This Week in Dallas Music History: This Recession's Killing the Music Scene.

Perhaps this is a bit presumptuous of me, but we could be on the rebound from the recession that started on 2008. If nothing else, though, we're a great deal away from the 1992 recession, which, turns out, kinda dogged the DFW live music scene pretty hard.The April 2, 1992...

By Shahryar Rizvi

April 5, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Perhaps this is a bit presumptuous of me, but we could be on the rebound from the recession that started on 2008. If nothing else, though, we're a great deal away from the 1992 recession, which, turns out, kinda dogged the DFW live music scene pretty hard.

The April 2, 1992 edition of the Observer featured Gilbert Garcia writing on the state of live music in the DFW scene. Earlier that week, a few venues decided to take the plunge with a number of budget shows: "Theomania" at Trees; "New Music Nights" at the Rhythm Room; "Recessionary Jam" at Club Dada (a $2.99 cover for six bands!). Bands were still cropping up at this time, but venues were taking fewer risks with booking obscure area bands. One could draw parallels, maybe, between 1992 and the time between 2008 to today.

But a few things are different: House shows and music blogs, for instance, have changed how bands develop a hefty fan base without live shows at traditional venues. It says something when Neon Indian lifts off in the middle of a recession.

In 1992, both venues and musicians lost out for a while. In 2008, musicians won and venues lost. Maybe a lesson was learned? See for yourself with a look a "Battling the Bust," a creased scan of a story looking at the DFW live scene during an economic crunch...

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.