The upcoming Denton noise/free folk festival Beauty and the Beast Vol. 1, originally scheduled for July 1st at Rubber Gloves, was recently served with a cease and desist order from Myspace and possibly Disney for use of a Disney movie title in its name.... or I guess as its name. Maybe the talking tea cups got a little pissed off when they heard about the festival... they're more into emo or something.

But fear not noise rockers, because the fest is back on under a different name: Strategies of Beauty Vol. 1. The date and time have not changed, and so far they have confirmed the following acts:

Fra Pandolf
Notes from Underground
You are the Universe
Hotel, Hotel
IDi*Amin
Shiny Around the Edges
Chris Garver
Ribelle Scaltro

Should be a good one. Go to their Myspace page and listen to some of the bands that will be appearing.

Um, so theres this other rumor going around that DWide will be back open THIS WEEKEND with new owners... jesus. That would surely be cool, but if its true, I wasted one big long winded post on nothing. Oh well.

We don't know for sure, but we've heard from a couple of seemingly reliable sources, so we'll give you more info when we get it.

Not a lot of live music going on tonight, which means that it might be a good night to head up to Denton to check out DJ Nature's Party at Rubber Gloves.... and if you're too uncool to get why you should go by now, just remember that they've got two dollar well drinks tonight, meaning that you can drink AND get someone else drunk enough to actually believe that you're hip, all at the same time! That is one dollar more than the confirmed price of PBR at places that don't exist anymore folks, so ch ch check it.

Just when it seemed like the wave of Deep Ellum/Dallas scene obituaries (including those coming from this site) was finally dying down and people were moving on , DoubleWide had to go and close its doors, forcing local music writers to yet again come up with a batch of well written statements about the death of Deep Ellum, local music, and the neighborhood. But I refuse to bore you with that shit, because I think most of what can be said has already been said. I also think that Doublewide's closing, while certainly not a good thing, doesn't really change that much. Yes, it means one less place to see decent music in the downtown area, and yes it happened to be one of the best small venues in town, but its closing also doesn't happen to have much of an impact in an area where there isn't much happening to begin with.

DoubleWide seems to have been one of the most beloved bars in Dallas, especially amongst the crowd that generally takes an interest in the kind of music we cover on this blog. On a personal level, I had some great times at DoubleWide, saw some pretty good shows (the Undoing/Strange Boys show earlier this year being the best I can remember), and really enjoyed the atmosphere of the place most of the time. It was great to have separate bars; one for music and one for hanging out, along with a courtyard in the middle to serve as a break from the two. It was large enough to see a lot of people you knew at once and avoid those that you didn't want to see. The sound in the performance room was also quite good, and the space was big enough to host a decent sized local show but small enough to remain intimate. All in all, many good times were had by a lot of people at DoubleWide, and that is something we should all remember.

But lets also remember some other things about the place. For starters, it was a theme bar. And we all know, or should know, that theme bars are lame. And although Doublewide was far less guilty than others of taking their theme to obnoxious levels, it also created what sometimes ended up being a Texas Post Modern altcountry kitschy macho tattoo dude vibe that, like it or not, could get pretty annoying. Paying three bucks or whatever for a can of PBR, by the way, didn't help make the joke any funnier.

And another thing: how many great shows did Doublewide actually host? I don't have a number for you, but there were a lot of weekends that I remember Friday night's line up being some bullshit rockabilly band and three local ass rock outfits that I had never heard of and didn't care to hear, followed by a Saturday Night Roller Derby party featuring the Feds or some shitty pop punk band that probably would have been annoying beyond words if I had actually ever been dumb enough to go to a Roller Derby event. What I am trying to say is that while Doublewide had all the makings for a great bar, and often was one, there were many nights in which it hosted bad music for boring crowds. And that certainly didn't help things in my mind.

Well, now its gone. And although the reasons aren't entirely clear, a few things are. For starters, it seems that it is becoming less and less economically feasible to keep a decent concert venue/bar open in the Deep Ellum/ Downtown area. You can blame crime, a lack of good bands, a lack of good fans, outrageous parking prices and shady Deep Ellum club clientele, but whatever the cause, the results are the same: right now, for whatever reasons you want to cite, business is not good in Deep Ellum and downtown Dallas. But instead of trying to figure out how we can "save" Deep Ellum (please, dear Christ, not another festival), it seems time to start looking elsewhere, perhaps to places with cheaper rent, or maybe to a different model of doing things all together. I would be all for a revived Deep Ellum , but I just don't see any really cool bars opening up in the neighborhood any time soon, and I'm not planning on holding my breath.

Greenville might also have some potential to take some of the slack, but I'm not holding my breath there either. It seems like a lot of club owners over there are perfectly happy with the SMU clientele, the Friday night suburban millionaires, and the other groups of assorted idiots that you see at the Taco Cabana on Saturday night. One of the few places that seems to have good shit going on, The Cavern, has terrible sound problems right now, and each time I go there I want to go back less and less. Its a great space in a great location, and whoever does the booking there obviously has better taste than 99% of those that book other Dallas clubs/bars, but until they get that sound fixed, I don't see how it will work. And it might even be a tad too small for some of the national touring acts that could come through.

Of course, most of the shows that I actually care about seem to take place in Denton these days anyway, and the closing of another venue in Dallas will probably just shift even more action to our friends up north. But since I live in Dallas, I would like to focus on my town for a moment. Here are three possibilities for the future of Dallas music venues that I see:

1. Bars that Already Exist in Deep Ellum/ Lower Greenville will pick up the slack and get interesting again at some point: Places like Darkside Lounge and several bars on Greenville could in fact start hosting good live music more often (darkside already has good shows from time to time), but only if it can be demonstrated to club owners that it will be profitable for them to host the kind of bands that people who read this blog want to see. I don't know if that is possible, but it might be... although I doubt it will happen in Deep Ellum.

2. New Bars or Pre existing bars in other parts of Dallas will pick up the slack: I don't really know about bars in other parts of town, or where new bars could be built or rented and renovated for cheap, but it seems that there must be places in Dallas where rent will be low enough and the location will be central enough to make it work. What about the drag around Columbia, or the Expo park area, or Oak Cliff, or places farther east of Fair Park? Rent has to be cheap in those spots, and if people are willing to go just a tad out of their way into neighborhoods that aren't very pretty, this might work too.

3. DIY/Non Profit/ Co-OP Venues: If the economics aren't working for Dallas club owners, why not change the economics and drop the club owners? If profits can't be made off hosting good music in bars, then are profits really necessary? A good DIY place like Sanctuary Studios is hard to come by, but there are so many little spots all over Dallas with vacant buildings that are probably cheap to rent, it just seems incredible that there isn't already one or two or three functioning DIY spots in a city this big. And another thing: a couple months ago, we posted an article about a new Co-op bar in Austin. What is wrong with that idea? If one or two hundred people could get together and throw in 100 dollars or so per person to rent and possibly fix up some bar or space and get things started as a co-op not for profit music venue for a certain period of time, who is to say it wouldn't work? I'm sure people have tried this and will say that it hasn't or won't ever work, but it just doesn't seem like anyone would have much to lose, other than 100 bucks and some free time. If a lack of profits is what is closing down bars and clubs around here, something like a Co-op could provide a remedy (and no, this isn't my attempt to start a We Shot JR co-op, its just an idea that I hope someone will try.)

None of these ideas are thought out in any detail, and they weren't written to cheer people up or anything warm and fuzzy like that, because frankly they are just baseless ideas that might have no ground in reality at all. I'm just sick to death of talking about how much Deep Ellum sucks, and I frankly don't give a shit about that neighborhood anyway. What I care about is having fun while I'm here, and I'm not having it in downtown Dallas. Maybe there are other places to go, or other methods to use to get something going in this town, but I simply refuse to sit around on here and cry about some bar or group of bars closing down. Its just boring.

Just to let you know: we've got some new stuff coming later tonight, including our take on the closing of DoubleWide, which several people have sent emails asking about today.... and you know you wanna know what we think. Here is fun:

1. The Lost Generation with Wanz upstairs at the Cavern. You know the drill, but in case you don't, here is a list of what you'll hear tonight from the mouth of the beast himself:

"Tonights will feature tracks from The Pogues, TSOL, Sun Ra, T Rex, Robert Wyatt, Deltron 3030, Antipop vs Matthew Shipp, Celebration, Charles Mingus, Battles(Live), Trax off of The Downtown 81 soundtrack, Ghost, Lady Sovereign, Jean-Claude Vannier, m.i.a., Michael Mayer, Paul Anka, Human League('79), This Heat, Television, Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin, Quantic Soul Orchestra, Silk Stocking, The Dwarves, The Get Hustle, POLYSICS, Sons & Daughters, Metal Boys, Pussy Galore, Buck 65, Gogol Bordello, Gang of Four, Magazine, Guru Guru, Curtis Mayfield, the White Noise, The Flaming Lips, Serena Maneesh, The Liars, MF Doom, We Are Wolves, The Stooges,Miss Kitten, Ellen Allien, The Boredoms, Rod Lee(Baltimore club music), The Cramps, "New" Nick Cave, Nouvelle Vague, The Slits, Beat Happening, The Feelies, The Invincinle Czars, hOlly Golightly, Gal Costa, The Monks,a few ace trax off of the new Jarvis Cocker & Steve Mackey DJ disc "The Trip" and much much more...........I am also gonna do small block of Scratch Acid related bands in order of the anouncement of their reunion show at the Touch and Go 25th anniversary show in september. That means Rapeman, ,Birthday Party, Jesus Lizard, Shellac, Big Black and Denison Kimball Trio. Get ready to get your Drink on. Seeya there. Cheers!!!!"

Got it? Good. Also:

Two Gallants, Cold War Kids, and Cartright will be playing at Rubber Gloves tonight. We've seen Cartright before and the guy puts on a great live show. And although Cold War Kids are kind of dorky, we can't help but like their catchy songs... thanks to Gorilla vs. Bear for that one. And yes, we really do HATE everything on Saddle Creek other than the Faint, including Two Gallants. They sound like emo for people that are into Rev. Horton Heat or something. Du-umb.

According to Jennet at Daughter Entertainment, the Liars shows that was scheduled for later this year at Hailey's has been cancelled for unknown reasons. Their website has also removed the date from their list of live shows. Guess its just doom and gloom around here these days. MAN were we looking forward to this show.

We'll let you know if they add a different DFWd date at a later time.

UPDATE: Jennet says that the show was never confirmed, as opposed to being confirmed and then cancelled. I guess that makes a difference in the biz, but either way it means that we don't get to see the show. Suck.

Take a break from your DoubleWide crying and look at this:

1. The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
2. Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors
3. Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
4. Mates of State - Bring It Back
5. The Black Angels - Passover
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
7. Bibio - Hand Cranked
8. Editors - The Back Room
9. Ambulance LTD - New English EP
10. Sondre Lerche and The Faces Down Quartet - Duper Sessions
11. Liars - Drum's Not Dead
12. The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine
13. Philip E Karnats - Pleasesuite
14. Storsveit Nix Noltes - Orkideur Hawai
15. Feist - Let It Die
16. Lavender Diamond - The Cavalry of Light
17. Mclusky - Mcluskyism
18. Figurines - Skeleton
19. Centro-Matic - Fort Recovery
20. Man Man - Six Demon Bag

Sam from the Observer just confirmed that DoubleWide has in fact closed down... apparently they just weren't pulling in the cash that they needed or something. I'm sure more will be said about this in the near future. The press release:

Tornado Season is Officially Over
After Three Years Double Wide Closes Its Doors
Contact: Kelly Smith
Endeavor Public Relations
Dallas, Texas-(April 11, 2006)-After three years at the edge of Deep Ellum the swirling tornado known as Double Wide has closed its doors effective immediately. Home to an eclectic hodgepodge of trailer park kitsch, Double Wide dually served as a popular watering hole and live music venue. Citing neighborhood issues and declining Deep Ellum patronage, Double Wide has decided to look for space further North and reopen serving food and great music.
“It’s not necessary to regurgitate the issues Deep Ellum business holders face, but you just get to a point where you have to take a step back and make the best decision even though it’s not easy,” says Double Wide owner and operator Jim Sibert. “My initial plan was to locate a new venue and make a seamless transition, but that venue hasn’t presented itself yet so we’re going to go ahead and say last call to a great run.”
Double Wide booking hopes to reschedule show. More information will be posted on http://www.double-wide.com | .