UPDATED: Resurrected music venue Fat Daddy’s opens in Dallas for mostly-underage crowd closed

by Sarah Blaskovich

The owner says: “So many of these kids didn't fit into the high school varsity system, but now they've got a place to go and do their thing."

DALLAS — UPDATE: As of December 19, 2011, Fat Daddy's is closed. The website states that the music venue couldn't stay open because of low attendance at shows and a lack of bands booking gigs. Below is a story Pegasus News ran about the resurrected venue in 2009.

The owners have started a tradition of letting people come in and graffiti the walls. This is a photo of a past Fat Daddy's location with band Greeley Estates pictured.

After a one-year closure of under-21 hangout Fat Daddy's Sound Shack, owners Sarah and Kenny Brattain have reopened it near Royal Lane and I-35 in Dallas. Designed for teen and young adult bands to come out and show their stuff, Fat Daddy's is getting off its feet with its first big show December 19.

Fat Daddy's was originally opened in 2004 after Sarah and Kenny's teenage boys were frequenting Deep Ellum shows to get their music fix. “It wasn't a good environment for them,” Sarah said. “My son Andy went down there and found up a crack pipe in a parking lot. My other son went outside to get some fresh air and his 15-year-old girlfriend was propositioned on the street.”

They then started organizing music fests and one-off lineups at various venues, later finding their own space to rent. Through it all, they learned to love the teen music scene. “We learned so much more about our kids, who they were hanging out with, what they were doing – and we met a lot of other neat kids along the way,” she said.

Fat Daddy's has outgrown several locations – some just because rent was up and others because the neighboring businesses didn't like that there were teenagers milling around in black T-shirts, Sarah said. The new location at Royal and I-35 is an “old, not-fancy place” she said, that will hold about 400 people. For the over-21 crowd, it's BYOB.

The owners are willing to let pretty much anyone with Internet access and a love for music play at Fat Daddy's. The online booking form lets bands pick a time and place and they're pretty much in. “It's our belief that if you have the guts to play, you deserve to play a show. There's no tryouts. We've had some really bad bands and some awesome surprises too,” she said.

Some of the great surprises and legends of Fat Daddy's are local pop punk band Red Car Wire and rock band Forever The Sickest Kids (who at the time they played at Fat Daddy's were called The Flipside). “So many of these kids didn't fit into the high school varsity system, but now they've got a place to go and do their thing, they're successful,” Sarah said.

The venue will be open Friday and Saturdays for now, though the space will be available to rent during the week for musicians giving lessons or practicing.

Pavel Lishin, verified:

“It wasn't a good environment for them,” Sarah said. “My son Andy went down there and found up a crack pipe in a parking lot. My other son went outside to get some fresh air and his 15-year-old girlfriend was propositioned on the street.”

Well, when and where do you expect them to learn how to fend off crack fiends and whoremongers? Kids these days are so sheltered.