July 15, 2025 • 5 mins
“At what age does standing-room-only at a concert go from thrilling to a full-blown orthopedic crisis?”In this laugh-out-loud episode of The Ben and Skin Show, hosts Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray dive headfirst into a spirited—and often hilarious—debate over the Dallas Observer’s list of the 10 Best Music Venues in Dallas. From the gritty charm of Trees to the upscale acoustics of The Kessler, the crew doesn’t hold back as they share personal stories, hot takes, and a few unexpected musical memories.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Dallas Observer.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Tyler Hicks is the name of your author of this
article that he wrote in the Dallas Observer.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
He almost won American Idol.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Already have a bone to pick with him before we
get started. Title of the article ten best music venues
in Dallas. Then he lists them, but not necessarily the
numbers assigned to him, so we're not ranking and comparing.
I feel like he would have got more clicks if
you did that. Free advice for me, a guy who's
never worked in journalism. The Bomb Factory on there. I'm
(00:41):
just writing these as we go because I'm gonna I'm
gonna rank them.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Let me tell you about the Bomb Factory. When you're
older than thirty seven, you'd definitely want to be up
in the suites. And if not, you go, oh no,
if I'm gonna do this show, I would say older
than thirty thirty one, Well yeah, And if you're at
the Bomb Factory, which is that's right, it's a badass venue.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
It's it's gonna be a big band there, so there's
gonna be a lot of people there, and the ga
is just so big it's that you're likely standing there.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, I gotta be up in the balcony here. I'm
I'm probably not gonna go if you have to go
pee your screwed right number two on here Club Dotta.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Great, hey play there two weekends ago.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I have not been seen a show in Dota in
probably eight or nine years really, maybe ten big nights
at Club Dotta.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And then they also started doing some shows outside as well.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
That's the last show I saw there was outside. I
saw Duran Jones and the Indications there before they got big,
and that was really cool. Uh double wide. Oh yeah,
I've seen Christina perform there. You saw her debut. Yeah.
There was a cornbread chant that happened during an Oatvial
pizza show. Was it there? Yeah, that cornbread chair. I
(01:52):
thought corn bread, corn bread, corn bread, corn bread.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
To ruin a perfect night, but I guess we did.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Also during all Apologies, everyone was holding a lighter above
Mary Siroy's head. Yeah, it was very good. Granada Theater
badass place. I'm going Friday night. The Talking Heads tribute
band Heartburn, Yeah, have you seen them?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
No? No?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Why are the name David Byrne?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
David Byrne, Yeah sounds like it sounds like it would
be a heart and and talking heads cover though, like
that they do both.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
They may probably, they probably do some solo David Byrne stuff.
I haven't seen him, but I've seen clips of their
talking heads and it's fun, very nice. I love them.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
The Kessler Theater, Yes, I do love any show that's
at the Kessler.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The sound is undefeated. That room is perfectly built for
that sound and is just great.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Like the old timey feel too, like the bar and everything.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, there's a classy thing that goes with the Kessler.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah too.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You almost feel a little more even though it's like
not and they don't try to present themselves with that,
but you do feel little more upscale.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I believe it is a his story preserved building. Okay, Okay,
I believe makes sense. Yeah. I like their logo. I
like everything about it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I found a place on here I've never heard of,
which is weird. No way I've heard of it. I've
never been the Nines.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
I've been. I saw a large professor there. Mostly I
don't know that they all do just hip hop shows,
but anytime I've been, I've seen a hip hop show
down there on Main Street in deep Elum. Yeah, more
towards the fair Park end Ruins. I have not been.
My daughters wanted to go. Our buddy Joel Salazar that
(03:32):
came up here that time, Leo j he has a
night there the DJ. Yep, he's awesome. I follow him
on Instagram. He great.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
South Side Ballroom. I don't okay, Southside Ballroom is going
to get big acts before they're huge crowded. There's one
layer of seats if you want to get like spinned
up and you're kind of by you're behind the soundboard
and you have a chair.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Otherwise standing room only and it's packed in there.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Well, it's a lot like BMB Factory. Are the people
that are standing in the way of the people that
are sitting or is it like ramped up? It's not
really ramped up. You're just further back. But there's there's space.
Unless it's a packed show, there's space from where those
barstools are and people standing, so you should be fine.
I think the last show I saw there was Leon Bridges.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Oh really, yes, I would say, if I know it's
gonna be packed, I'm not going. But if you see
a show that's not completely packed, it's awesome, it's great.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, we're definitely like y'all are on the young side
of old people complaining. But g O shows in a
hall is tough.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Trees hell yea truth legendary spot. I love being up
pie at Trees too. I love anywhere in trees. Yeah
three legs. Uh so that's a bar across from trees. Yeah,
it's it's it's a it's a great spot. It's kind
of the twilight line. It's kind of reminds me Ben
of the old small side of the Gypsy Tea Room. Okay,
(04:57):
you know that kind of vibe.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
You're until a lot of metal shows over at three Links,
Yeah you will, and a lot of jazz shows. Anything
get left out there. Echo Lounge comes to mind.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
I love Echo Lounge. I would put Echo Lounge over
three or four of those venues that were on there.
And I'm not going to say because I'm not going
to cast dispersions. They did all Dallas, which is cool.
Uh long, Longhorn Ballroom is bad ass. Yeah, and I
think Longhorn Ballroom is better than three or four of
those spots on there. What about Exodus Club, Exodus down
(05:29):
there on the crowds. But also, man, you're right though,
Echo should be on there. Longhorn Ballroom should be on there,
and if they included Fort Worth, I'm a big Tulips fan.
Just Dallas, Oh yeah, it's just Dallas, just Dallas on
this list. All right, there you have at the ten
best music venues in Dallas, according to the Dallas Observer.
(05:50):
All right, coming up in just over three minutes. How
would you stop a peeping tom? This is a story
that happened in Plano.
Dallas Observer.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Tyler Hicks is the name of your author of this
article that he wrote in the Dallas Observer.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
He almost won American Idol.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Already have a bone to pick with him before we
get started. Title of the article ten best music venues
in Dallas. Then he lists them, but not necessarily the
numbers assigned to him, so we're not ranking and comparing.
I feel like he would have got more clicks if
you did that. Free advice for me, a guy who's
never worked in journalism. The Bomb Factory on there. I'm
(00:41):
just writing these as we go because I'm gonna I'm
gonna rank them.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Let me tell you about the Bomb Factory. When you're
older than thirty seven, you'd definitely want to be up
in the suites. And if not, you go, oh no,
if I'm gonna do this show, I would say older
than thirty thirty one, Well yeah, And if you're at
the Bomb Factory, which is that's right, it's a badass venue.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
It's it's gonna be a big band there, so there's
gonna be a lot of people there, and the ga
is just so big it's that you're likely standing there.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, I gotta be up in the balcony here. I'm
I'm probably not gonna go if you have to go
pee your screwed right number two on here Club Dotta.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Great, hey play there two weekends ago.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
I have not been seen a show in Dota in
probably eight or nine years really, maybe ten big nights
at Club Dotta.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And then they also started doing some shows outside as well.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
That's the last show I saw there was outside. I
saw Duran Jones and the Indications there before they got big,
and that was really cool. Uh double wide. Oh yeah,
I've seen Christina perform there. You saw her debut. Yeah.
There was a cornbread chant that happened during an Oatvial
pizza show. Was it there? Yeah, that cornbread chair. I
(01:52):
thought corn bread, corn bread, corn bread, corn bread.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
To ruin a perfect night, but I guess we did.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Also during all Apologies, everyone was holding a lighter above
Mary Siroy's head. Yeah, it was very good. Granada Theater
badass place. I'm going Friday night. The Talking Heads tribute
band Heartburn, Yeah, have you seen them?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
No? No?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Why are the name David Byrne?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
David Byrne, Yeah sounds like it sounds like it would
be a heart and and talking heads cover though, like
that they do both.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
They may probably, they probably do some solo David Byrne stuff.
I haven't seen him, but I've seen clips of their
talking heads and it's fun, very nice. I love them.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
The Kessler Theater, Yes, I do love any show that's
at the Kessler.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The sound is undefeated. That room is perfectly built for
that sound and is just great.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Like the old timey feel too, like the bar and everything.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, there's a classy thing that goes with the Kessler.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah too.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
You almost feel a little more even though it's like
not and they don't try to present themselves with that,
but you do feel little more upscale.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I believe it is a his story preserved building. Okay, Okay,
I believe makes sense. Yeah. I like their logo. I
like everything about it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I found a place on here I've never heard of,
which is weird. No way I've heard of it. I've
never been the Nines.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
I've been. I saw a large professor there. Mostly I
don't know that they all do just hip hop shows,
but anytime I've been, I've seen a hip hop show
down there on Main Street in deep Elum. Yeah, more
towards the fair Park end Ruins. I have not been.
My daughters wanted to go. Our buddy Joel Salazar that
(03:32):
came up here that time, Leo j he has a
night there the DJ. Yep, he's awesome. I follow him
on Instagram. He great.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
South Side Ballroom. I don't okay, Southside Ballroom is going
to get big acts before they're huge crowded. There's one
layer of seats if you want to get like spinned
up and you're kind of by you're behind the soundboard
and you have a chair.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Otherwise standing room only and it's packed in there.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Well, it's a lot like BMB Factory. Are the people
that are standing in the way of the people that
are sitting or is it like ramped up? It's not
really ramped up. You're just further back. But there's there's space.
Unless it's a packed show, there's space from where those
barstools are and people standing, so you should be fine.
I think the last show I saw there was Leon Bridges.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Oh really, yes, I would say, if I know it's
gonna be packed, I'm not going. But if you see
a show that's not completely packed, it's awesome, it's great.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, we're definitely like y'all are on the young side
of old people complaining. But g O shows in a
hall is tough.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Trees hell yea truth legendary spot. I love being up
pie at Trees too. I love anywhere in trees. Yeah
three legs. Uh so that's a bar across from trees. Yeah,
it's it's it's a it's a great spot. It's kind
of the twilight line. It's kind of reminds me Ben
of the old small side of the Gypsy Tea Room. Okay,
(04:57):
you know that kind of vibe.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
You're until a lot of metal shows over at three Links,
Yeah you will, and a lot of jazz shows. Anything
get left out there. Echo Lounge comes to mind.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
I love Echo Lounge. I would put Echo Lounge over
three or four of those venues that were on there.
And I'm not going to say because I'm not going
to cast dispersions. They did all Dallas, which is cool.
Uh long, Longhorn Ballroom is bad ass. Yeah, and I
think Longhorn Ballroom is better than three or four of
those spots on there. What about Exodus Club, Exodus down
(05:29):
there on the crowds. But also, man, you're right though,
Echo should be on there. Longhorn Ballroom should be on there,
and if they included Fort Worth, I'm a big Tulips fan.
Just Dallas, Oh yeah, it's just Dallas, just Dallas on
this list. All right, there you have at the ten
best music venues in Dallas, according to the Dallas Observer.
(05:50):
All right, coming up in just over three minutes. How
would you stop a peeping tom? This is a story
that happened in Plano.
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