Texas’ Hottest New Concert Venue is Accused of Setting Racist Music Rules

Subtle racism is nothing new for Dallas bars. From vague “dress codes” to musical policies, local nightlife hotspots have found plenty of loopholes for discrimination. Remember when the US Department of Justice had to intervene with Kung Fu Saloon’s door policy? Or when Trophy Room turned away three black women because they were supposedly underdressed (at a bar with a mechanical bull!) last year?

More recently, bars in Deep Ellum have come under fire for prohibiting “trap and turn-up” music. Now, another case of questionable music policies is causing trouble for bars and restaurants at Irving’s new Toyota Music Factory.

A group of concerned citizens have created a petition asking the City of Irving to investigate multiple issues related to the $200 million development. One particular problem is a clause which the Ark Group, Toyota Music Factory’s developers, included in the lease agreements.

“A tenant shall not permit two(2) ‘hip-hop or Tejano’ or ‘rap’ music formatted songs to be played back to back.”

Odd considering that Toyota Music Factory is, after all, a concert venue which frequently welcomes artists from the aforementioned genres.

This is just the latest problem facing the development, which recently lost major tenant Big Beat Dallas. Big Beat Dallas, a partnership between honky tonk legend Billy Bob Barnett and Restaurants Unlimited, shuttered its five bars and restaurants over Memorial Day Weekend. The reason for the closures was reportedly lack of parking efficiencies, “the inability to operate the plaza as a result of landlord interference, and other material factors.”

Whether the landlord interference had anything to do with Ark’s peculiar music guidelines is unclear.

The citizen group also filed a lawsuit (using the same attorney as Barnett) to prevent the City of Irving from awarding $44 million to the developer of the venue “upon completion.” The lawsuit claims that shady business practices were employed to obtain certificates of occupancy for Toyota Music Factory by city deadlines in order to secure the payment.

Still, even with all the controversy and the fact that it’s been open for less than a year, this new venue is already the ninth most-attended amphitheater in the world. Pollstar Magazine‘s new rankings show that Toyota Music Factory sold 52,000 tickets between January 1 and June 30, placing it ahead of more established Texas venues such as Austin360 (No. 1o) and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands (No. 13).