Spring Break
Dallas bar reopens
Betsy Stelzer
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: LIFE
By Betsy Stelzer
Staff Writer
DALLAS - Deep Ellum's The Prophet Bar, a venue that once housed evangelical music and on-stage altar calls, has reopened its doors and is reaching different audiences.
The Prophet Bar was established in 1985 by a born-again Christian named Russell Hobbs, dubbed by The Dallas Morning News as "The Prophet of Deep Ellum."
According to a 1988 The Dallas Morning News feature article, Hobbs leased an unsanctioned performance space in Deep Ellum and turned it into an "artistic saloon." Hobbs suspended the bar's cover charge and began serving juice instead of alcohol. The employees worked for free and so did local bands.
After the club closed down, Joel Fruit, manager of The Door in Dallas, decided to lease the former Gypsy Tea Room to reopen The Prophet Bar, Fruit said.
Fruit was also looking for a place to reopen The Door, which was scheduled for demolition.
The previous building that housed The Door was bulldozed to make room for condos, Prophet Bar hostess Mandy Collier said.
Fruit moved to 2513 Main St., in a building conjoined with The Prophet Bar, and reopened The Door, still an all-ages club that books mainly metal bands, serves only soft drinks and water and does not allow smoking. Just down the hallway, the Prophet Bar offers a completely different experience.
Now under the management of Fruit, The Prophet Bar hosts a variety of different acts and serves alcohol to its patrons. Fruit said he tries to bring in as many diverse groups as he can to the new Prophet Bar.
Denton-based jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy performed with the Ari Hoenig Trio and label mate Rudder to half of the NT jazz studies department on Jan. 26 at The Prophet Bar.
Snarky Puppy has also been undergoing renovations. Former keyboardist Kait Dunton, who graduated in fall 2007 from the NT jazz studies master's program, stopped playing with the group and it picked up Bernard Wright, Edina, Minn., graduate student Jon Guari said.
The band has also added Elizabethton, Tenn., graduate student Justin Stanton, fourth chair trumpet in the NT One O'Clock Lab Band, as a keyboardist. Stanton performed with Snarky Puppy at The Prophet Bar along with Bernard Wright and Snoop Dogg's former keyboardist.
Ari Hoening, who put on a drum clinic at the College of Music two days before, opened the show, playing his aggressive "punk-bop" to a crowd composed mainly of NT students and alumni. Metal band The Black Dahlia Murder played down the hallway to a teenage crowd five times that size.
"There are 600 people here tonight," Collier said. "Probably about 500 of them are at The Door."
The Door has a full concert calendar for the month, featuring bands such as Aiden, Emery and Sherwood. The Prophet Bar is also hosting several bands this month, including Liquid Bounce on Feb. 18.
Staff Writer
DALLAS - Deep Ellum's The Prophet Bar, a venue that once housed evangelical music and on-stage altar calls, has reopened its doors and is reaching different audiences.
The Prophet Bar was established in 1985 by a born-again Christian named Russell Hobbs, dubbed by The Dallas Morning News as "The Prophet of Deep Ellum."
According to a 1988 The Dallas Morning News feature article, Hobbs leased an unsanctioned performance space in Deep Ellum and turned it into an "artistic saloon." Hobbs suspended the bar's cover charge and began serving juice instead of alcohol. The employees worked for free and so did local bands.
After the club closed down, Joel Fruit, manager of The Door in Dallas, decided to lease the former Gypsy Tea Room to reopen The Prophet Bar, Fruit said.
Fruit was also looking for a place to reopen The Door, which was scheduled for demolition.
The previous building that housed The Door was bulldozed to make room for condos, Prophet Bar hostess Mandy Collier said.
Fruit moved to 2513 Main St., in a building conjoined with The Prophet Bar, and reopened The Door, still an all-ages club that books mainly metal bands, serves only soft drinks and water and does not allow smoking. Just down the hallway, the Prophet Bar offers a completely different experience.
Now under the management of Fruit, The Prophet Bar hosts a variety of different acts and serves alcohol to its patrons. Fruit said he tries to bring in as many diverse groups as he can to the new Prophet Bar.
Denton-based jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy performed with the Ari Hoenig Trio and label mate Rudder to half of the NT jazz studies department on Jan. 26 at The Prophet Bar.
Snarky Puppy has also been undergoing renovations. Former keyboardist Kait Dunton, who graduated in fall 2007 from the NT jazz studies master's program, stopped playing with the group and it picked up Bernard Wright, Edina, Minn., graduate student Jon Guari said.
The band has also added Elizabethton, Tenn., graduate student Justin Stanton, fourth chair trumpet in the NT One O'Clock Lab Band, as a keyboardist. Stanton performed with Snarky Puppy at The Prophet Bar along with Bernard Wright and Snoop Dogg's former keyboardist.
Ari Hoening, who put on a drum clinic at the College of Music two days before, opened the show, playing his aggressive "punk-bop" to a crowd composed mainly of NT students and alumni. Metal band The Black Dahlia Murder played down the hallway to a teenage crowd five times that size.
"There are 600 people here tonight," Collier said. "Probably about 500 of them are at The Door."
The Door has a full concert calendar for the month, featuring bands such as Aiden, Emery and Sherwood. The Prophet Bar is also hosting several bands this month, including Liquid Bounce on Feb. 18.
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