Deep Ellum

Deep Ellum is the renovated warehouse district turned arts & entertainment district. It’s located just three blocks east of downtown Dallas. This 170 acres is known as the alternative from the “norm.” It is the home of fashion-forward, trend-setting style and the birthplace for many new bands.

There’s a spirit of grassroots indie/blues music, performing arts, or anything that might be considered “avant garde” to Deep Ellum. Of course, with anything Avant Garde… sometimes it’s just crap in a fancy wrapper.

The artists of Deep Ellum stick together and try to maintain their culture in spite of the invasion of yuppies and college kids every weekend…. they need the money after all.

  • Perception vs Actuality (re: Crime).
    • Lots of people here means lots of chance for crime.
    • A minor crime witnessed by 100 people seems worse to “perception” than 1 violent crime witnessed by none.
    • Deep Ellum struggles with perception.
  • Freaks (not just The Confederacy) of all stripes hang out in Deep Ellum… including the ones nobody likes (skinheads at the hardcore punk events, gang bangers at rap or asian J or K-Pop, etc. etc.).
  • Beggers and Panhandling.
    • One of the stranger laws Dallas has passed… it’s illegal to ask for money or cigarettes or offer to wash your windows in Deep Ellum!
    • There’s also a program to educate the weekenders about it… they figure by getting rid of the bums… maybe it’ll improve the tone.
  • Constant flux exists among the live music venues. When a live music venue dies, a hip-hop/house/etc. dance club takes its place. When it dies, a live music venue takes its place.
    • This generates a constant antagonism between folks that like Deep Ellum for the live music vs folks that go there for the nightlife.
  • If you’re looking to buy stuff that’s truly unique and just not found anywhere else… Deep Ellum is probably the place to look for it.
  • Deep Ellum has always had a problem with drugs. It was notorious for being the place to buy drugs (including Cocaine) even back in the 1930s… still is.

Theme or Threat

  • ASPECT: FULL OF DOUCHBAGS AND 30K MILLIONAIRES
  • ASPECT: BUT AT LEAST THE MUSIC’S GOOD
  • (After 10pm and until 4am) ASPECT: DRUNK AND STUPID

Face

The Marchioness in her “muse of the arts” guise… not the Lady of the Orc Marches.

Trivia

Performers that got started in, or whos early career went through Deep Ellum:

  • Erykah Badu
  • Norah Jones
  • Neon Indian
  • The Polyphonic Spree
  • Meat Loaf
  • Butthole Surfers
  • Old 97’s
  • Toadies
  • Tripping Daisy
  • Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians
  • The Reverend Horton heat
  • Brave Combo
  • Brutal Juice
  • Bowling for Soup
  • Eli Young Band
  • Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
  • The Flatlanders
  • The list goes on but if you know the above bands you have a sense of the Deep Ellum music scene… rockabilly, punk (several subtypes), alternative… those are king. Then pop, straight up rock… jazz, blues, R&B, soul, funk… yes, even country round out the scene. That said…
    • Dallas is more Rockabilly…
    • Fort Worth is more Country…

Deep Ellum

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