Catchin’ Up Part III
Posted by Cindy on 10th July 2008
Everything written below was penned by Jeff Liles. Read it. Yeah, it’s a day or 20 late, but I already toldya, I’ve been sick and doing some feeling sorry for myself time..sheeeeesh…
When you finish up readin’ below, then click here for an AMAZING short film, Dopamine, with the glorious Cottonmouth, Texas on the soundtrack. It’s beeeaaauuutiful.
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A History of Dallas Music by Jeffrey Liles *read it often – look at the photos – learn*
There was a very inspirational brainstorming session last night at the Prophet Bar.
A large number of dedicated gallery owners, artists, residents, public relations execs, photographers and committed visionaries gathered together to cut through all the distorted perception and begin the process of reclaiming Deep Ellum.
Fact: nobody, including Beck Ventures, is going to change the face of this neighborhood for the worse. The deal hasn’t gone through yet, and when/if it does, many of the properties they are interested in are protected by a no-tear-down clause. Unless a building is simply beyond salvage or repair, it isn’t going anywhere.
Fact: the creative/artistic legacy of the neighborhood is simply priceless. Much in the same way small business owners came together to deal with the SUP issues, we are going to continue to reach out to the North Texas creative community in the effort to protect and restore this neighborhood.
Fact: as many of you have already pointed out, there are literally dozens of interesting and inspirational destinations within the neighborhood. Deep Ellum is anything but dead. In actuality, during this difficult economy, the neighborhood is currently providing the best overall value for your entertainment dollar.
This isn’t a veiled pitch or advertisement, it’s simply the truth.
Fact: if you’ve never been to an art gallery opening, you should know they’re free. It’s a great place to take a date. Many of the galleries in the neighborhood all have art openings on the same night, and they are all within walking distance of each other.
You don’t have to spend five or ten bucks to park in a lot, just bring a handful of change and you can park on the street the whole night for less than three bucks.
If you’d rather go drop 60 bucks a person at the House of Blues to see a show that ends before midnight, spend six or seven dollars for a single beer at the Palladium, then go for it. Just know that drink prices in Deep Ellum are WAY less than that.
You won’t go broke by seeing a show or dining in this neighborhood.
You can’t destroy or diminish Deep Ellum. It was here long before all of the shiny shopping malls, the overpriced corporate live music venues and trendy “red velvet rope” clubs with their snooty bottle service. As was referenced time and time again last night, the area is the cradle of this city’s creative sensibility.
If you’re content to live in a vacuous, benign existence with little sense of purpose or meaning, then stay at home and jerk off your X-Box.
If you wanna break out of a routine that offers little or no spiritual or creative inspiration, then know you will be embraced and made to feel part of this very eclectic creative community.
We’re here. We’re not going anywhere. There’s nothing to be afraid of.
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UPDATE: via Liles – The Bar of Soap blog was actually written by Jessicka, who works at BOS. I just reposted it for her on the HoDM page.
As I’m sure everyone has heard by now, on Tuesday morning the landlord locked us out of Bar of Soap.
As many people know, BOS has gone through some hard times over the past couple of years. I personally came on about 4 months ago to help book and manage and try to bring it back.
In the past 4 months we have made a lot of improvements, booked some amazing shows, and come a long way; including catching up with the bills. But not everything happens overnight — and in the business world, 4 months of catching up isnt much compared to 2 years of business slowing down.
We have had a good relationship with the owners of the building and management company, and they have worked with us a lot over the past few months as we have been catching up. However, over the last weekend some changes took place in the management company [owner Lou Reese passed away -ed.] and a certain individual decided that our time at the Bar of Soap was up.
Hence came the lock out.
We were told we had to come up with an impossible amount of money basically overnight to get back in.
Finally, after much dismay, we realized it was over.
So we broke in, I blacked out the windows w/ trashbags, and we sent a text to about 50 people on my phone. “Come say your goodbyes”, and I promised everyone I would stay and serve until i ran out of everything — which we did.
Little did we know, those 50 people spread the word like fire, and by 2 am I’m sure a good 300 folks had been in and out of BOS by the end of the night.
I didn’t do this to try and save the bar, as I never even thought it possible with the amount of money that we needed. HOWEVER!!! We actually made enough money. We were able to meet with the powers that be on Wednesday and they actually worked with us!
EVERYONE THAT CAME OUT SAVED BOS!!! Even more importantly, I would like to point out that even those that didn’t come but told others all someone helped.
Now, I have heard rumor that some people think this was a hoax or stunt. Let me assure everyone that it was not !!!
Anyone here Tuesday night can tell you by my demeanor alone that it was nothing of the sort. The point I’m making here is, if everyone did all the time what they did on Tuesday night then we could assure that venues like ours will always be around.
Even if you cant make a show, because no one can make em all, tell someone about it!
When you pass by your pal in the grocery store… instead of gossiping about who is fucking who, or who got into a fight with who, if you know about a show that’s going on and think they might be interested in it, fucking spread the word! Pass out some flyers for a venue. If you work somewhere you can lay some out, pick some up and do it!
This goes for all places, not just the BOS. Tuesday has proven how well this can work. Most importantly — I just want to thank everyone and tell them how grateful I am we are still here.
Also, we have shows starting this Friday and then everynight after up until Tuesday of next week and many more all month. Please take a look at our calendar and spread the word!!
THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
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10 Jul 2008 – NAME, RISE OF CALIGULA, & THE DAJJAL PERSONA :Sponsors by Peta &Ladies of Metal
11 Jul 2008 – THE RAY GRADYS (PHILLY) W/ RATS IN THE ATTIC
12 Jul 2008 – ROB CHOP’S EUROPEAN TOUR RETURN PARTY!!!!!!! PLAYING YOUR FAVORITES ALL NIGHT
14 Jul 2008 – THE REZUREX!!! HORROR PUNK FROM CALI! W/ SUBCITY VAMP! SPECIAL SHOW $10 COVER
16 Jul 2008 – HOT ROD CARL(Portland), DISASTER US(New Jersey), W/ TBA
18 Jul 2008 – THE FACTORY PARTY, THE FELLOW AMERICANS, THRASHING ASHLEY & BLACK RIVER CROW
19 Jul 2008 – SADDLE TRAMP & TENNESSEE GEORGE W/ TRUCKSTOP JUNKIES!
22 Jul 2008 – BOLTH W/ TBA
23 Jul 2008 – KTP W/ RESPONSIBLE JOHNNY & BEERGNOMES!!!
25 Jul 2008 – ROTTEN YOUTH (from AZ), THE ROLLER, & BLOOD OV
26 Jul 2008 – BLUE EYED SON W/ ROME IS BURNING AND TBA
1 Aug 2008 – THRASHING ASHLEY (SAN ANTONIO), SCREAMING RED W/ TBA
2 Aug 2008 – D.I.H.Y.F. (COLORADO) W/ TBA
4 Aug 2008 – GREEN ROOM ROCKERS W/ PENGUIN AND TBA
15 Aug 2008 – GUNS ON THE RUN (PHILLY), SQUARED OFF (CHICAGO) W/ THE BROADSIDERS & DCS
16 Aug 2008 – CHECK THE LIST W/ TBA
17 Aug 2008 – MURDER PRACTICE W/ TBA
11 Sep 2008 – SOMATHRACE, VORVADOSS, & BLOOD OV
20 Sep 2008 – SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE GO (Tulsa) W/ TBA
4 Oct 2008 – STREETLIGHT FIGHT (Tulsa) W/ TBA
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