Ridglea Theater

I was very disappointed with the Ridglea Theater. I went here to see a Floyd tribute band called Bricks in the Wall. When buying tickets, which were will-​call only, there was a stipulation that you needed to show the credit card you used to purchase the tickets. The problem is that this message was shown AFTER the purchase was complete, meaning if someone else bought the tickets for you, you would be screwed. Fortunately, they did not enforce that requirement, but it took a phone call to them to find out since they did not respond to their Facebook page. The process of getting the tickets and getting in was very confusing too. They seemed pretty unorganized about it and nobody could figure out which line was which or what was where. There was also a huge snack bar filled with snacks in the main lobby, but it was closed, yet they had 2 full bars open. The accoustics in the theater were really bad too. I was unable to hear the lead singer or soloists at all, and I was sitting in the front row. and at one point standing right in front of the stage. no difference. I spent most of the evening straining to hear the music. I don’t know if that was the bands fault or the theaters fault, but between that and the lack of snacks and the ticket difficulty, I can’t say anything good about the place.

I’ve been to quite a few venues where an old theatre has been converted for live music and this place is one of the nicest. The house sound system is top notch and sounds great. The provided lighting for the Hudson Moore show looks incredible. I’m quite happy to be working a show here tonight!

Went here on Friday and was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful restoration job they have done. What a gem this classic old place is. Come see our film, WHEN DALLAS ROCKED, here at the Ridglea on December 5.

Awesome little theater. I’ve heard this place just recently reopened after a remodel. Lots of space for larger show but not too big for an intimate show. I believe they need a better process for ticketing check in. We bought tickets online, used the print at home option and we still had to wait in the line to be checked in off of a roll call sheet. Just don’t see this process working for huge shows. Staff was friendly, drinks were reasonably priced and the sound quality was good. My one complaint is that there is only one hand dryer in the women’s restroom. You know how woman are when it comes to their restrooms :-) overall great experience and I will definitely keep eye on their future show schedule.

This place is worth going to see any band! Its just an old theater that was turned into a music venue!
There are still some old movie seats left for the seating, but in the middle of the seating area is a standing area in front of the main stage. So some seating, mostly standing. (But who wants to sit during a concert?)
Drinks are farely inexpensive, $ 3 bottles. So it won’t cost an arm and a leg to have some drinks.
Everything was great when I went last night, and the a/​c was on, so not sweating a ton.
The bands that they book are mostly locals, some just starting out. But for the most part OK.
All-​in-​all good place to see a concert! (I recommend Feel Never Real)

Went to the Ridglea Theater a couple weeks back for the first time to see Summer Slaughter Tour ’10 (Cephalic Carnage, The Red Chord, The Faceless, etc.). I am told this theater is closing, but to the previous reviewers saying they don’t have enough big acts I am not sure, because in months to come I saw they are hosting international bands I had seen in Boston in March. When we got there I saw it was a cool looking old theater and being out in the hot sun I was eager to get inside and see more. The door was manned by one bouncer and one ticket taker. Inside the heat was still unrelenting, absolutely no air conditioning and of course sweltering heat in the concert hall. To my knowledge there are two stage areas, a small one upstairs to the right as you walk in and the main one to the left. I wish there had been signs posted to inform us who was playing where. Upstairs watched a couple local acts, the atmosphere up there is very cool and totally laid back. Being from New England I was amazed that not only can you take beer bottles away from the bar and walk freely with them in the venue, but you are also allowed to smoke indoors! Beers there were very reasonably priced, something like three dollar bottles and four dollar drafts (regular domestics + Pabst cans), also they serve liquor. After the second act we headed down and realized the main concert hall was in full swing, luckily we didn’t miss too much. The acoustics were great, but again the oppressive heat in the building was too much to take at times. This hall too had a larger bar in the back. When I headed to the bathroom I discovered it was tiny, one stall and a few urinals for a few thousand people, and of course it was a mess. I don’t get why venues like this don’t employ at least one bathroom attendant as a service to themselves and their customers, they’re just going to have to spend twice as much later to have it cleaned up. As the show wore on the heat inside just got to be too much and we didn’t even stick around to see the very band we bought the tickets to see. I am guessing the theater is closing because the people who run it either don’t have the money to spend to maintain it or they just don’t care enough about the patrons to make it a place worth going to. Either way I probably wouldn’t go back. One final note, again with the employees, I saw really the bare minimum staffed in the place, scarcely did I see any employees mind the stationary bartenders and the occasional bouncer. The Ridglea kind of takes the enjoyment out of being entertained.

The only thing that prevents this from being the best small venue in the area is the fact that they so rarely have anyone worth seeing. I can’t really figure out why that is. With several of the cool Dallas venues being closed down and replaced by bland corporate joints, it seems like the Ridglea would be able to lure in some talent. Sure, it’s in Fort Worth, but national acts mind to find hole in the wall clubs in Denton, not to mention the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie. Can the Ridglea not lure a few of these same acts? Or at least some of the local talent? Instead, it seems like the majority of the groups coming are local high school kids playing thrash music.
The venue itself is spectacular. Similar to the Granada Theater in Dallas in that it’s a cavernous old movie theater with a bar or two. But it’s a little nicer, in my opinion. For a laid back show, the acoustics are great. And out front there’s still a giant old school neon sign.
This place is right off Camp Bowie, convenient to the cultural district in Fort Worth.

There’s no arguing that this music venue… Rocks.
An original theater in FW (still has the handsome, old school vertical «Ridglea» neon sign), this place can hold huge amounts of people & not not only a «pit» area but also plenty of rows of performance theater seating.
Big stage, food, bar, reasonably priced shows (usually), good acts both local and national go through here. Saw the Teen Idols, Fugazi, and others here.
In my opinion the best feature about this place is the neat atmosphere of the interior.
Sweet place! Def. check ‘em out!

Ridglea’s a drive for me and my experiences there have only ever been okay. I’ve bought tickets both on line and at the door, both ways I’ve experienced a few issues but usually they were easily fixed. Two shows I went to no one ever mentioned that some of the main pulling acts were not showing up that night for one reason or another so one night I literally went for nothing. I’ve also waited in like for three hours after a show was supposed to start and I was going to a school with a curfew at the time so we only got to see half of the band we came to see before having to split.
The atmosphere is to die for though; you just don’t get that old feel from places like HoB with their over-​paid interior decoraters. The sound quality is good, and I like that they do use some video stuff ocasionally. It’s really a pity that Ridglea is way over on the west side of Ft Worth; I’d like to see places like this surviving and doing well, but it just seems like they’re all dieing on us. Still a good place to go if what you want to see is playing there. There’s decent parking, the location is good, and you don’t feel like someone is going to jump you when you walk out the door.

As someone who’s seen quite a few shows here as well as played quite a few shows here, the Ridglea is by far one of my favorites. The folks that run this place know how to treat their musicians and their patrons.
My first ever trip was close to ten years ago to play a gig. The sound guy took his time to make sure the sound didn’t just sound great, but it was to our definition of great and not his (I was singing at the time so the vox needed to be way down to keep people from leaving, most places disagree w/​this idea and crank them anyways). We were running short on time and didn’t get a chance to eat so they ran out and got us some sandwiches! My own mother wouldn’t have left to get me a sandwich and here’s a complete stranger doing it at no cost to me. Gnarly.
After that fateful trip we pretty much hit up Ridglea once or twice a month. It became a second home to me and my mates. Once I was being a jackass before a show and rolled my ankle. Once the show was done they had a chair and bucket of ice waiting for me and even found a pair of crutches for me to use (the ghetto old wooden kind too!).
From a specator’s point of view, between the pit and the fixed seating there isn’t a bad place to watch a show here either. The raised seats make it easy to see the stage no matter where you are and the pit’s a fun place to bang out a little aggression on some unsuspecting middle schoolers (yea, I said it). It reminds me a lot of The Granada in Dallas only where The Granada’s started to lean more towards country and rockabilly the Ridglea’s done the opposite and taken a liking to the metal.
Jacquie K. said it best when she called it a «lived-​in» venue. To me Ridglea’s like an old concert shirt. It’s faded and a little dirty, but you think about all the good time’s you’ve had with it and refuse to toss it.

This place is sweet! I’ve been wanting to come here for years, but it wasn’t until this past weekend that I finally got the chance to. Yay for me!
Man Friend and co. had a show early on Saturday so I thought I’d be a good Lady Friend and tag along. This is an old school classic theater. I love it! Walk in like you normally would to a movie and where a screen would be, is a band ready to melt your face off!
The acoustics are great, the bands are usually great local acts, the bartender is a cute lil’ mama, and the door lady has redder hair than I do. Me likey. Oh they also serve cans of PBR and allow the smokers to get their smoke on. Just ask my jeans that still reek.

I’ve been going to shows at the Ridglea since high school and it’s always a blast. The seating is elevated so you can see over the sea of people who are standing in front of the stage which is good if you need a break from the pit. Getting a seat can be a little tricky though so come early.
There are 2 large bars which means you never have to wait too long to get a drink. They usually have drink specials too so if you’re low on cash, $ 2 can beer may be just what you need.
The sound here isn’t the best in town, but the tickets are always cheap so I guess it evens out.
As for the atmosphere, it’s great. You can tell the Theater has been around for decades and you really get that nostalgic feeling

The worst thing about the Ridglea (for me) is that it’s in Fort Worth. I had great experiences the two times I went there (both for Brand New shows).
It’s one of those older, «lived-​in» venues that you can tell has seen a lot of great shows and wild nights.
I like the size of the place because you can be pretty close to the back of the theater and still not feel like you’re TOO far from the action. You may even be lucky enough to claim some chairs at the back of the lower level.
Drinks are relatively inexpensive, which is always good.
The private parking lot for the theater fills up pretty quickly, and the donut shop across the side street might be your best bet (that’s where I ended up parking both times). Beware of going any further into the surrounding neighborhood.
If Brand New’s move to HoB in Dallas is any indication of things to come, I probably won’t be going back much in the future.