Dallas might not be Seattle, Atlanta, Boston or Austin, but over the years there have definitely been some great bands come out of the woodwork. If it were not for these venues that gave new bands a chance, and many of those now defunct, they may have never gotten their start. They didn’t have indie sites where you can sell your music like MadeLoud.com.

1. Club Dada – A faded teal exterior trimmed in skillfully and colorfully painted tribal masks and a neon sign greet visitors to one of the best-known clubs in town. Three music stages--two inside and one outside--offers plenty of opportunity for dancing or just hanging out. They accept a large variety of live music with local and national acts with an audition only open mic. They were voted “Best Rock Bar 2008 Dallas Observer." According to their MySpace page,
booking is done Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between the hours of 12pm & 5pm

For gig booking contact is Ben Tapia - 214.586.3358 or email bensurfs69@yahoo.com
Indie Venue’s main website: http://www.myspace.com/clubdada

2. The Lakewood Bar & Grill – Red walls, wooden tables and many dark booths offer a relaxed atmosphere for sipping a couple drinks or eating a meal. Live rock bands set up at the front main stage. A pool table in the back and a couple video games (including Golden Tee) are available up front. Televisions are on for the slow moments. The bar dominates one wall, and the small kitchen is tucked in the back, offering usual bar fare.

For gig booking contact is Dave - 214- 826-3888 or email dave@lbgdallas.com.
Indie Venue’s main website: http://www.lbgdallas.com

3. The Curtain Club – Predominantly showcases local talent of course, which is The Curtain Club is on this Dallas indie venue list, but they have also hosted national acts such as: Henry Rollins, Matthew Sweet, Dick Dale, Papa Roach, Train, Soul Asylum, Corrosion of Conformity, Static X, String Cheese Incident, and once local now national acts such as Drowning Pool, Reverend Horton Heat, Bowling For Soup, Ian Moore, Jack Ingram, Pat Green, SouthFM, Edgewater, The Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy, Vallejo, Brave Combo, and others.

For local and regional band gig booking contact Elite Entertainment PMB 132 6780 Abrams Rd. Suite 103, Dallas, TX 75231 during their office hours: Tues-Thur 12-5pm or call 214.342.2030. Indie Venue’s main website: http://www.curtainclub.com

4. The Galaxy Club – This smaller club started with heavy metal roots and now they routinely book some of the best touring acts and has lead to Deep Ellum grew immensely from 1991 – 2002, then eventually died down a bit. I am not sure if the Galaxy benefited from that. I like to think it was the other way around. Definitely a great place to start.

For gig booking call 214- 742-5299
Indie Venue’s main website: http://www.myspace.com/galaxyclub

5. The Green Elephant – This Dyer street bar is very open to taking on new talent and we comely opens submissions on their MySpace page for “Performers, bands, artists, music lovers, bar poets, eccentrics, dancers, drinkers, smokers, entertainers, social butterflies & anyone with positive energy!” With a large indoor and outdoor stage, they appeal to SMU kids who want to feel like they are cool dive goers.

For gig booking fill out their band submission form: http://www.arthurhincapie.com/bandform.php
Indie Venue’s main website: http://www.myspace.com/thegreenelephant

6. The Door – With three different stages set this is a larger indie venue which just recently moved to the now defunct Gypsy Tea Room. They take bookings by emailing thedoor@thedoordallas.com.
Indie Venue’s main website: http://www.thedoorclubs.com

Other Larger Entertainment Dallas Rock Concert Venue Websites
http://www.americanairlinescenter.com/
http://www.thepalladium.net/
http://www.sonsofhermann.com/
http://www.granadatheater.com/

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