Audio By Carbonatix
Almost four years into its existence as one of the longest-running and most revered DJ nights in Dallas, Cool Out Mondays, long a staple in the upstairs portion of Lower Greenville’s recently departed The Cavern, started a new phase last night, moving into its new home in the upscale digs of Henderson Avenue’s Bar Celine.
And though last night marked the debut of the new location (as well as the new roster, with Cool Out founder Tony Schwa now being regularly joined by DJs Sober and Adam P) the move has been a long time coming, says Schwa. As The Cavern underwent construction as it transitioned into The Crown & The Harp, bar managers continually switched venues on Schwa and his partners in DJing, sometimes forcing them out of their upstairs home and into the downstairs portion of the venue — and often at the last minute.
“It was kind of the nail in the coffin,” Schwa said, taking a break from his offerings at Bar Celine last night.
And especially so after Schwa’s late-summer falling out with co-founder Big J, who will now return to DJing at The Crown & The Harp on Monday nights under the banner of Big J Mondays.
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So, while taking three weeks off from Cool Out — the longest break in the weekly’s history — Schwa started exploring his options. And he really had a couple of options, too, he says. But some venues, including the Beauty Bar, were unwilling to keep Cool Out on a Monday. And, for Schwa, that was a deal-breaker.
“We started out on Mondays because there was nothing else going on,” he said. “Then people starting coming out.”
He soon found a home for his disco- and funk-heavy night at Bar Celine, though, encouraged by fellow DJs Blake Ward and Redsean, who DJ at Bar Celine on Tuesday nights. And, last night, while stepping back to scope out the scene — a crowded one at that, filled with many Cool Out regulars — Schwa seemed content with his decision.
“This,” he said, craning his neck about to fully take it all in, “is perfect. This is why I wanted to do it here. Bar Celine reflects Cool Out. You can see it when you come in. It looks like Cool Out. It feels like Cool Out.”
It helps, too, that Bar Celine made some concessions to get the weekly event into its schedule, though — namely opening on Mondays, a night on which the bar had previously been closed.
“That’s why the Cool Out crowd is here and not the yuppies,” Schwa said with a laugh. “The yuppies think they’re closed!”
In the coming weeks, Schwa expects a few more changes to come. He, Sober and Adam P, he said, are working on bringing in some big-name guests. And, Schwa teased, the coming months might even see the debut of a Cool Out band.
“This is a rebirth,” Schwa said. “We’ve got so many good ideas.”
