Backyard Amphitheater Opening Ushers In The Next Chapter For The Longhorn Ballroom In Dallas 

A March 28 show by Texas-born Tejano group La Mafia has officially kicked off the first concert season for the 6,500-capacity Backyard Amphitheater at the historic Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, building on the success of the historic venue’s restoration and continuing momentum for promoter Kessler Presents.

“I think we have started to get the reputation that it’s a destination,” said Edwin Cabaniss, owner of the 2,300-capacity Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas and head of indie promoter Kessler Presents. Located just one mile from downtown Dallas, the Backyard Amphitheater adds a large outdoor venue space to the Longhorn’s overall footprint of about 6 acres, which includes the historic club, a museum and gallery space, restaurants and work space surrounded by a large courtyard.

Along with regular shows at the Longhorn, which Cabaniss purchased in 2022 and reopened in spring of 2023, the stage is set for larger outdoor shows looking to activate the rest of the property and give fans and artists another look in one of the largest and fastest-growing metros in the U.S.

“We’re really excited. We’ve got String Cheese Incident who are going to do a ‘Sunday In The Park,’ a jam all afternoon, if you will. There will be food trucks, and restaurants and other experiences besides just watching the show,” says Cabaniss. Other shows announced so far at the amphitheater include Panchiko, Mt. Joy, the Toadies and Braxton Keith.

“We haven’t announced our fall lineup at all, but we’ve got several really great shows already confirmed, and a lot more in the works,” adds Cabaniss. “Being the first year, we said if we did a dozen ticketed-type things, that would be great. We’re probably going to be close to somewhere between 25 to 30 full-on events – a lot of great shows – so we couldn’t be more excited about how this thing’s starting to shape up.”

Cabaniss says the venue site is backed up along the edge of the original Trinity River, lined by mature trees and offering an idyllic setting in the city not always known for lush landscape.

Sightlines are excellent throughout the amphitheater, featuring a 2% slope or a 38-inch rise from the stage to the back row. The venue sits in the “bowl” of the original river bottom, surrounded by 28-foot levees. This design helps mitigate noise complaints, as the sound is directed downward rather than upward into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The stage is about 5 feet tall, 72 feet wide and 42 feet deep, with two load-in docks and room for two diesel trucks and four buses within the backstage area, with an additional “boneyard” of extra space onsite a little further away if needed.

“With almost 8 million people in the metro area, it’s nice to have alternatives,” Cabaniss says of the venue’s place in the existing venue landscape. “There are a couple corporate owned amphitheaters that do well, and we know there’s an appetite for these sized shows, and we’re just providing another alternative. What I think makes us unique is we are right in the heart of Dallas.”

The amphitheater officially debuted in September with a soft opening with Randy Rogers Band. Cabaniss says, thanks to experience reopening the Longhorn following a $15 million to $20 million investment and developing smaller venues including the Kessler Theater in Dallas and Heights Theater in Houston, he is confident in working out any kinks at the Backyard Amphitheater.

“When we opened (the 600-capacity Kessler Theater) up 16 years ago, we didn’t have a phone or a marquee, It just kind of grew word of mouth,” says Cabaniss, who has in-house talent buying teams for each venue while also welcoming co-promotes or rental deals. Ticketing for the Backyard Amphitheater and Longhorn Ballroom is handled through Axs, while the Kessler and Heights Theater are through Prekindle.

Having opened multiple venues, Cabaniss says, “We’ve noticed it’s the same things. You’ve just kind of got to get down the basics, have all your front of house and back of house squared away, get your staffing in place, do a lot of training and then adjust based on what happens from there. ”

While many venues are sprouting up across the country in an apparent sweet-spot capacity of 3,000 to 6,000, he notes that the Backyard Amphitheater is a logical evolution of Kessler’s venue offerings over the past decade and a half.

“We’ve been in this business for 16 years and have learned a lot from hosting over 3,000 shows,” he says. “We have an amazing team, and our business plan remains consistent: we prioritize the artist and the fan experience.”