November 03, 2025

Punk at the Longhorn, Leather at the Kessler | Jeff Liles

56 minutes

Mike and Grubes welcome back the Kessler Theater’s own Jeff Liles—human jukebox of Dallas music lore and owner of the best black-leather-pants origin story this side of Valley View Mall. From a lightning-strike cold open at Dudley’s to the Sex Pistols turning the Longhorn Ballroom into glorious chaos, Jeff dishes on ShowCo lasers, counterfeit Zep tickets, Ramones vs. Pistols setcraft, and why Bronco Bowl should’ve been a Home Depot with a stage. We get a front-row seat to a very Dallas series of cameos: Stevie Ray Vaughan auditioning for a teen Mike, Nick Lowe playing post-show solitaire, Stan Lynch and Andy Timmons tearing up Texas, and a PJ Harvey booking dream that still haunts promoters. It’s witty, rowdy, nostalgic—and a love letter to the venues, weirdos, and miracles that made this town thunder.

About the Guest(s):

Jeff Liles — Artistic Director at the Kessler Theater; veteran of the Dallas rock/punk trenches; alum of legendary production house ShowCo; tireless archivist and storyteller of the scene.

Chapters

00:00:01 - Lightning, Dudley’s & “We’re Live… But Not”

00:02:06 - Enter Jeff Liles: Kessler Boss & Four-Timer Club

00:05:23 - Weather Guys, Climate Takes & TV Sarcasm

00:07:17 - Sex Pistols Tease: Longhorn Postponements & Broken Wrists

00:08:22 - Led Zeppelin ’77: ShowCo Lasers, Mother Blues & 5,000 Fake Tickets

00:12:36 - Longhorn Ballroom ’78: Country Room, Punk Riot

00:25:00 - Openers Win: Nervebreakers, Dead Fish, Rolling Stone “Random Notes”

00:18:36 - From Doors to “Bollocks”: Punk Rock as Vocabulary Lesson

00:27:06 - SRV Auditions Mike’s Band: Slow Blues, Piano-Wire Strings & Fate

00:37:38 - Staying Clean, Helicopters & A Dallas Legend Remembered

00:49:21 - Ramones vs. Pistols: American Tightness, British Chaos

00:51:44 - Hot Klub → Arcadia → Bronco Bowl: The Pipeline for U2, Cure & Friends

00:53:37 - Booking White Whales: PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & Nick Lowe’s Post-Show Solitaire

00:47:01 - Stan Lynch’s Speaker Wars, Andy Timmons, and the Art of MD’ing

00:55:03 - Storytellers Invite & One More Sex Pistols Story

00:56:05 - Reviews, Follows & A Pants-Off Sign-Off

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By Mike Rhyner

44 ratings