Last night I attended a client preview event for the newest music venue in Houston, 713 Music Hall. And now my husband and I can’t wait to go back to attend concerts there!
When I worked in Downtown Houston, I saw the big Barbara Jordan Post Office location there every day. “Big” is an understatement – it was massive! When the post office closed, the question about what to do with the building was just as large as its footprint. Enter some design geniuses who are turning it into a multi-purpose space with its own food court, farmer’s market on weekends, rooftop green space and future retail space. And part of it has been developed into the 713 Music Hall . . . just look at this prime location.
We had a great time wandering all three levels of 713. The venue has eclectic lobbies, seating areas and multiple bars with colored lighting effects on each level make exploring the venue half the fun. With 90,000 square feet of space, there was plenty to discover.
And even though the space is, well . . . BIG . . . it still succeeds in feeling intimate with clear views of the stage throughout the levels and pitch-perfect audio. When the band Danny Ray and the Acoustic Production performed, we took the opportunity to scope out each level to choose our “target seats” for future concerts there, and made a pleasant discovery: there’s not a bad seat in the house!
In addition to fun performances by Acoustic Production and spectacular DJ, dancers in lighted costumes that would make any disco fan proud kept attendees entertained throughout the night.
While we watched and listened to the entertainers, we had the chance to sample tempting foods from local caterers. We had eaten Churrasco’s before, so weren’t surprised their offerings were tasty. But happy to discover LaRue Catering (some of the best macarons I’ve tasted), The Hometown Chef (who served mac’n’cheese in martini glasses and had a toppings bar including friend jalapeños, friend onions, bacon and more – what a great idea), and Cafe Natalie (where we loved everything they offered, including fresh spring rolls).
If you’re going to eat, you’re going to need some liquid refreshment to wash it down, and there were ample bars available.
Have you ever seen such a cute “wandering photo booth?” No need to build a booth in your event space, or try to “coax” your friends to go across the room to wait in line. And the pics are texted directly to your cell phone. The guests were loving this.
Eye see you! while we were exploring the space, of course we checked out the VIP Lounge on the third floor.
With it’s own bar and conversation “caves” big enough to accommodate you and your friends, it is a fun and funky spot to get away from the main action and visit with your posse.
A few miles south of Anahuac in the community of Double Bayou in Chambers County, aptly named for its location nestled between two bayous, a long narrow building sits beside moss draped oaks hinting at the much livelier days of the past.
Don’t let appearances fool you though, this place was once a hoppin’ joint!
Double Bayou Dance Hall was built in the late 1920s using cedar logs as a dance floor, hog wire and wood for the walls topped by a tin roof. The tacks and staples that held tar paper covering can still be seen on the exterior wood.
During Juneteenth in the 1920s and 30s, many revelers would come to the “The Place,” as it was known locally, all the way from Galveston. The celebration often lasted three days, but always ended in time for Sunday school and church.
A storm destroyed the original hall in 1941, but Manuel Tanzy Rivers (“Rivers”…appropriate name, don’t you think?) used the original materials to rebuild it just down the road in 1946 after returning from after World War II. The hall served as a gathering place for community events during the week, and a dance hall on the weekends.
The hall was on the ‘Chitlin’ Circuit’ for the next couple of decades. The circuit, which gained notoriety in an interview with Lou Rawls, was a group of performance venues in the South that were safe for African American musicians to perform during the Jim Crow era. Major acts on their way to Houston would often detour to play impromptu gigs at the famous hall.
The audiences at Double Bayou came from all different ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds to share their love of music and the Texas Blues arriving by boat, automobile or on foot from local towns, Houston, Galveston and Austin.
Rivers’ nephew, blues guitarist Floyd “Pete” Mayes and his band the Texas Houserockers played their first professional gig at the Double Bayou Dance Hall in 1954, and soon became the house band playing there through the early 1960s.
Frottoir
Mayes took over the dance hall after his uncle passed away, and in later years hosted jazz, rhythm & blues and zydeco concerts there in between his performances around the nation. In the old days, zydeco was called “La-la’ and would often include an accordion and rub board (frottoir) or sometimes a fiddle and a rub board.
From 1955 until 2005 Mayes hosted a Christmas matinee that became a traditional excursion for many music loving Texans. Cowboys would smoke brisket on the lawn and local women offered homemade pecan, lemon meringue and sweet potato pies as music drifted out the doors and windows and into the surrounding trees.
Pete Mayes inside the Double Bayou Dance Hall
Mayes and his band recorded a CD titled “Pete Mayes and the Texas Houserockers LIVE! At Double Bayou Dance Hall in May 2003. Treat yourself, and listen to a snippet of one of the tunes HERE.
Mayes passed away in December 2008. Just three months earlier Hurricane Ike’s 20-foot storm surge washed over the Bolivar Peninsula and swept north, flooding the Double Bayou area. The storm broke walls and damaged the roof, but left the dance hall damaged but standing.
Today the ruins stand behind a Texas State Historical Marker, with the falling roof and broken floorboards sheltering snakes and spiders rather than musicians.
The only music that echoes through the windows and doors these days is the wind and rustle of leaves.
We had a great time wandering all three levels of 713. The venue has eclectic lobbies, seating areas and multiple bars with colored lighting effects on each level make exploring the venue half the fun. With 90,000 square feet of space, there was plenty to discover.
And even though the space is, well . . . BIG . . . it still succeeds in feeling intimate with clear views of the stage throughout the levels and pitch-perfect audio. When the band Danny Ray and the Acoustic Production performed, we took the opportunity to scope out each level to choose our “target seats” for future concerts there, and made a pleasant discovery: there’s not a bad seat in the house!
In addition to fun performances by Acoustic Production and spectacular DJ, dancers in lighted costumes that would make any disco fan proud kept attendees entertained throughout the night.
Eye see you! while we were exploring the space, of course we checked out the VIP Lounge on the third floor.
