Dallas' iconic Longhorn Ballroom is reopening
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The Longhorn Ballroom's famous marquee. Photo: Courtesy of Cormac West
One of the most storied music venues in Texas is set to reopen Thursday after years of worry about its future.
Driving the news: The Longhorn Ballroom — a place Texas Monthly dubbed "the most historic music venue" in the state — will open its doors for public shows for the first time in nearly two decades.
- Asleep at the Wheel and Old Crow Medicine Show will play there this week.
Why it matters: The Longhorn's rich history includes several famous owners, some legendary shows and appearances by American musical icons from a variety of eras and genres.
The big picture: Concert promoter Edwin Cabaniss has spent the last year restoring the 72-year-old venue — just south of downtown — after he purchased the building out of bankruptcy.
- Last year, Dallas City Council agreed to provide more than $4 million to help fund the finished space. The total cost of renovations is an estimated $15 million, per KXT.
- As the city plans to connect downtown to the Cedars neighborhood with a new convention center, Cabaniss tells Axios that he hopes to turn the Longhorn property into a music complex.
Between the lines: The Longhorn came perilously close to meeting the fate of another iconic Dallas music venue, the Bronco Bowl, which was razed in 2003 and replaced with a Home Depot.
The intrigue: Because the Longhorn was originally built in an unincorporated area of Dallas, the Dallas police didn't have jurisdiction and couldn't enforce segregation laws during the Jim Crow era.
- Other artists who played at the Longhorn's "Black nights" included Otis Redding, Al Green, James Brown and Bobby Blue.
Flashback: In 2009, Cabaniss rescued and restored North Oak Cliff's Kessler Theater, an art deco gem once owned by Gene Autry.
- In 2016, he also restored the iconic Heights Theater in Houston.
What they did: Renovations to the Longhorn have included total overhauls of the plumbing, insulation, sprinkler system and air conditioning, and installing a giant steel beam to help support the structure, Cabaniss says.
State of play: Cabaniss hopes the restored venue, which holds about 2,000 people, will be a regular stop for artists who are too popular for small theaters but not big enough to sell out arenas.
What they're saying: "I'm just a steward of the Longhorn," Cabaniss says. "I want to leave a legacy for my city. This is our gift for Dallas and for Texas."
Reality check: Cabaniss says the next few months will be a "soft opening," and that his team will be figuring out what works and what doesn't.
- "This is going to be a gift that evolves over time," he says.
The Longhorn's amazing history
A famous photo from 1978 features the legendary Longhorn Ballroom marquee advertising back-to-back shows by the Sex Pistols and Merle Haggard.
- That basically sums up the vibe of the place.
Catch up fast: The music hall, originally called Bob Wills' Ranch House, was built for Bob Wills, the founder of Western Swing. It opened Nov. 15, 1950, with a parade and a two-hour television show on WFAA that night.
- Nightclub owner Jack Ruby borrowed $3,700 to purchase the place in 1952, more than a decade before he shot assassin Lee Harvey Oswald on live television. Within a year, Ruby had what he called a "mental breakdown" and left Dallas for Chicago, per the Warren Commission Report.
- At a 1954 Nat King Cole show (pictured above), affluent Black audience members sat up front while white guests stood at the back of the room — a reversal of the usual conditions in the Jim Crow South.
Famous shows: The Sex Pistols played the Longhorn during the group's only tour of the U.S. — not long before breaking up. It became one of the most talked-about shows in Dallas history, thanks largely to bassist Sid Vicious playing most of the show covered in his own blood. (The cause of Vicious' injury is still a point of contention.)
- In 1990, dozens of people smashed tables and chairs and threw bottles after a 2 Live Crew concert at the Longhorn was canceled.
- Aerosmith filmed the music video for "What It Takes" there in 1989.
Other acts that played the Longhorn include…
- Patsy Cline
- Johnny Cash
- Charley Pride
- George Jones
- Tammy Wynette
- Little Richard
- Fats Domino
- Bo Diddly
- Roy Orbison
- The Ramones
- Patti Smith
- George Thorogood
- Butthole Surfers
- Flaming Lips
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Megadeth — whose RV was almost toppled by Rigor Mortis after the two bands got into a skirmish, per Texas Monthly.