Fort Worth's The Moon Bar is moving on up, literally.
Sometime in mid-November, the bar, currently located on the Texas Christian University campus, will move northwest to a spot in the Ridglea Theater complex. But it won't just be a few doors down from the historic theater, according to The Moon Bar owner Chris Maunder, the bar will be connected to the Ridglea by a hallway that runs through the center of the complex.
"[Ridglea Theater owner Jerry Shultz] approached me about moving The Moon over there," Maunder says. "We've been working on this for several months now."
The move works well for all parties involved. The Ridglea Theater will benefit from having other surrounding nightlife options, and The Moon Bar will occupy a space three times the size of its current room. "We'll probably go up to 500 people," Maunder says of the new space.
But, while he's never had a problem filling The Moon Bar with its current 150 capacity, it might be tougher to do so when it makes the move.
"The goal is to continue to challenge our artists the same way that
they've challenged us," Maunder says. He hopes to bulk up attendance by
broadening the artists booked at The Moon. Aside from booking national
and regional acts, he plans to bring in more country and Americana
acts, along with burgeoning local hip-hop and dubstep acts.
"I've
always tried to bring as many different types of music in that I
could," Maunder says. "Some of it didn't translate, so I'm hoping [the
move] will help that."
Maunder has another goal in mind, too. He
wants to give back to the Fort Worth community. As such, when the bar
opens its new doors in mid November, proceeds will go to local
non-profits.
"Grand opening week, the plan is to connect a local
non-profit to each of the four nights we'll be throwing grand opening
parties," Maunder says.
And, yes, he did say four nights of grand
opening parties, on which he is working to book popular Fort Worth acts
including Burning Hotels, The Orbans, Josh Weathers, Calhoun, Whiskey
Folk Ramblers and others.
Maunder is certainly aiming high with
the bar's new location, but he seems confident in the ability of both
The Moon Bar and the Fort Worth music scene to grow.
Says Maunder: "It's time to get bigger, man."
