Dallas: Trees

Trees opened as a rock club on Elm Street in Deep Ellum in May 1990, and it took barely a year and a half to earn its place in Dallas music lore — for a single, chaotic night that had nothing to do with the bands’ setlists.

The Night Nirvana Played Trees

On October 19, 1991, Nirvana played a sold-out show at Trees during which, according to the band’s own tour manager and multiple retrospective accounts, Kurt Cobain dove into the crowd mid-guitar-solo and struck security guard Turner Van Blarcum with his guitar, opening a gash on the guard’s head. Van Blarcum punched Cobain in response, and after the show he punched out a window on the band’s departing cab. The band reportedly covered the medical bills and venue damage afterward. The incident is documented closely enough, across independent sources, that it’s become part of the club’s own identity — Trees leans into its “history lesson” status as one of Deep Ellum’s most storied rooms.

Closed, Reopened, Still Standing

The club closed in May 2005 and sat empty for four years before reopening on August 14, 2009, under new owners Clint and Whitney Barlow — Clint had previously played drums for Vanilla Ice. Since then the 700-capacity room has hosted Radiohead, Mazzy Star, Pearl Jam, the Afghan Whigs, Snoop Dogg, the Flaming Lips, Post Malone, Deftones, and Run the Jewels, with a floor plan that reconfigures depending on the show and a designated outdoor area for smokers.

Trees sits two blocks from The Bomb Factory, and together the two rooms give Deep Ellum its one-two punch of mid-size touring venues. Both are an easy walk from the Deep Ellum DART station, making the neighborhood one of the more transit-friendly concert districts in North Texas.

I’ve been here ♪