Demise of 8.0 in Fort Worth means less live, local music

by Sarah Blaskovich

• Tweet
• Email
• Print
• 4 Comments

Longtime venue offered unique music experience in Sundance Square.

FORT WORTH — When 8.0 Bar in Fort Worth becomes the Flying Saucer in late February, you'll hear significantly less live, local music from the Sundance Square venue.

The new Flying Saucer will probably continue the Wednesday-night concert series co-hosted by KFWR-FM 95.9 The Ranch, but other than that, live music will be rare, said owner Shannon Wynne.

"We will be flexible to have special shows if they become available, but we're not going to set out to create more concerts," he said.

8.0 Management announced on Monday that the Flying Saucer currently located at 111 East Fourth Street in the Land Title Building will move to 8.0 a few blocks away because the Land Title Building is being preserved. 8.0 will close completely, the Flying Saucer will take its place, and a new concept will go into the Flying Saucer's former space, once renovations are complete. (Read more about that story here.)

8.0's was known for its great outdoor live music concerts, many featuring Texas country artists. The concept will be missed, and it's not one replicated by many other Fort Worth venues successfully. Their outdoor patio meant that those artists could be heard by anyone on the street, and encouraged passersby to drop on in.

The Sundance Square location has been open since 1994.

"It's the first concept I ever did, so it has a lot of sentimental value," Wynne said, also speaking of the 8.0 in the Quadrangle, which opened in 1980. But last summer's heat stroke was enough for him to question the live music concept in Fort Worth.

"This last heat wave that we endured, last summer, kind of started to add some stress to the concert series, given the fact that almost every community in the surrounding DFW area has decided they want to do their own concert series – which, they'll find out, one by one, is not always as easy as it seems," he said.

"You know, we just had to make a tough decision. You don't want to choose between your two children."

Management will update the covered patio with shrubbery and planters to make it feel more like a beer garden to accommodate Flying Saucer patrons, Wynne said.

Tweet