Granada Theater — Attraction in Dallas

My son and I discovered that Wind Rose was coming to town, and jumped at the opportunity to rock our faces off to some Dwarf Metal at the lovely and picturesque Granada Theater in the heart of Dallas.

If you're unfamiliar, Wind Rose is an Italian heavy metal group (their music is all in English) who don Tolkienesque Dwarven costumes and sing amazing songs generally themed around the life of a Dwarf vis-a-vis their underground mining activities and other Lord-of-the-Rings-themed topics. A number of years ago they achieved some nerdy level of prominence due to their most noteworthy song, "Diggy Diggy Hole", being set to some Minecraft footage on the Interwebs, and it took off like a firestorm since the children yearn for the mines. If that description doesn't get you excited, I'm sorry. It's epic.

Opening act was Xandria, which I understand to be a noteworthy German "Symphonic Goth Metal" band that was actually quite good, and I'm not even a Goth. Heck, I've never even invaded England, and don't know any Angles or Jutes or Saxons.

Anywho, the theater is a really cool venue. The staff are super helpful and chill, and seem to actually enjoy their jobs. The venue itself isn't huge, but the acoustics were good. This show was set up as standing room only on the floor with seated spots (padded folding chairs) in the upper level. We opted for that and while the view was okay, it was fairly flat up there and so we had a mild obstruction from folks in front of us. Sound was still good up there. I do wonder if they could implement some deployable elevated seating back there to help that.

Pretty sure there were 3 or 4 places to purchase booze, all conveniently located and with decent selection. Weirdly, the merch desk was down on the floor right next to the SRO area. We got there early enough that we didn't have to deal with the line that rapidly formed.

Lots of nice little restaurants in the immediate vicinity including one (I think) affiliated with the theater. We didn't partake but that's a cool thing if you want dinner and a show.

Parking was ample behind the theater, though it was 8 bucks and cash only. Had to swing by an ATM at the nearby gas station. Street parking was hard to come by (not for lack of spots, but it was already full up 45 minutes before doors opened).

Bottom line was a great show at a great location. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Also, I AM A DWARF AND I'M...

The venue has a lot of pros, inside in Dallas is number one since you aren’t stuck in the scorching heat. Great sound, convenient bar and restroom locations, very pretty. It was awesome they let people get on stage for a couple seconds at a time to stage dive and they let a ton of people on stage when the show was ending which is an awesome experience for all of those people and was awesome to see so I’m so glad they let them do it. Refreshing to see security keep an eye on people for safety but overall let them have their fun without being a nuisance.

I will say however I’m surprised they haven’t had a lawsuit that shut them down yet because I watched 3 between completely eat sh** from tripping over a ramp that was directly in the center of the walkway on the top area. There are lights at the bottom of the ramp rather than the top so unless you’re really paying attention, you won’t see it. Why it’s even there is beyond me. On top of that, I had to ask the bartender for a rag two of those times because they spilled their drink everywhere and nobody came to clean up until like 15 minutes after the second person fell after I had already wiped it down so no one would slip and whack their head in the ramp. So freaking dangerous and not tentative enough staff. There were also numerous people smoking cigarettes and weed around us and even when they came to clean up the spilled drinks they didn’t do anything about that so I’m not sure if it’s allowed or not but clearly not enforced so beware if you have any sort of lung issues.

I would definitely recommend the place because it was an awesome concert and the venue was mostly awesome, but yall need to fix those ramps that look like they have no reason to even be there because someone is going to get seriously injured one...

Absolute worst show experience I've had in my many years of attending shows. I attended a metal show yesterday (8/27/23) and was CONSTANTLY harassed by a security guard telling me to move from where I was standing. The show was packed. I nuzzled in where I could. However, one security guard made it a point to physically put hands on me and move me FOUR separate times when I was not obstructing the walkway, aside from when I first entered the venue and was told to move. I'm not sure if it was profiling, but the guy would not leave me alone. I do not consume alcohol. I was not causing a scene or being belligerent in any manner. I had my hands either in my pockets or crossed at my stomach. Also, for context, I am 5'5 and 135lbs. I'm not a large person. I don't try to put myself in situations that isn't safe or considerate for someone of my stature. I was seeing bands I really enjoy and almost left the show early due to how I was treated. On top of that, the sound was all bass and distortion. No clarity at all. Lastly, the giant barrier in the middle is absolutely a safety hazard for any sort of rock or metal show in which you can expect people to get a bit excited and start mosh pits. I steer clear of those, but i can only steer so far away before I'm backed into a barrier and fear being completely crushed by people, (or Mr. Harassment guard coming in for a potential 5th encounter.)All in all, I've been going to and performing at shows since I was a teenager, and I'm 30 now. By far, one of the WORST venues I've ever had the displeasure of being in and i will not be attending again, nor would I ever consider...