The Rail Club

The door manager would not honor my VIP tix and I had to argue with him for 5 minutes while a line of people formed behind me. He finally gave in and gave me my VIP wristband. Then I discovered the stage has been moved to the far right of the venue so that the VIP area now has an obstructed view of the stage. Also the cigarette smoke gets really bad in here as the club fills up with more people during the evening. Other than that it’s still a fun place to see a show. Just don’t bother with VIP tix unless you are friends with someone in the band.

I went here to see my favorite band (Atreyu) and after reading tons of reviews on the place, I was apprehensive. It’s Atreyu though, so I sucked it up and bought tickets because I HAD to see them. Based on previous reviews, I arrived at the venue fully expecting to experience crap customer service and smell like an ashtray. There was a line outside to get in but it was not unbearable. At the entrance, security was telling a man that he could not smoke inside. WHAT?! I was so pleasantly surprised. Maybe I wouldn’t have to use a rescue asthma inhaler after all! The guys handling the tickets were nice enough. The sound was good and there was plenty of standing room. Best of all, I could BREATHE inside. I witnessed ZERO of the previous complaints and found myself wondering if I was even at the same bar. I had an amazing time and would definitely return!

We showed up at 6:50 for a 7pm show and there is a line out in the parking lot, coming from the closed door. Apparently it’s «doors open at 7», which is NOT what was advertised. It takes 45 minutes for them to get everyone in the door, then another 45 after that for the opening act to go on. Finally the main act goes on at 9:30. I really, really wish I would have known how late they would go on because I could have saved TWO AND A HALF HOURS of secondhand smoke. It’s awful in here — think old school bowling alley.
I doubt there will ever be a show I’d be interested in here again, but even if there is, I’m going to have to skip it because this venue is just gross.

Don’t ever buy any VIP tickets for the upstairs area. You pay twice as much as the floor and have zero view of the stage… it’s a Ripoff. Worst concert venue in the DFW area!
Update: The venue refunded us the differance in the VIP ticket verses the general admission ticket! Was not expecting that. So skip the VIP tickets just get the general admission tickets if you venture here.

At first glance, the Rail Club is pretty cool. It’s in the middle of nowhere and has its own parking lot, which is a huge plus. Inside, there are multiple bars, a nice VIP area, and the stage is very high off the ground, which is awesome. At shows, my wife and I typically struggle to find her a good place to see from, since she’s shorter, without being crushed at the front. So, the building itself and the parking are pretty great.
What totally sucks is the smoking. The place reeks. Everyone had a cigarette in their mouths, including staff members. I left the venue after the concert with a sore throat. If you’re a smoker, maybe you’re into that. My wife and I hated it.
There were technical difficulties with the main act, which was a simple, one-​person guitar and mic set-​up, and the photographer was the one helping fix the issues — no sound technician in sight. The mix was decent, during the opening acts. Overall, the concert that we attended was pretty good.
But, man… The smoking absolutely killed the experience. I’m not exaggerating, either. I think other reviews mentioned it, here. I’d avoid it if you don’t want to smell like an ashtray.

At first I was excited for the dive-​ey feel of this venue and enchanted by the biker-​style staff. But I just left a show whole heartedly disappointed by the level of quality by the sound technician and faulty equipment. Beyond that, the opening band selected brought a crowed of people with zero respect for a headliner that allowed for local bands to open. It got so bad the headliner left mid-​set and declined an encore, the first time I’d ever seen that.

INITIAL: Stood outside in 30* weather waiting for doors that were SUPPOSED TO HAD opened 30mins ago…
CONTINUED: the show was awesome. The venue was cool as hell. It was surprisingly clean. Employees were all really nice.
CONCLUSION: the wait was very irritating and uncomfortable. But once INSIDE, it was all worth it. The experience got uprated from 1 star to 3. Had they opened at stated time, I would had given 5 stars. I recommend the place over Dallas venues. Just don’t concern yourself w/​promptness.

My wife and I went to see Bret Michaels at this bar and both of us go very sick the next day after the show. We both vomited violently, and I swear I have never seen my wife so sick in my life. I didn’t drink very much, only two beers because I was driving, but I had to get my wife her beer at the bar in the corner to the right of the stage if you face the stage. This place is nasty, like something you see on Bar Rescue, in fact I think this place could use John Taffer’s help. We arrived two hours early and Brett had not even arrived. The staff tried to talk us into going in and viewing the other bands but the place was filled with smoke from smokers and the music was not the same kind of music you think would be played for a Brett concert, it was more thrash not 80’s poison music so to speak.
When Brett’s bus showed up people were being lined up for a meet and greet, we observed this from the front of Brett’s bus, as they had set up cones and separated the people waiting to get in from the people who were already inside the bar (and apparently getting over served while they waited for Brett). After the meet and greet they closed the bus door after everyone exited the bus and it appeared Brett was having alone time. Just then a group of bouncers came crashing out of the front door dragging people out who were screaming and hollering, and one of the people being dragged out was yelling at the bouncer that «that’s my teenage kid you’re dragging out, we paid $ 400 for the meet and greet, we just wanted to meet Brett» and the bouncer SCREAMED I don’t fucking care, and he was in a rage yelling at them to get the fuck out of here! I mean in a RAGE, it was clearly violent and out of control. The bouncers didn’t even try to get the story from the people they just threw out, they didn’t care, they just screamed at the customers and they were all yelling back and forth until the bouncers retreated inside the bar as the customers walked away all shaken up, crying their eyes out looking like they didn’t understand what had just happened to them. It was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen at a show.
I wish I could turn back time because had I known how sick my wife and I were going to be the next day I would have hauled ass out of there right then and there after witnessing the violence that took place with the security staff. This was the worst concert experience my wife and I have ever been through. I have lived in DFW for 21 years and have been to HUNDREDS of shows and this is the first time I have ever seen such violence from security staff and also ended up so violently sick the next day, and I promise you this is the first and the last time I will ever step foot in «the rail club». This place is a joke and resembles something you see, like I said in the beginning, ON BAR RESCUE. I don’t even think John Taffer can rescue this place, it is far to gone for help.
My advice to anyone thinking about going here is to find someplace else, you may just get so sick from this place that you won’t recover. Thankfully we did and learned a valuable lesson. If it seems too good to be true it usually is. This place didn’t deserve the one star I gave it!

I forget that non-​Dallas venues allow smoking. But it’s a concert, if you don’t want to be in the general public, don’t go to concerts. The Rail is a great location to see a show. Arrived an hour into the set, still could see the stage. The place is big. There’s a big bar with the stage on one side and pool tables on the other. There’s also an upstairs VIP area. OBVIOUSLY they didn’t know who I was, because I was still on the ground floor.
Best part of the experience was the staff. All the bartenders and servers were great. I’m old school and like it when the ladies call me «honey.» Especially when they hand me a cold beer.
Parking for big shows is difficult because it’s located in a residential area south of downtown Fort Worth. It’s a bit of a drive from Dallas, but manageable.

Yeah, I know I’m usually super lame, but when need be I can throw up my rock hands with the best of them… as long as it’s not too late at night, and someone can actually bring me a cold beverage ever so often. And if someone could fan me, that would probably help.
Laugh if you want, but that’s what the Rail delivered last night. We went to see Hank iii. And if you’ve never been to one of his shows then you don’t know that he is the opening act, the headliner and the closing act. Yep, he plays for 3 – 4 hours straight. We arrived at 9 p.m., he’d been playing for an hour and he didn’t stop until about 11:30 p.m. after which he signed autographs until everyone was happy. So, it’s a long night. And the Rail ranks handled it like pros – which I guess they are.
Unlike most rock clubs in Dallas, waitresses – really nice waitresses – roam the crowds offering to bring reasonably priced drinks. At Trees I had to wade through a 4 foot wall of peeps at the bar to get a beer in a tiny plastic cup. At the Rail, they brought me a can. And no Trees, I didn’t bonk my neighbor with it. And since there were three of them working the area in front of the stage, I didn’t go without a beer/​coke for the whole night.
Also, since the Rail is landlocked by residential, they have to stop at 11:30 p.m. I know that’s a bad thing to most fans, but us geriatric rockers really appreciate the early start/​end time to the shows.
And they have fans stationed around the venue blowing air on the fans. I did not sweat at all, and I should have, cause I’m all rowdy and what not.
Only two real downsides – parking is a nightmare. It’s a neighborhood of old people watering their lawn at 9 p. m daring you to park in front of the homemade «Don’t Park Here» signs. Serious stare-​down action here. The second is the cigarette smoke. Today I sound like I need an iron lung. And even though I’ve showered and scoured, I still smell smoke. I think it’s up in my sinuses. But since there’s no law against it, I can’t really complain too much about that.