Deep Thoughts With No Real Point
Posted by Cindy on January 7th, 2007
I’ve received no less than 10 emails from various folks inquiring as to my thoughts about Jonanna Widner’s article, “Missing from the Dallas Scene: You”, which can be found in the current issue of the Dallas Observer. One excerpt in particular seems to have stuck in a lotta craws:
2. We need to get over Deep Ellum.
Once upon a time, Deep Ellum seduced us. We fell for her, hard. And with good reason. She was exciting, fun, full of potential. She turned heads on the street, and we were proud to be associated with her. But after a while, the spark started to sputter—who knows why these things happen—and she grew distant. We started seeing less and less of each other, and we grew apart, and finally we stopped seeing each other all together. Maybe it was for the best, maybe it wasn’t; maybe someday we’ll reunite and things can be like they were before, but at this point, things just aren’t working out. We need to let go. It’s time to move on.
Now that there is a gutsy statement to make. Of course all the impassioned emails that made their way into my inbox are “outraged” and “shocked and angry,” etc., etc., etc. and are encouraging me to write a long-winded post about the inhumanity. But I dunno, I think in a round-about way, the lady is on to something.
I’ve spent almost 7 years promoting, supporting, booking, attending, blogging about, mass emailing aka banging my head against a brick wall. Nothing has changed whatsoever. The only thing I’ve witnessed is that Deep Ellum seems to be dying a slow and painful death. Sure, the owners at Dada went about resurrecting the club in the most brilliant of ways – let local promoters book the shows, promote the shows and actually work the shows. Get folks who have an established reputation for quality show production (Callithump / Gorilla vs Bear, etc.) and let ‘em loose. However with the success of Club Dada, we also saw the downfall of Trees and now the Clearview complex close its doors.
Since I wasn’t into live music during the Deep Ellum heyday back in the 90’s, I can’t really comment on it. However, I’m bringing you the folks who were there and have lots to say (George Gimarc, Josh Venable and coming soon Jeff Liles, Paul Slavens, Frank Campagna and I’m going after Wilonsky with a vengance) putting them in front of a mic and allowing them to share with you via audio podcasts. The thing is, Deep Ellum will never again be what it was in the 90’s. The scenesters who started it and kept it alive have moved on to things like careers, families, suburbs. It’s not like Dallasites aren’t aware that there is a place called Deep Ellum in which you can enjoy great live music. My son knew of Deep Ellum when he was 12-years old fercryinoutloud. If they wanted to come, they would. Dallas is a ditzy bird. That’s why it’s such a remarkable thing when a restaurant makes it past its first 2 years of business. That’s why the sign guys who work with Dallas nightclubs are rich as hell – the clubs change almost monthly. I think we have to face the fact that for now, Dallas doesn’t give a shit. There are some who do, and those are the ones you’ll find out at shows. But for the most part – nada.
Perhaps rather than whining and holding meetings and forming groups to get Deep Ellum back to the way it was; rather one might consider turning Deep Ellum into something people want now. Let’s face it, without the revenue, the clubs will close, the shops will close, the galleries will close and the restaurants will close. I don’t have any answers though, except the obvious – put in the Starbuck’s and the Banana Republics and an artsy movie theater and they will come…dammit.
I think the most interesting thing to watch will be the re-opening of Trees as an all-ages venue. I’m still convinced that this next generation will bring a new thriving Deep Ellum into place. Many nights, being the roadie for my son’s band, found me at The Door packed in wall-to-wall with the screaming 12-17 year olds. Then a venture down to Liquid or Curtain or wherever, those same nights, found those clubs to be all but empty. Also, the opening of ellum: ONSTAGE might also be an interesting venue to offer a breath of fresh air. It’s all-ages though, so that means no booze…dunno how much that affects patronage…I know I get the shakes about an hour into shows at The (no booze) Door – but we all know what an alchy I can be.
The new Ellum venue (set to open on January 20th) also has a “Music and Arts Festival” planned for March 10-13 – which of course is excellent timing to get touring bands on their way to SXSW to perform. Already confirmed bands include, Mates of State, Rahim Quazi, Snowden, the Gazelles, Frank Lenz, Johnny Lloyd Rollins, Pleasant Grove, Pegasus Now, Comrade, Stellamaris, Say Hi to Your Mom, Salim Nourallah, Birdmonster and more. They are awaiting confirmation from bands such as Okkervil River, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, Caleb Engstrom, The Whigs, The Secret Handshake, Starlight Mints, Voxtrot, The Theater Fire and several others.
Here’s what they say:
ellum: ONSTAGE is a full service, all ages performance venue (1100 inside capacity & 3000+ outdoor option) that is part of a project called Life in Deep Ellum which also features Mokah Coffee, the Marie Green Student Center, ellum:ART and film/live recording studio. Its purpose is to provide a great sounding room that functions to suite the most demanding of mid size club tour support. ellum: ONSTAGE is destined to become as legendary as other icons in the Deep Ellum club scene, and is committed to producing great shows any night of the week.
ellum: ONSTAGE has show quality sound and lighting system. The sound system consists of 8 Soundbridge XEON True Line Array mains, 4 per side with 4 dual loaded 18″ XEON subs, all QSC powered. The FOH system of capable of 148 dB, one watt, one meter. The Monitor rig consists of two-way active Soundbridge Slice wedges, a three-way drum platform fill, and three-way stage fills. The monitor (by advance only) and house consoles are the Yamaha M7CL mixing console with 48 channels. All comp, eq, gates, and FX are digital in the console, but Analog Outboard gear is available upon advance. The stage dimensions are 35′ wide by 24′ deep, which makes it the biggest stage in Deep Ellum.
Who knows what the future holds for Deep Ellum. Clubs are popping up even with others shutting down. Restaurants are replacing those that failed. So maybe the area will waver along until the kids can catch the Dart Rail to just a spittin’ distance from Trees. We’ll see. Meantime, go easy on our new music editor...unless you’ve got that one great idea as to how to make Deep Ellum a thriving success…then by all means, drop her a note.
“My Last 4 Bucks” by Cottonmouth, Texas
January 7th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Technically “My Last 4 Bucks” is by Cottonmouth, Tx. Just sayin’.
January 7th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
ellum on stage is going to live or die by the way they treat the local acts that play there. one THE DOOR is enough, the pyramid scheme ‘bring your friends or don’t get paid’ isn’t going to work more than once, even for the garage-jamming high school set. i’m interested to see how they plan on making money without any alcohol sales whatsoever. maybe thats what the $10 cover charge on local bills comes in. ridiculous.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:51 am
Bad parking, lack of public transportation, greedy club owners/developers, and a laundry list of other problems = dying neighborhood.
A place like St. Louis’s Loop District has a mix of live music venues, coffee houses, indie record stores, tattoo parlors, comic book shops, and a bowling alley/cocktail lounge.
In the same St. Louis district you’ll find the commercial but necessary Gap stores, Borders, Apple Store, and several other chains, but they’re anchors for the mom and pop shops.
You can see this working in other places like Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and many other cities.
Deep Ellum was a fantastic and magical place long ago, but lost it’s edge and purpose.
There’s a curious and unDallas mix of nightlife, living space, art studios, and music venues, around the Cedars District of southern downtown Dallas.
Anchored by Southside On Lamar, you can find great independent businesses like Lee Harvey’s, Poor David’s Pub, Amuse, Standards & Pours Coffee, and very soon Bill’s Record’s will be moving to Lamar St.
Maybe Deep Ellum’s not dead, just relocating.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:52 am
Bill’s Records
January 8th, 2007 at 3:34 am
Woah… Bill’s moving to Dallas, RGRS possibly moving to Dallas, Trees half-assed reopening pending, whatever the Ellum Live “cultural center” thing is… Dallas may never again be what it was in the 90s, but not by lack of effort.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:35 am
sorry… Ellum Live = Ellum: Onstage
January 8th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Jeez Louise — how many times are we going to beat the Deep Ellum dead horse? DE in the 80s was an organic, synergistic, generational thing driven by punk rock, music videos, loosely enforced liquor laws, and most important of all, deeply cheap rent. Once the developers realized what was happening and moved in (massive brew pubs, Monica’s, lofts for the beautiful people) and brought their friends (the wishy-washy hipsters), it was done. And it’ll never happen again…too many competitors for eyeballs and time (MySpace, Tivo, Xbox), too much governmental intervention (we’ve got to keep the streets safe! we’ve got to maximize tax revenue!), a generation raised by parents more concerned with safety than independence, and a populace shattering into a hundred thousand slivers of self-interest which will limit any scene to a relatively small handful of people. Which can be a fun & profitable thing, if you set your expectations correctly, as a consumer and a provider.
OK, then…
January 8th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
it’s a simple, really:
Have a reason to go = people will show up
“If you build it, they will come” is the formula that works. However, a hodge-podge of Christian-bent venues, tattoo parlours, hooka joints (is that even still in business?), head-banging venues, and hip living spaces doesn’t offer a cohesive draw. The question now is “What’s the target market?” since in DE, there isn’t an historic crowd to draw on. The ’30s blues artists have moved on, the ’80s punks have moved on, the ’90s garage bands have moved on, so what’s there today? Who knows?
I’m with you, Cindy. I think that an all-ages club (or two or three) isn’t a bad deal. Yeah, I don’t go there, but then, I’m not the target market. Do I think that the local hipsters are gonna starting hanging at Life in Deep Ellum? uh, no. But with enough creative, interesting, vibrant draws, and a bit of savvy marketing, there is hope for Deep Ellum.
January 8th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Hold up, hold up, hold up…RGRS moving to Dallas? WTF?
January 8th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Let’s hope they pick a location in Deep Ellum. Having the great places to go spread between Oak Cliff, DE, McKinney Ave, etc etc doesn’t help. THIS is where the city needs to offer incentives (lower taxes, better parking, safety) for revitalization.
January 8th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
[...] Deep Thoughts With No Real Point [...]
January 8th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Gomez and I were trolling around DE last night looking for something to do about 9p and things were DEad. Had to go all the way out to the Doublewide to find any signs of life whatsoever. We talked about it at length … DE was never exactly packed on Sundays but there did use to be _some_ life left on the 7th day. Ah well. Is Dada not doing the Sunday open-mic thing any more?
January 8th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Deep Ellum as an aesthetic destination is long gone. If the artists and musicians want to bring it back, they had better look for somewhere else to do their thing in the meantime. The bad news is that it is going to take years for the City of Dallas to repair the decaying sewer line that runs beneath Elm Street. The good news is that landlords will have no choice but to lower the rents while the neighborhood infrastucture gets back up to code. Real art and important music is inspired by suffering, loss and frustration. Cross your fingers and hope that the few gifted creatives who remain will hang around long enough to see the neighborhood shed the raw sewage and money monkeys. Clearview closed? Good. That’s a step in the right direction. Now if we can just get rid of all of the restaurants, tattoo shops, frat bars and pay parking lots then the artists, musicians and gallery owners might be able to afford to move back in. Until then, I suggest looking for a new area in uncharted territory.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
[quote]ellum on stage is going to live or die by the way they treat the local acts that play there. one THE DOOR is enough, the pyramid scheme ‘bring your friends or don’t get paid’ isn’t going to work more than once, even for the garage-jamming high school set. i’m interested to see how they plan on making money without any alcohol sales whatsoever. maybe thats what the $10 cover charge on local bills comes in. ridiculous. [/quote]
I’m confused. If a band doesn’t bring an audience, what are they worth to the promoter? Promoters don’t do show’s for giggles. It is about profit to the promoter, and if a band is willing to play for an empty room because no one wants to see them perform, then they should do so with an empty wallet. I think it is stupid for a promoter to book a band that doesn’t draw. That’s just band business skills.
Why is it that it is fine to pay $8.50 to go and see some pathetic Hollowood remake of a 70’s classic, but some how it is “rediculous” to pay $10 to see local Dallas talent. If I am going to see a show where my friends are paying, I am happy to pay that amount.
ellum:ONSTAGE offers a better sound system, lighting, larger stage, and a newly renovated facility which makes it unique in the club scene, especially as it relates to the Door. There is quite an unfair comparison that is being leveled here. To top that off, and most importantly, it is part of something much bigger. You can find that out at http://www.lifeindeepellum.com. That might help you be a bit more informed. All I had to do was a quick google to find that one out.
January 9th, 2007 at 11:09 am
I think KatieMac, Reid and Jeff have hit the nail on the head. Small groups of fans and/or non-funded musicians can’t do much to make changes. There is so much in the hands of the City of Dallas, the landlords, the parking lot owners, et al. We are talking about a LOT of money to make any real changes, not to mention the approval of the city. It’s too bad too. I love going to Deep Ellum during the day too – just wish there were more quirky shops, antique stores, etc.
I wish ellum: ONSTAGE all the luck in the world. I’m a huge supporter of all-ages venues and anyone who has checked out all-ages shows put on by Mike Ziemer (Third String) or Aden Holt (Buzz-Oven) should know that these things are crowded and profitable…and great for the kids to have a place to go.
January 18th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Ellum:LOVER is right on the money about promoters taking a chance on bands that don’t draw. It’s Darwin on a dance floor – bands that don’t suck get the chance to breed. Someone’s got to take a chance on new acts, though (even if they’re just new to the area), and bands have to play their part by building their own value, and working with the venues.
As you suggested, the same applies to the revitalization of Deep Ellum – the city and the businesses will either find a way to work together and make things better, or spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on plumbers and attorneys and still drown in crap.
There are many reasons for hope – ellum:ONSTAGE seems poised to make a difference, the Deep Ellum Association is hard at work, (great web site!), and I’m told that the police presence there is on the upswing. Overall, there seems to be a willingness to make it work – it’s just a matter of finding common ground on how to do it.
I say this as an out-of-town act coming back to play Deep Ellum (Santiago’s Cantina Dallas on Main Street). I’m working at a reduced rate for the first few shows, because I’m willing to bet that I can make new friends with my music (I don’t suck), and also because the owner, Santiago Pena, strikes me as a smart businessman with a serious stake in Deep Ellum (he owns several other businesses there as well). I also like the association with the kind of rich history that DE has, and I’m willing to do what I can to help make it better.
SO – this Saturday you can see the Grand Opening of a great new venue, see the Dedringers at the Allgood Café, The Dog Kickers at Adair’s, a Nine-year Anniversary at the Curtain Club/Liquid Lounge, Tony Barker at Cantina Dallas…