Cheap beer, casual attitude opens doors at Two Doors Down

Photo by Greg Wood

Tammy Trusty and Robby Gennoe enjoy a night at Two Doors Down.

Two Doors Down

KNOXVILLE — As soon as you walk into Maryville's Two Doors Down one thing stands out: the stage.

The bar is pretty typical otherwise - large, open room, no decor to speak of aside from beer ads, tables scattered throughout making for minimal walking room, a bar that spans half the length of the room on the left side. It's a textbook neighborhood bar, except for that stage. The stage has a commanding presence, making you feel like you came to see live music no matter what the actual reason. With an all-black backdrop, performers pop out against it. It's elevated higher than any of the tables so the band towers over the crowd. It's not like most neighborhood bars that have a seemingly makeshift stage with a band blaring their tunes over attempted conversation.

Two Doors Down manages to showcase live acts in such a way that it doesn't feel like an afterthought or something that's just packed in to "enhance" your nightlife experience. Too frequently I head to similar bars that feel they need live music, but in reality it's just an annoyance that you have to shout over.

My girlfriend and I headed in on a Friday night and didn't know what we were in for having never been. I found on their website earlier that day they had a live band and no cover charge, which is reason enough to stop by just about anywhere.

We grabbed a table close to the bar, the front door, and the ATM, which we found to be a strategic location. We were surprised to see a slough of board games on a table next to us, including Monopoly, Yahtzee and Scattergories. It's not the kind of thing you see at a bar, but I'm not above launching into a game of drunken Monopoly in a public place. Actually, I'm willing to head back just for that very reason.

As we were sitting down a server took our drink order before I even had time to think. Glancing over at their draft selection, I was surprised to see PBR on tap (as it is most popular in can form) and as a knee-jerk reaction, I ordered it.

Nothing against Two Doors Down, but I forgot just how bad PBR on draft tastes. It's not exactly one of the world's finest beverages to begin with, and there's charm in drinking it out of a can. Since cans notoriously make any beer taste worse, it's somehow appropriate for the already-lacking Pabst flavor. When you cancel that out and drink the more pristine form from a tap, the entire PBR experience is just wrong.

But most of the bar favored bottled beer. Men with goatees and ball caps (it seems this might be the venue's dress code, it was such a common style) clutched their Bud Light and lingered in the crowd, which ranged in age from the 20s to 60s (but was heaviest in the 30-50 range). Groups of the same gender gathered at tables and eyed the crowd, making it seem like a place to meet people. At the table next to us a girl in her mid-20s sat by herself, indicating to me that the bar isn't shady or sleazy or she wouldn't be alone and still enjoying her evening.

The band, Katalak, favored blues-driven country songs that fit the atmosphere. The music had the same Southern flair as an act you'd see at neighboring Brackins but was more orchestrated. They had no lack of talent, a powerful stage presence and worked the small crowd of women on the tiny dance floor in front of them. While you might go to Brackins to see a lo-fi, down-to-earth production, Two Doors Down's acts are more about professionalism. (Don't chastise me for comparing the bars, as Two Doors Down already makes that comparison - its name references its location in relation to Brackins.)

The band's genre is not my favorite, but the group threw in a handful of classic rock covers (like the Doobie Brothers) as crowd pleasers, which I appreciated.

We hung around for a significant part of the band's set, meeting with great service and amazingly low beer prices ($1.75 for a PBR draft) and realized that there's not much else we could've asked for from our evening.

Though next time I'm breaking out the Monopoly board.

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