Earlier this week, we ran a story on The Free Man Lounge and Revelers Hall, making separate statements about their removal of cover charges to pay for live music.
The demand was from the City of Dallas. The department is within the Code Compliance Services, which is called the Nighttime Enforcement Team. They stated that The Free Man and Revelers were not permitted as Commercial Amusement (Inside) use, so they aren’t allowed to collect any fee for live entertainment.
John Jay Myers, the owner of the Deep Ellum establishment, explained how the Free Man had to work through the changes and what that meant for the musicians getting a reasonable, living wage. The same went for Jason Roberts and Amy Wallace Cowan, the co-owners of the Bishop Arts establishment, who had to go through similar headaches, but ultimately had to remove their cover charge…