Firewater in Dallas is officially closing it's doors March 31st -- the result of some legal trouble with the owners, but we bet the economy didn't help -- with one final show: The Cast and Forever Sunday.
Pete Freedman over at DC9 at Night got the details straight from Firewater's talent buyer, Clint Barlow, who says the venue's closing was expected -- just not this soon.
While it's sad that another venue's fire has fizzled out, Barlow's next project gives a glimmer of hope: he wants to re-open Trees.
In the discussion board below Pete's story, the comments are detailed and, not surprisingly, very skeptical that Barlow can accomplish what many others have failed to do.
We have to agree with Jeffery Liles (a local Deep Ellum hero who managed Trees, Club Dada and more live music venues in the 80s/90s) who joined in on the discussion to basically point out that the problems with Deep Ellum clubs have more to do with a dearth of seat-filling local artists.
Liles thinks Trees and others would need eight shows a month with over 750 paying folks in the audience -- that means those clubs would need home-grown bands that can bring in the audience, simply because the touring groups have better options around town.
It's a pretty damning critique of the local music scene, but his point is well founded. Even the Denton music scene can't bring in people the way The Toadies used pull folks, so why should we expect better when the costs of live venues are increasing?
