Three Bands We'd Rather See At Trees' Re-opening

It's actually happening. After speculation of a re-opening since the club closed at the end of 2005, there is a show at Trees tonight. The now-defunct Slow Roosevelt is reuniting (again) to play the first Friday gig as we've mentioned in WYDT. So what do we know about the new incarnation of the Deep Ellum rock club that held up the heft of the many-faceted local scene with actual gigantic tree trunks when the area was still the center of Dallas music? Enough to safely assume it will take on a different role in Dallas music than it once did.

  • We know that Trees reviver Clint Barlow used to book bands for Firewater and played drums for Vanilla Ice on tour.
  • Barlow had to significantly clean up the place to properly serve new-school patrons.
  • We know that come September, the club is joining the ranks of venues participating in the community-boosting Deep Cover second Saturday special (right now, 10 bucks grants access to 6 venues) co-sponsored by the Dallas Observer.
  • We know that the first national headliner, set to play Saturday, is Saliva. And a look at the rest of the bands booked in the coming weeks suggests a hard push for the club as a pretty much exclusive haven for metal and hard rock that fills rooms.

No one can say how the club will evolve once its roots are back down. But we can dream about a bill that would capture the Trees we remember  -- the place we first saw both The Paper Chase and Lawrence, Kansas' The Appleseed Cast -- to mark its second wind.

Three Bands We'd Rather See Tonight At Trees

Red Animal War: This post-punk powerhouse is as loud as the other bands on Trees' plate but writes songs that are much smarter and more interesting. We remember singer/guitarist Justin Wilson bounding off the stage and pounding on a cymbal in the middle of a packed crowd at Trees on a weeknight. Incidentally, this band is playing shows again after a hiatus, just like the club that housed its heyday.

The Old 97s: Rhett Miller has been busy with his solo project's success, but not too busy for the band to play at Bass Hall next week. Yes, Bass Hall. Exactly where essentially Texas alt-country should be played.

The Rocket Summer: Yes, we're serious. Before multi-instrumentalist Bryce Avary signed to Island Def Jam and garnered an international following with his high-energy indie-pop, he was a darling of KDGE's The Adventure Club and a regular at Trees, which hosted shows sponsored by the beloved radio show.

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