At the top of this page you can see a picture of downtown Bryan. Right next to the great facade of the Queen theater is a smaller venue, but one that has enjoyed no less notoriety in the past years. That is the Stafford, a sometimes bar, sometimes dance hall, sometimes eyesore that has the potential of becoming a great destination in downtown.

A few months ago, Cody Marx Bailey, downtown Bryan’s own jack of all trades, decided something needed to be done with the theater.

He’s the one on the left. This photo easily stolen from his blog, http://codymarxbailey.com/

So he did. He and some other big players in the town (namely Jose Arredondo) decided to update the space into a high-quality, cutting edge music venue that would attract the kind of names only dreamed about in this tiny college-adjacent town.

Re branding done right!

The insides were gutted to make room for the new acoustics, lighting and production capabilities. Anyone who has visited the venue in the past few years knows it was a crowd control nightmare right at the front, opening to not enough seating and an uncomfortable view of the stage. Not anymore. The new owners have focused on ease of entry, plenty of room (the place now supports 400+ people) and an over all great experience.

There are full service bars on both the ground and second floors (with New Republic on tap, I hear!), newly designed bathrooms, and every effort given to make this an enjoyable audience experience.

Cody wants this place to be a music venue first and a bar second. There aren’t a lot of choices for music in the area, and the promise of having a dedicated place for larger names to come is very exciting. So far in the lineup:

Ishi, Featherface, GOBI and The 71’s on Sept 6, and the show is a CD release for two of the bands

Grupo Fantasma with El Tule & Strawberry Jam on Sept 7
(Incidentally, Grupo Fantasma is a Grammy winning band. Just an FYI. We have a space for Grammy winners now!!)

Green River Ordinance Sept 8

Jason Castro with Jimmy Needham and Lindsay Harris Sept 15
(Castro is that guy from American Idol who sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow all amazing-like)

Rock 103.9 Homebrew Live Sept 16

The Band of Heathens Sept 22

The Bright Light Social Hour with Quiet Company Sept 27

Ray Wylie Hubbard with The Dead Exs and Black Pistol Fire Sept 28 (The guitar work on these songs is AMAZING).

…and that’s just September.

Cody and company are focusing on getting as many huge bands in as possible (when the inevitable “you should get so-and-so” comment came the other day, Cody quickly remarked “can we fill the theater? What are the credentials?” They are looking for the best of the best to bring to our expanding downtown, and I, for one, cannot wait to be there.