Gypsy Tea Room
Review by Victor Drabicky

As far as clubs go, there are three basic divisions.

Division I: a hole-in-the-wall room that is usually in a building about to be condemned by the city, has bottom of the barrel sound equipment and the bare essentials required to even stay open.

Division II: These are actual music clubs that have put more time and money into making sure the club looks nice, while the music sounds good. These venues are the standard and are your typical spot for smaller rock concerts. A majority of live music establishments fall into this category.

Division III: There is the hard to obtain and extremely rare label of venue. The sound is top of the line, the club is in near perfect condition and everything from the staff to the bathrooms makes the experience pleasant.

There are not many clubs that can reach this level, but with great atmosphere, service and even better sound, the Gypsy Tea Room has.

The Gypsy Tea Room is divided into two main parts: the large ballroom which can hold more than 1,000 people and the much smaller back room that can hold maybe half that of the ballroom. Both rooms are well-kept and well above the standard set by other area music venues.

The Gypsy Tea Room, headed by the same management that has kept Trees profitable for the past 10 years, appears to have two goals: keep the patrons happy and keep the bands happy.

The entire room is laid out to meet both goals. From the comfortable couches that line the walls to the cool air conditioning system, everyone is sure to be comfortable.

Like Caravan of Dreams, the Gypsy Tea Room is dimly lit. This makes it comfortable enough for a conversation with a date or relaxed enough to enjoy the band.

As a bonus, the two Gypsy Tea rooms have an accessible bar that always seems to have enough staff members to keep patrons from waiting. Drink prices are average, but with the wide variety of fine liquors and wines, a bar tab can get out of control quickly.

Often times, so much energy is put into making sure the bar and room look nice that the stage is tucked away in the corner and nearly impossible to see.

However, the Gypsy Tea Room has managed to design the bars and the stage perfectly.

Both stages are high off the ground and perfectly placed, which allows everyone in the room to clearly see the band. Other than the hallway that connects the two rooms, there is not a bad seat in the house.

Musically, the sound system is great. The sound is always crisp and clear, but never so overpowering that you can’t carry on a conversation with the person next to you.

All the equipment is top notch and can make even some of the worst engineers and bands sound good.

But with the Gypsy Tea Room’s lineup of bands, there never is a bad engineer in the room or a bad band on stage.

This month alone, the Gypsy Tea Room is slated to have Train, Henry Rollins and the Old 97s perform. While some of the opening bands may not be up to par with these headliners, each band is still seemingly hand-picked for their musical skill.

The Gypsy Tea Room has a remarkable resemblance to Caravan of Dreams. Both clubs are well-kept and well-managed.

If Caravan of Dreams is Tarrant County’s premier music venue, then the Gypsy Tea Room is definitely Dallas’.

The only drawback of the Gypsy Tea Room’s first-class atmosphere is that concerts are no longer concerts. They resemble yuppie cocktail parties.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of value in being able to enjoy a great-sounding band while enjoying top-notch drinks and service.

But for those of you who enjoy the true rock ‘n’ roll concert atmosphere of being crammed into a small space, covered in sweat and jumping with the music, the Gypsy Tea Room is not the place for you.

Senior Sports Editor Victor Drabicky is a senior broadcast journalism major from Farmersville.
He can be reached at (v.m.drabicky@student.tcu.edu).