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It didn't make any sense.

Last Thursday, in the wake of four—yes, four—music venues and clubs closing in Deep Ellum and Exposition Park within the span of a month, the residents of the region were...celebrating?

Couldn't be.

Yet, during a benefit party held at The Amsterdam Bar for the Deep Ellum Association (the organization behind the "Save Deep Ellum" movement), that's how things looked.

The crowd's spirit was shockingly high despite the recent closings of The Darkside Lounge, The Elm Street Bar, Club One and Sloppyworld.

On the busy back porch of The Amsterdam, the Deep Ellum/Expo Park crowd nodded along to the Joy Division-inspired sounds of Denton's Grassfight—and didn't bat an eye when the band delved into an odd and unexpected cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Games." They danced along to The KuL's Robert Randolph & The Family Band shtick, and legitimately seemed to enjoy the band's encore take on "Take Me to the River"—you know, the Al Green song that wall-mounted fish Big Mouth Billy Bass sings. They laughed as Holy Diver performed loud classic rock covers and vulgar original tunes on kid-sized instruments. They paid a surprising amount of attention to the bartending competition happening to the side of the stage between the band's sets.

There were smiles. There was laughter. These people were genuinely enjoying themselves.

And it was all pretty weird, considering.

Had these people not heard about the recent club closings in their neighborhood—a neighborhood so closely tied to the past successes of these clubs? Did they simply not know about the demise of these venues? Could they not see how this might spell doom in their attempt to reclaim Deep Ellum's storied past?

No, they had, they did and they could. But on this night, they chose not to fixate on that. They were all, for the moment, just kind of over it.

Here, at this party, these area residents chose to keep their eyes on the positive. They wanted to ignore their dreary recent past and instead focus on the hopefully-not-as-dreary times they could be facing in the future—a future where, for better or worse, visual art slides past music as the cornerstone of the area's culture.

That's the thing about this night: Although music was performed at this party, it sat firmly planted in the second seat. The event was a fund-raiser for the Deep Ellum Association's upcoming visual arts showcase, Art-a-lot-a-thon. The people judging the bartending competition were dressed as great visual artists throughout history (see the photos). The fences of the bar's back patio were covered with paintings. There was no mistaking what was being honored on this night. (No offense to Grassfight, The KuL and Holy Diver.)

Yes, it was a change of pace. But while this area has forever been lauded for its musical prowess, there has always been visual art. And in the wake of the DART rail construction and the specific-use permit zoning changes, the visual arts have remained strong here. Now, with more than 20 galleries still in these neighborhoods, and with four more music venues dropping by the wayside (for reasons, it should be noted, mostly unconnected to the SUP zoning changes), maybe it was just time for an official changing of the guard.

Perhaps these people knew something the rest of us continually refuse to acknowledge.

"It's sad, but the live music scene [in Deep Ellum] has changed," says Deep Ellum Association board president Gianna Madrini. "Is there another scene in town with live music? I guess some has gone to Greenville...but I don't know if Dallas really has a strong music scene right now. It's not what it once was."

Madrini's correct, you know—on many levels, but specifically in downplaying how devastating a blow this recent round of club closings is for Deep Ellum and Exposition Park. In any other part of Dallas, four consecutive club closings would've effectively wiped out the entire landscape of live music venues; here, it still doesn't cut the total in half. Between the two neighborhoods, there remains Club Dada, The Double Wide, The Amsterdam Bar, The Fallout Lounge, The Red Blood Club, The Curtain Club, Sons of Hermann Hall, The Prophet Bar, The Door and Reno's Chop Shop Saloon, among others.

No, it's not what it once was.

"It's kind of like a buffet after it's been picked over," says Frank Campagna, co-founder of the Kettle Art Gallery on Elm Street. "It just doesn't look very appealing anymore."

But it's something. That, in the face of what this area has gone through since its heyday of the late '80s and early '90s, there still exist many venues continuing to push forward? I'm sorry, but that's pretty amazing right there.

For an entire decade now, these Deep Ellum-ers have been bruised and beaten by the turning tides of public perception and consumption. It's quite unbelievable, actually, the number of places that have managed to stay open. And how they've managed to keep hoping that soon—perhaps after the DART rail construction is completed and the arteries into Deep Ellum are less clogged by traffic cones—things will move back to where they once were economically.

So if, on this Thursday night, people weren't dwelling on the past, you'll have to forgive them.

"We'd be kidding ourselves," says Club Dada co-owner Amanda Newman, "if we were trying to move forward to a vision of the past and of what Deep Ellum once was."

Hear, hear.

The perfect storm that swelled to create the live music scene that was once so strong in these parts has passed. But—newsflash, folks—the fact remains there's still no other part of town that offers this many music clubs in so small a radius. There's no other part of town that puts such an emphasis on original live music. There's no other part of town that will forever be as rooted in its own musical history.

If that means the music has to take its spot on the backburner for the time being, then so be it. Because, as Campagna, a Deep Ellum resident since 1981, says over the hum of Grassfight's set at The Amsterdam, the music may be a little tougher to find these days, but it hasn't gone anywhere.

"You can still see the same bands somewhere," he says. "It's just that there's a certain evolution that goes on. I remember in '83 and '84 people bitching about how Deep Ellum isn't cool anymore. That was 25 years ago. Give it the fuck up, people! You can't just keep doing the same thing, no matter what it is. It doesn't make it right, it doesn't make it wrong. It's just change."

On Thursday night in Exposition Park, several Dallasites seemed to understand this. Maybe its time the rest of us do too.

Write Your Comment show comments (10)

  1. While I laud the optimism of the long time residents and enthusiastic 'save deep ellum' members et al, perhaps they should take a bit more action on an individual level to restore business to themselves rather than banding together in one big sinking ship.

    When it comes to music, there's a lot going on in the metroplex that the deep ellum and expo park venues largely seem to be ignoring. Surprise surprise, djs 4 nights a week or playing guitar hero in an empty venue isn't drawing a crowd anymore. Ten years ago I used to go to Deep Ellum every weekend with friends and go from club to club finding new music. The problems these clubs are running into now is that these great draws would rather play in a house in Denton (or the kick ass one on Swiss) than deal with all of the emails, the nonsense of getting in and out, the paying to park, the overpriced drinks and tiny crowds (because of the aformentioned reasons) that comes with the territory of trying to book a gig in Deep Ellum. It's a vicious cycle that began as soon as bands realized they had options other than the hassle that Deep Ellum has become.

    Now in this digital age, where its so easy to come across new and amazing stuff in our own back yard, Club Dada (the only place in Deep Ellum left worth playing) can't even maintain a website to tell me what's coming up. I didn't even know that the Fallout Lounge booked bands... they don't have a website. New Amsterdam is great, but again, no clue as to what is happening there on a regular basis besides jazz on Mondays. Sloppyworld looked promising but got slapped down before it could even take off. The other places left either simply aren't interested in booking locally or are so partitioned in their own little genres that their slice of the "to do" pie are completely insignificant.

    It wouldn't take much for Deep Ellum to get with it. Sitting around in a group whining (or partying) isn't going to do it. Much like this paper, they need to take a look at what's going on around them. Rather than forming another new circle, they need to take the time to join back into ours, the one they stepped away from some time ago.

    Comment by a musician — March 26, 2008 @ 06:09PM

  2. Considering the fact that we had Melodica in Expo Park, which featured several Austin and Denton Bands, I'd like to state that we in Deep Ellum ARE NOT only catering to ourselves. The Grassfight is from Denton and they were playing that night at. Some of those artists were from Irving and North Dallas and Lakewood (not Deep Ellum).
    I book art and music shows in various parts of Deep Ellum and Expo Park that cater to different genres in music(jazz, punk, metal, pop, noise) and art (gruesome, surreal, cartoon, pop, modern, impression). Each show is themed and we have a damned good time.

    I don't know any area like Deep Ellum and Expo Park that books as much local talent at an affordable prices in such a close parameter. Denton has awesome house shows, and some awesome bars, but really, since it's gentrification they are really spread out. We open our arms to Denton bands, and quite a few of them are starting to come down and play this area again. When was the last time you tried to book a fucking show in Deep Ellum or Expo Park? 2000? You didn't even bother mentioning that Double Wide has great local shows CONSISTENTLY.

    The point of this article is that we are moving forward. The 80's and the 90's aren't freaking coming back. We live here and we get that. Our art scene is more previlant than the music. We get that. We invite people out and yeah we had a great fundraiser/party (where there were people outside our circle enjoying themselves). We aren't going to sit and have a fucking pity party about the past. That's so sad and pathetic, and we are neither. We get that.

    Thanks Pete for taking the time to come down here and get to know us. Thanks for taking the time to not write us off because we are no longer a haven for yuppies and drunk SMU girls carrying their heels in their hands while puking all over the ground.

    And the whole building up business individually bullshit, We do that, but we also work together. Haven't you ever heard of stronger as many than as one. The reason that we're getting back on our feet is working together, not having personal pity parties and trying to build a neighborhood up without a foundation. Do you even know your neighbors? I do. The city doesn't take separate whining babies seriously, but a group of organized neighbors turns heads. We get that too. Why the fuck don't you?

    Comment by Alison — March 27, 2008 @ 12:47PM

  3. Again thank Pete, we here in Deep Ellum and Expo Park really appreciate this article.

    Comment by Alison — March 27, 2008 @ 12:52PM

  4. Excellent, excellent article Pete. Thank you. Captured what those who regularly enjoy Deep Ellum know and love about the area. Nice work.

    And the idea that groups are getting together to whine is I don't know, maybe hilarious.

    It's so far off base and obviously from someone not volunteering with the DEA to know. They are giving their own free time excessively and they are working their bums off at SUP hearings, SUP assistance, historic preservation work, blogs for the neighborhood, graphic design and promotion of the neighborhood, Dart meetings, city council meetings, real estate help for businesses, volunteer meetings for art walks and gallery shows and live music shows, mural events, loft events, and endless efforts to do a lot of free work to keep affordable events in town. It's noble how much volunteer work has been done for a place hit harshy by fickle audiences and a lot of people just abandoning the area when it's in the midst of a lot of complications.

    Complaints of parking or meters should go to the city. Seriously, most venues don't want you to have to pay to park, then they have to pay for lots. You are taking that up with the wrong place, and if you'd like to fix that issue for us, please do, then let us know how easy it was.

    It makes no sense to compare house parties to Deep Ellum. Both are great. But Deep Ellum is a historic district going back to 1873, to the 20's/30's Jazz, Blues, and Gypsy Tea Room and Blind Lemon and Leadbelly and the nearby Freedman's Town and the architecture of the son in law of Booker T. Washington and the Continental Gin and Ford Plants and La France and so much history everywhere. It's not like playing your mom's house when she's out of town and the only issue is when the neighbors call the cops.

    It's an amazing area that is much, much harder to preserve a scene in, while everyone wants a piece of it and for different ideas of what it should be. When the whole town went for the foofoo areas right around the collapse of the EC, the Dart moving in, the Tunnel loss, the construction of buildings that don't look like the area, noise complaints, and chaos with road closures confusing people, task forces that fell apart, then came the SUPs and organization struggles and record stores and fests leaving for other areas, and myths of the area, and businesses having to leave because of construction. It's a lot more to coordinate than a house party. Again, both are great, but trashing the volunteers who have done so much, or the businesses who have struggled to stick by Deep Ellum is sad. The volunteers working to support the area, and the businesses that stayed and fought it out when so many left, deserve so much applause. Not misinformation.

    Comment by Tiffany — March 27, 2008 @ 04:27PM

  5. I think Amanda Newman said it best "We'd be kidding ourselves, if we were trying to move forward to a vision of the past and of what Deep Ellum once was." One thing a neighborhood has to do survive is evolve. Ellum is a great example of this, from a freedmans town to railroad crossing to home of dirty delta/southern blues. I have a serious feeling the neighborhood is evolving as we speak, once the DART line goes live, things will begin to pick up again, so no need to worry. The four places mentioned in the article all had separate reasons for going south. Club One was attracting a crowd that was causing BS in the neighborhood that made alot of the neighbors, including myself, resentful. We were tired of the idiots coming down here and causing fights, breaking into cars(something that happened to me personally) and the owners barely doing anything to curb the problems. We went to the city and made our voices heard, hence them closing along with Club Uropa and Tomcats. Elm St/Darkside was an example of not being able to afford their property. I have it on account from a former employee that the landlord wanted them to stay, the owners could'nt afford it. I have a feeling they'll be back, as this place is a neighborhood landmark, abeit by the same or new owners in the same spot in the not too distant future. Sloppyland was a decent concept, but they needed to navigate the proper channels to get their place open, they didnt want to wait and got slapped for it, plain and simple. Pete, you did a excellent job

    Comment by chris von danger — March 28, 2008 @ 07:16AM

  6. ... it's high time for music and bars to part ways. That would be the best opportunity ever to develop a thriving, valid, music scene that matters. One that more clearly reflects talent, appeal, trends and fashion over alcohol sales. That's the ticket.

    Comment by Monte Krause — March 28, 2008 @ 08:18AM

  7. "Denton has awesome house shows, and some awesome bars, but really, since it's gentrification they are really spread out."

    I challenge you to even tell me 5 words about all of these "awesome" places that you seem to know so much about. The "but really" chaps me raw in your post, because it gives you an air of being an authority - which you clearly are not when offering your thoughts on Denton.

    Are you thinking about Fry Street when you say "it's"? Really spread out? Gentrification? There's a dirt pit on Fry Street! They took away Kharma Coffee and put a textbook shop in. There's 2 comic book shops! Is that the same as "gentrification?" There were three places with music on Fry Street. Two of them still are. The field at the Freeway and Univ. Drive where the Walmart is going to go? That's not Denton, silly!

    You can see Rubber Gloves, Hailey's, Dan's, The Boiler Room, Andy's, and J&J's from a tall ladder on the Square. I walk from my house to all of these places, passing one to get to the other, and then stopping at the next and I'm not outside for longer than five minutes at a time! House of Tinnitus is MAYBE a two minute drive from Rubber Gloves. Secret Headquarters was across the street from Dan's. 715 Panhandle is mere residential blocks from the campus which is only blocks from the square which is only seconds from the first bars I listed. The Fra House is ten houses down the street from Strawberry Fields. Both of which are one minute from campus which is one minute from the Square which is one minute from the clubs. You really have no idea what you are talking about and I don't mean that in any way other than your ignorance is obvious. I have nothing against Dallas, but don't try to compare and contrast your thing you got going on to ours with a simple "but really".

    Start at Oak Street and Bonnie Brae and in less than a mile stretch and by taking maybe three turns: you can visit Rubber Gloves, Hailey's, Dan's, Andy's, J&J's, Boiler Room, House of Tinnitus, Fra House, Strawberry Fields, Cool Beans, Lucky Lou's, Riprocks, Fry Street Tavern, The Drink, Loophole, Hooligan's, Sweetwater, Banter, Uncommon Grounds, Slutbanger, Jupiter House, Abbey Inn, the corpse of the Argo, the corpse of Secret Headquarters, the corpse of the Tomato... I wonder if you guys know that when you write the booking emails to us and explain how much you get "it". I know you see a lot of the names thrown around on the blogs, but all of that shit... Seriously ALL of it is within yards of each other!

    What's Expo... 5 bars? One patio? Your logic and explanation is flawed. Please leave your incorrect notions of life in Denton out of your hopes for Dallas. We love you for sure. But you're still the Aunt with the nice handbag and yappy dog who doesn't really get the weird sticker on the back of our car that barely runs and we will interact with you accordingly on major holidays. I didn't get you anything, bu the way, but thanks for the Ipod.

    Comment by Denton Guy — March 28, 2008 @ 01:40PM

  8. KEEP DENTON BEARD.

    Comment by Fightbiterecordhopgusthuslin — March 28, 2008 @ 06:39PM

  9. Alison, try being in a band from Denton that wants to book a show at the Double Wide.
    For me and other people I know, it is nearly impossible.

    Comment by jeremy — March 30, 2008 @ 10:59AM

  10. musician,

    as for. "Club Dada (the only place in Deep Ellum left worth playing) can't even maintain a website to tell me what's coming up."

    Thanks for the compliment, but as for our website, is the "currently under construction - please check our MySpace calendar" not noticeable enough?

    Comment by Club Dada — April 2, 2008 @ 12:41PM

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