Live in Dallas? question for ya

[Tampabass]

Looks like I'll be in Dallas for a VERY quick biz trip in a couple of weeks, and I will have one evening and part of one afternoon free. Hotel is "in the center of downtown Dallas" on Commerce Street.

Anyone know if there are any good bass or musical instrument stores in that vicinity? Also, any good places to hear music in that area? Book stores or record/CD stores? I'm primarily looking for tips for places within walking distance.

[vivifiction]

You'll be by Deep Ellum, which is where most venues and stuff are, so there will certainly be live music around. For music stores and such, I'd recommend a google search- "music store in deep ellum, dallas" got me a bunch of things- but I've never really gone shopping down there so not sure what to expect.

[Tampabass]

thank ye. Anyone from Dallas with specific suggestions?

[ez-rhino]

Unfortunately, there's not much to do in downtown Dallas. I should know, I live 5 minutes away, and drive thru it's heart every morning on my way to work. There's a decent record store south of downtown called Bill's Records, it's on Lamar, there are some decent restaurants around there, and in downtown proper, as well. Deep Ellum is just east of downtown, wouldn't recommend walking there, from say, The Adolphus (am guessing that's where you will be), or walk to Bill's for that matter, everything is spread out in N. Texas, so if you have a car, you're golden - just go wherever.

When you do get to town, where the newspaper boxes are on the street, there are red boxes which have the "Dallas Observer" (they are free), which is the local Village Voice Media paper - get one, they come out on Wednesdays, and have all the local going's on for clubs, concerts, events, etc. They'll have the club listings for pretty much every place in Deep Ellum. There's usually something going on in Ellum pretty much every night of the week, and if you are willing to drive places, there wouldn't be a shortage of things to do.

But bear in mind; Dallas is not a destination city. People who come to Dallas, usually want to go to Ft. Worth, Arlington, or the Hill Country.

There's a N. Texas Talk Bass GTG happening on the 12th up in McKinney, which is about 45 minutes north of downtown, am planning on going, as are a whole slew of Texas TBer's.

DFW GTG at the Cadillac

Let me know when you come to town, would be happy to have a coffee or beer with you.


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[Tampabass]

thanks, EZ. No, I won't have a car - will be walking or cabbing it. I'll be in the vicinity of AT&T's HQ.
I'll get there the afternoon/evening of 5/17, then will be locked up in a biz meeting all the next day and then flying out that night.

[()smoke()]

Originally Posted by Tampabass

thanks, EZ. No, I won't have a car - will be walking or cabbing it. I'll be in the vicinity of AT&T's HQ.
I'll get there the afternoon/evening of 5/17, then will be locked up in a biz meeting all the next day and then flying out that night.

music stores--hit up Good Records on lower Greenville--it's a bit far to walk, but a short cab ride from where you are (owned by Tim DeLaughter of Tripping Daisy/Polyphonic Spree)...there is the Granada Theater further up greenville avenue, almost always a good band playing, but it can be a pricey ticket and sell out

House of Blues is near you in the West End, will have national acts, occasionally local openers, occasionally local blues bands

as for music instrument stores, especially for bass, there just isn't much to speak of anymore unfortunately, which is peculiar for a metroplex of the size...

Deep Ellum has a few dive bars with local music almost every night--Liquid Lounge, Tree's (will have nationals too), DoubleWide, Prophet Bar, The Door sometimes has good acts...keep in mind that you might hit or miss with the local acts depending on your tastes...

2826 Arnetic at Malcolm X and Elm is a cool local music bar owned in part by good friends of mine and local band Week of Tuesdays

hope this helps a little

edit: i just clicked your links and see you might be interested in a more mature venue or for jazz music (sorry if i'm wrong, just going by the trio website)...if that is the case, there are a few jazz joints, but i haven't been out in a while and don't know what's hot right now...the Dallas Observer should have listings though, as mentioned

[Tampabass]

hey, Smoke, thanks for the tips.
Boy do i hate that "mature" word, but I guess at 49 I'm, uh, trending in that direction.
At any rate, i have pretty eclectic tastes in music. I'll check the Observer listings online before I go.
BTW, I really liked the Polyphonic Spree discs - really quirky pop with touches of everything from prog to contemporary indie stuff, I thought. Are they still at it?

[the_stone]

Google search "Pegasus News" - it's a local Dallas-area music website with concert listings. Amsterdam Coffeehouse (which is also a bar), over by Fair Park just outside downtown, has good jazz and singer-songwriter music. Be aware, though, that a lot of downtown Dallas gets pretty quiet and deserted at night, so stay aware of yourself if you're out walking around after dark.

As far as music stores, yeah, you might be out of luck. Other than a few instrument stores located out in the suburbs, I don't think there's much other than Guitar Centers in the area.

[()smoke()]

I do apologize for the wording, 'sophisticated' would have been a better choice!

and I'm not knocking deep ellum, I've played a lot of gigs there--but, for example, my buddies who play more Latin jazz or r&b don't frequent the area, if that makes sense--not the age thing, but rather the taste thing (although it appears you are quite open minded in your taste)

and Pegasus is a good online source for arts events, good suggestion

edit: sometimes on Friday early evenings, the DMA has jazz artists performing in the cafe area, I've heard some good stuff there, you might check who is playing

[crijan]

Look up City Tavern, it's in very short walking distance of where you'll be and has live music most nights. I've done a search around for venues in the area and I'm not seeing much going on the night of 5/17, which would be typical for Dallas on a Tuesday night. As mentioned above, we have a very commuter population and thus mid-week events are more rare.

[Tampabass]

thx for the tips, guys. headed there later today, may be able to do couple things this evening, then all day meeting tomorrow and back home