Billy Bob's Texas has finished another round of renovations that aim to improve concertgoers' experience.
Known as the world's largest honkytonk, Billy Bob's had previously removed a couple poles that could obstruct views of the Main Stage and raised the ceiling six feet.
"That doesn't sound like much, but when you've got a guy hitting his fiddle bow every time, six feet's a long way. If you've got somebody with a drum set getting their head hit every time they hit the drums," says General Manager Marty Travis. "Now that we've got the stage up and the poles removed, it's becoming a better venue."
Now, Travis says they have finished removing two other poles and redesigned seating to improve sightlines.
"We've made lots of improvements to make sure we're listening to our guests and taking care of our future," he says.
Travis says Billy Bob's ownership is responding to surveys from concertgoers who said some seats had a bad angle or an obstructed view. He says others complained about acoustics, so they have moved the soundboard from the middle of the crowd to the back.
"We've isolated our production area as opposed to putting it right in the middle of everybody's way," Travis says. "It's just visuals and sound quality, less things to bounce the sound off."
He says the new location for the soundboard will give the crew the ability to hear a show the way people in the back would hear it, and the change will improve the projection and clarity of the sound.
Despite the changes to acoustics and seating, Travis says people will not notice any changes to Billy Bob's itself.
"We've still got loose tile here and there. We've still got tables a little bit beat up, but all of our staff's in uniform, our air conditioners are working," he says. "I don't want us to be too slick because then we're not a honkytonk anymore. We're Hard Rock Cafe or some other slick bar."
Thursday, Them Dirty Roses plays on the Main Stage. Friday, Taylor Hunnicutt plays the Main Stage followed by Whitney Morgan and the 78s. The full schedule is available at billybobstexas.com.
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