Curtain Club
The Curtain Club. . .what can I say? Curtain has played host to all of my favorite local bands, many of whom (Holy Diver, Mod Effect, Reverent, SiK, Slick Lady Six, and With These Words, among others) I saw for the first time during a Curtain Club visit. The first time I ever photographed a live band performance, it was there. A large number of the photos featured in the Performance Photography area of this site were taken there, and it remains one of my favorite venues at which to shoot or just to hear good music. The sound system and sound guy are absolutely top-notch, and the sets are rarely ever marred by feedback, microphone outages, or instrumentation that's buried in the mix. I have yet to see a show at Curtain experience a series of unresolved technical problems as I have seen at other clubs. And it's relatively easy for a band performing there to obtain a recording of the night's set. When you go to a band's Myspace page and listen to a live recording in the media player, it's nearly always from Curtain, and that says a lot about the place. Curtain supports local music, and the interior is covered with posters and stickers of the bands that have played there. Until July 2007, Curtain was also the home of the "Deep Sundays" series of shows hosted by former 97.1 KEGL radio personality Robert Miguel, which aimed to promote local rock, metal, and alternative bands through Miguel's Scream For Me Dallas Productions. The club features a full roster of mostly local acts every Saturday and Sunday night beginning around 8:00. Cover is typically seven to ten dollars, and credit cards are accepted.
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Tomcats Deep Ellum
The first time I ever went to Tomcats, it was to see Meat Goat and The Razorblade Dolls. I thought the venue was okay, though the sound needed some work as chronic problems with miking and mixing kept cropping up over and over again during each set. These problems were soon worked out, however, and Tomcats rapidly became one of my favorite music venues in Deep Ellum. Unlike some other clubs which are cramped and swelteringly close during the summer, Tomcats in Deep Ellum featured a wide, open area up front by the stage, with ample room to move about, mosh, or just stand and enjoy the music. Over by the bar you could find tables and chairs to sit and enjoy your drink and have conversation (between sets, naturally), and farther back by the entrance were two pool tables. The lighting onstage was also better than average for photographing live shows, particularly on a good night, and the two overhead spotlights made it comparatively easy to get striking silhouettes in black and white that it is just not possible to get at other local venues. Some of my very best shots were in fact taken at Tomcats. It also didn't hurt that one of the general managers was very accommodating to photographers, telling me once that I could set up wherever I wanted. Most of my favorite local bands played Tomcats, and my first introduction to at least one of them was at that location. Unfortunately, the City of Dallas in its infinite wisdom elected to force the Deep Ellum location to close and relocate to Addison by denying it an SUP (specific use permit) to continue operating, citing complaints from residents in the lofts nearby and (grossly overexaggerated) crime statistics. R.I.P., Tomcats of Deep Ellum.
Bill's Records & Tapes
A longtime denizen and supporter of the independent music scene, Bill Wisener and Bill's Records & Tapes have been fixtures of the Dallas community for over thirty years. After cutting his teeth working the flea markets and swap meets, Bill opened his first record store in 1973 on Lower Greenville Avenue. In 1981, he moved the store to its former location at Spring Valley and Coit Road in North Dallas, and from there he proceeded to build one of the largest independently owned and operated record stores in the country. Over the years, hundreds of acts played or made personal appearances inside his hallowed walls, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Radiohead, Suede, Weezer, and Bill's close friend, Ben Harper. Beginning in the summer of 2002, Bill's Records & Tapes also became a popular venue for local poets and spoken word artists, and it was the site of a weekly open mic that ran from 2002 until January 2006. In March 2007, Bill moved the store from its home of 26 years to its present location at 1317 S. Lamar Street, just south of Downtown Dallas. The move was necessitated by the pressures of internet competition and the property management's desire to exploit the changing demographic of the Spring Valley / Coit retail area. Now situated next door to Poor David's Pub and just across the way from the old Sears building (now the South Side Lofts) and the Absinthe Lounge, Bill's Records & Tapes continues to be an integral part of the Dallas arts scene, one of the few remaining places in town where you can get to know the owner and enjoy a mom-and-pop atmosphere. Bill and Bill's Records were forever immortalized in the 2005 Jeff Liles documentary The Last Record Store.
Paperbacks Plus
Dallas's premier used bookstore first opened its doors in 1976 in the Lakewood Shopping Center off Gaston and Abrams in East Dallas, moving to its present location at 6115 LaVista Drive in 1994. The sister store of the original Paperbacks Plus in Mesquite, Texas, it has been owned and run since the beginning by Marquetta Herring and John Tilton. Whether you're a student of literature, an avid poet, a fan of a good mystery or romance novel, or merely a passerby who happens to be in journeying through East Dallas, this is the place to stop and visit. You can find and browse just about any type of book on any subject you can think of, and if you're on a budget (like most of us poor readers, photographers, and artists are), you can take advantage of the generous trading policy to save up to 50% off the price of nearly anything in the store. Many a starving poet and artist have found a haven within the store's hallowed walls. And if you're looking to check out the local literary scene, this is the place to go. While the downstairs houses room after room packed full of books, magazines, movies, and music for sale, the upstairs plays host to various events and readings, literary gatherings, and a weekly poetry salon founded and hosted by local poet Todd Buckley. The headquarters of the Writer's Garrett is located there, and the store itself is situated only a few minutes from Downtown, within easy reach of historic East Dallas and a stone's throw away from Lower Greenville Avenue. Paperbacks Plus has a special place in my heart as it was there that I was given the first job I ever had, and the one I stayed at the longest (1994 - 2003), not to mention having been the place that gave me my entrée into the world of poets and open mic artists. Paperbacks Plus is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours are from 9 - 9 Monday through Friday and from 11 - 7 on Sundays and holidays. The Mesquite location, opened in 1974 and the sister store to the Dallas location, is at 108 E. Davis Street, down the street from the old town square.
Kalachandji's
If you're looking for a unique vegetarian cuisine served up with a generous helping of atmosphere, or your're just a lover of foreign dining experiences, look no further. Kalachandji's has been a fixture in East Dallas since it opened its doors in 1982, and has been recognized far and wide throughout the Dallas area as a premier vegetarian eatery. Numerous personalities have passed through the doors of the temple, including Todd Rundgren, R.E.M., and B.B. King, among others. These and other celebrities are pictured on the wall by the buffet entrance, but the palace does not exploit the value of these names to draw in visitors. It doesn't need to - rather, it is Kalachandji's itself that draws people to it, to come in and dine, frequent the gift shop, or to attend services at the Hari Krishna temple. A friend introduced me to the restaurant in the late 90's, and I have been a patron ever since. On Sunday evenings, when I'm not going to a show or hanging out with a friend, you can often find me there for the Sunday buffet. Eight dollars gets you into the door, and it's all you can eat from that point. During the rest of the week (except Mondays, when the restaurant is closed), the buffet is $7.95 for lunch and $10.95 for dinner, including a salad bar. The menu rotates and features Indian dishes as well as various other dishes done over Indian style. The restaurant features an enclosed courtyard with a fountain, numerous tables, and booths with heaters fixed overhead for use during the winter months. Kalachandji's is located at 5430 Gurley Ave in Dallas, two blocks from Samuel Blvd. and Hwy 78 (East Grand Avenue).
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This page last updated on 27 May 2009 at 9:41 PM.