I heard rumors this weekend that Saturday Night’s “Lollipop Shoppe” at Fallout Lounge was to be the last event ever held at the staple Exposition Park establishment. I was hoping that they weren’t true, but it was confirmed last night via the venue’s Facebook page:
We’ve decided to not renew our lease and are calling it quits in Expo Park area after nine long and rewarding years. A very special thanks goes out to all the patrons, DJs, bands, open-mic’ers and bartenders that made the times fantastically enjoyable and amazingly memorable! The personal names to thank are too many to mention but a very warm thank you to all of you who really made Fallout Lounge such a fun place to be.
However, the necessary short list that must be mentioned and give an indebted and most gracious thanks to are Thomas Rusher for always being at the ready for any and all critical problems, John Swanson, for a bullet proof work ethic and honesty beyond mention, Amanda Douglas for resilient booking and creative theme ideas, Joe Silva for always being there when we needed him to the last, Michael Libbermann from Pizza Lounge for being a stand up guy, friend and best neighbor anybody could ask for, Gabriel Mendoza, Keri Williams, Felix Flores, Brian DeVries, Tim Austin, Chase Dillon, Tabitha Neises, Howard Kelly and Jeff Hargrove. Below really sums up my Fallout Lounge experience.
Cheers!
It’s then followed by that Emerson quote that ends with “to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” Now, I don’t necessarily equate Fallout Lounge’s near-decade of existence with having helped individuals breathe easier … (cough) … but that’s exactly why many of us had such a soft spot for the place. It was unlike most Dallas venues that had a lot of dance nights, in that it wore its unpretentiousness on its staff’s collective sleeve. Fallout often boasted some really diverse booking, and it was a relief when a band was playing there and not some other typical venue in the neighboring entertainment districts, despite their lack of a proper PA suitable for group-based acts.
The enclosed space was charmingly cramped and forced people to actually listen and not chitchat their way through sets. The DJing was some of the most consistent in Dallas, with events such as “Hot Flash,” “Black Fridays,” “Mile End,” “Psychic Drive In,” and of course, “Away From the Numbers.” I’ll miss waking up with that dumb little fallout shelter symbol scrawled on my hand in faded black marker, and all the equally faded memories that accompanied it.
We’ll have more information on rescheduled events, etc. as it becomes available.
Image: From the Hot Flash vs Broken Teeth Party at Fallout Lounge, October, 2009. Photo by Stephanie Kimberly.
