty awesome.
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Review from Kristina G.
Boston, MA
2/26/2006
Overall the Axis is a pretty good venue for shows. I like how it's not just floor space, you can also stand on other levels so that you don't get stuck behind a random 7 foot giant for a whole set. There are some blind spots if you haphazardly get stuck behind a pole. The sets tend to be pretty short for each band which sucks. Also, the merch area sometimes tends to be a bit in the way when you want to leave, as it is placed near one of the exits.
Listed in: Great Venues
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Review from Kathleen T.
Boston, MA
7/28/2005
Whooooah sketchy! axis is simply not your place if you are classy. The men dont know how to take a hint and, when I went, It was dirty and smelled like a locker room. Not my idea of a good Friday night.
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Review from Allison T.
Allston, MA
4/7/2006
I would NEVER come in here on a normal night, God knows I've seen enough underage almost naked kids stumble out of here...but, for shows I love this venue. Stopped in to see one of my favorite bands, Theory of a Deadman, here last week. I was deaf for days and had so much fun I almost didn't make it to work the next day. I love that the venue is small and intimate enough that you can literally reach out and touch your favorite acts.
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Review from Caroline A.
Chicago, IL
Updated - 7/26/2008
ugh. I can't believe this place closed!! I'm so sad!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/5/2007
This review is just for the Sunday night drag queen show.
For a fantastic time with the cutest boys… Read more »
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Review from Geoff T.
Somerville, MA
8/24/2005
COmplete and total meat market. I used to go see punk and metal shows here in my youth and for that, it was fine. Then one night after a Sox game someone dragged me into here during a "typical" night. God, every cliche you can imagine as far as young people acting like morons and trying to get laid. Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter...
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Review from Sky C.
Tacoma, WA
12/1/2005
Decent club to see a show at. I can't speak for the club nights as I haven't been here for one of those.
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Review from Aaron S.
Berkeley, CA
7/26/2005
If you like partying with underage kids with fake i.d.'s who are all on extacy, then this is the place to go. This is quite the place though, with a million rooms each with a different beat, though the same techno sound. Not my favorite, but everyone there seems to be having a good time.
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Review from Anne B.
Brighton, MA
7/26/2005
Pretty young crowd. A moderately good venue for concerts. Lots of under 21ers and mostly for those into the techno thing. It's not really my bag, but if that's what you're into, this is the place to be.
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Review from Melissa H.
New York, NY
5/8/2007
I only came here for a show and it wasn't that bad. The poles in the middle were kind of annoying and the bar seems to be in a weird area but other than that I thought it was good. The crowd, on the other hand...
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Review from Brenden L.
Boston, MA
8/26/2005
SO if you're going for a show this is a decent enough club but...the few times I've gone in here on regular nights I left with a piece of my soul missing. Lots of young kids acting like tools. I'm pretty young and can act like a tool and I still noticed the general assholeness of the crowd so that's saying something. It seemed like there were lots of 18 year olds all drugged up. If that's your scene, have fun here. If not, run.
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Review from jonathan p.
South Waltham, MA
4/18/2007
Overpriced watered down wells served by absent minded bartenders.
But the bands usually rock! -
Review from Ame k.
Quincy, MA
9/5/2005
i have some crazy nights there.
