I first saw the phrase “the New Stockyards” in Fort Worth Magazine in 2020. The article claimed there was a “tug of war between tradition and progress,” vis-a-vis the old guard and the surge of upcoming development. Why businesses such as a new Wrangler store, a new Lucchese retailer, and a biscuit-forward eatery might have bothered the boots-and-big-belt-buckle establishment was beyond me, but it seems like the crowds have gotten over any compunctions they might have had about new things coming to an old place. I think that’s why Horus Hall is flourishing. How else would you explain a DIY punk venue thriving a half mile from places like the Rhinestone Saloon, a John Wayne museum, and Billy Bob’s Texas, a.k.a. the World’s Largest Honky Tonk?
True, Horus Hall is not exclusively a punk venue but an event space housed in a former saloon a couple blocks west of North Main on 24th Street. Over the past year, Horus, which looks to me to be an 80-/100-person capacity room, has hosted quite a few punk shows and an indie-rock showcase, plus many other events.
“It’s really whatever people want it to be,” said Kellie Krevosky, who handles the space’s social media, marketing, and event coordination, as well as filling in as a bartender or whatever else is needed on a given night. “We’ve had wedding receptions. We’ve had burlesque shows. … It’s a chameleon of a space, for sure.”
Among these varied events is the monthly Movie Maker Meetup, in which local filmmakers and aficionados gather, network, and talk about their craft. The next one is on Sep. 26, but prior to that, there’s a Military Networking Meetup on Thursday. Saturday is Horus’ next rock show. Then there’s a Latin dance party on Sep. 14, and from Sep. 28 through Oct. 1, the space will host Agtoberfest, an Aggie-centric take on the famous Bavarian-born beer festival. There’s even a cowboy church at Horus every Sunday.
Photo by Steve Steward.
I recently met with Krevosky and co-worker Wes Parish at Horus Hall along with a woman named Rae, who, under the moniker Solitary Witch, performed at a Denton Does DFW showcase at Horus in June. Eric English, an investor in the latest reboot of the 100-year-old Isis Theater before it shuttered again in 2023, has owned Horus since 2019, though he was unable to make the interview due to a family emergency.
Parish said he and Krevosky put on their first punk show on May 25, 2024, with Hotcake Hand Grenade, The Thyroids, and Die-a-Beat-Us. I asked if there was anything significant about that date.
“That date is when Marilyn Monroe was assassinated by the CIA,” Parish said.
“Allegedly!” Krevosky interjected
“So,” Parish went on, “I figured that was an appropriate date to start the first one.”
Since then, Krevosky and Parish have partnered on two more punk shows, as well as a more “alternative” bill.
I asked them what it felt like to be part of “the New Stockyards.”
“It’s fun,” Krevosky said, “because whatever we’ve done, from the [punk] shows to the indie showcase we did with Solitary Witch, we’ve had so many people come up afterwards and say, ‘Are y’all going to do this again next month? Is this something y’all are going to continue doing?’ ”
Photo by Steve Steward.
Krevosky and Parish think Horus came along at the right time. Even pre-pandemic, Krevosky said, “I don’t think we would have had the traction that we have today. I feel like people would’ve accepted it, but we would have never gotten the crowd or the same reaction back then as we do now.”
Parish remarked that there were more places to go back then, but now, with the relatively recent closures of long-running venues like Lola’s, The Post, and even the nearby Basement Bar, places for non-country, non-cover bands to play are pretty limited, so shows at Horus stand out by comparison. But apart from that, the uptick in visitors to the Stockyards of 2024 also drives foot traffic Horus’ way when the doors are open, which, outside of events, tends to be whenever staff are inside.
The previous Sunday, Krevosky dropped by Horus in the evening and found some daytrippers hanging out. “We had people who had just walked in, and they were sitting at the bar just having a drink with [English]. One of the guys who was here last Sunday, he was like, ‘We were walking by and saw the door open, and I have never seen your door open, so we had to go in.’ ”
Some of these folks drop into Horus because they’ve been to the venue’s previous incarnation.
“We get a lot of old people that come in and say, ‘I remember when this was Such ’n Such,’ ” Parish said.
Though the exterior looks like any other ancient wood-sided saloon lining Exchange Avenue, Horus Hall inside is dark and moodily lit enough to feel like a tomb, or at least a dungeon, or some other place that exists beneath the street. And perhaps that’s also part of the appeal — seeing outré artists in a deceptively subterranean-seeming environment is kind of thrilling in an in-the-know sort of way.
Rae said, “The cool thing about the Punk the Yards shows, from me as an observer, is how much they’ve grown with each iteration. Clearly, the community is there, and they just don’t know that the space exists here, but it’s slowly growing. Seems like each show, there are double the people who were at the last one. The scene is here. There just hasn’t been a home place for it.”
Until now, anyway. Though Krevosky and Parish took off August from booking shows (to better codify the business part of them for future bills), they are both excited for the word-of-mouth and potential turnout for the bill on Saturday with three rock outfits: America Inc., Charles Benson, and the Radio Static.
“It would be cool to become Fort Worth’s CBGB,” Parish said.
America Inc., Charles Benson, The Radio Static
8pm Sat at Horus Hall, 208 NW 24th St, FW. $15. HorusHall.com.
