Capacity Crowd Flocks to Midlake-Owned Paschall Bar For Soft Opening in Denton Last Night

By Daniel Hopkins Fri., Oct. 7 2011 at 11:02 AM

Categories: DFW Music News

Dentonites

Last night, on the northeast corner of the Denton Courthouse Square, just above Andy's Bar, the five members of Midlake held a soft opening for their new drinking establishment, Paschall Bar, which will celebrate its official grand opening on Friday, October 21.

As DC9 mentioned a few weeks ago when we learned of Midlake's new venture, Paschall Bar is named in homage to B.F. Paschall, who, according to the band, was the original builder of the building the bar occupies. He'd be proud of what they've done with the place.

By the looks of it, the members of Midlake haven't had much time to work on music of late: On opening night, the space was immaculate, a complete transformation from what it once was.

"We've been up here working day and night for the last two months," said Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith with a celebratory beer in hand.

A huge overhanging wooden arch, built entirely by the band, acts as a threshold to separate the bar's two spaces. On one side, the decor has a mid-century, Danish modern feel, with low profile furniture and sleek fixtures.

"We made a lot of trips to Lula B's, let's put it that way," said guitarist Eric Nichelson.

If Ron Burgundy were real and lived in Denton, he would almost certainly hang out in this room. The other room, lined with a giant bookcase (also built entirely by the band) has more of a warm pub feel. That's where the bar is.

"It's great in there at sunset," said singer Tim Smith of the more modern side of the bar. "And if you get tired of one room, just move to the other."

The drink menu is comprised of about 12 prohibition era cocktails including Moscow Mules, Old-Fashioneds and Manhattans. But if that's too high brow for you, just order one of the craft beers on tap or in the bottle.

The music, presumably controlled by mustachioed bassist Paul Alexander, who ran back and forth to the stereo all night as the live sound from Andy's bled through the floor, was what you'd expect from the band -- a mix of quality classic and indie rock, heavy on The Band, Dylan and Beach House.

Looking around the room, there wasn't a single college-aged person in sight. Rather, Midlake have created a place for the Denton crowd in their mid-20s and 30s who don't want to hang out at the college bars that saturate the town.

The smallish space has a 49-person capacity, which explains the big soft opening crowd. Considering the overall quality of the venture, it will be hard to imagine anything less than a capacity crowd on any other night.