Charred relics rest on the patio of a grayish-purple warehouse on the outskirts of East Austin. Though unassuming, these scorched artifacts carry 13 years of history.
When an act of arson destroyed Crow Bar on South Congress in 2022, co-owners Steve Gee and Aryn Jonathan Black faced a choice to either walk away or rebuild. They chose the latter, embarking on a grueling two-and-a-half-year journey to resurrect the bar. After finally securing a new space, they spent seven relentless months bringing back the magic of the original space.
In March, Crow Bar officially reopened at 523 Thompson, near 183, welcoming back patrons and debuting its new live music stage just in time for South by Southwest. While many of its signature elements remain, Black says they have slightly rebranded. He gestures to a nearby tabletop, where a painting of a crow spreads its wings like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
“We were never a music venue, but now we are,” Black says. “We dealt with struggles at the bar, trying to find a space in the last two years, being outed by millionaire developers. We persevered and pretty much stopped at nothing to make it happen.”
There’s nothing eye-catching about the building’s inconspicuous exterior, but upon entry, patrons are fully immersed in a gothic aesthetic. Light pours in from red and green stained glass windows, illuminating prints of Vlad the Impaler and Bram Stoker’s Dracula gracing the maroon walls. Red, blue, and purple lighting transforms the bar at night into a dark, vampire-like club atmosphere. Black says most of the decorations and furniture came from the original Crow Bar after surviving the fire.
“They say with any opportunity, it knocks once the door slams shut,” Black says. “I just feel like we’ve been fortunate that it’s reopened.”
“It was a hard two and a half years,” Gee adds. “You realize that you can’t dwell and it’s time to move on. I couldn’t prevent a guy from burning the place down. I was upset for a week, but you have to keep going.”
During SXSW, Crow Bar saw 81 bands perform in the Raven Room, the bar’s live music stage. Black says they welcome unique and authentic performances, from freak shows, people playing in the nude, and performance art to experimental noise and black metal.
“I know they’re talking about next year bringing [SXSW music showcases] down to one weekend,” Black says. “We’re just going to keep doing two. Hell, we might even do three. So many people want to play and want to resist. We’re here to create that platform for people because we’ve been through a lot, and it’s inspiring that we persevered.”
Among the bands that played was Black’s Scorpion Child, which originally performed from 2006 to 2016. In 2024, he resurrected the group with a new lineup; their first album in nine years, I Saw the End as It Passed Right Through Me, arrived in March.
“Seeing other bands performing at a high level, and angrier than they’ve ever been before, is inspiring,” Black says about his return to music. “There’s a lot to shout about and it’s this electric energy going on right now. I don’t think that should be ignored. You’re seeing a lot more of those shocking elements in the music. As you went from the Eighties into the Nineties, it increased and amplified, and then somewhere along the line, we lost that and [it] just went away. I feel like it’s making a comeback now. It’s making me want to play music more than ever before.”
Currently, the Crow Bar is open Thursdays through Sundays, but Gee and Black are fighting to open the bar seven days a week.
“It’s really weird,” Black says of their return. “You get your band back together, go on a long tour, and think, ‘Wow, did we ever stop?’ When we returned to [the bar] and got going again, it was the same feeling – like we had never left.”
This article appears in March 21 • 2025.