Denton's Lone Star Taps & Caps will close their doors on Sunday, July 30. Not only is Denton losing a craft beer store, we are losing a venue. An anti-venue, if you will.

The business posted on Facebook Saturday morning:

Taps & Caps opened their Denton location in January 2016 and has not only been a home to craft beer in Denton, but also a venue for many local bands and artists. 

"Nothing should or will change with our other locations," owner RIck Ali said. "The focus on customer service and experience is still our #1 priority. By making this decision, the company will continue to grow stronger and be able to open more locations in the real near future."

Plenty of people will miss Lone Star Taps & Caps including Christopher Walker, the shop's talent buyer and sound engineer.

"Rick Ali, Steven Roman, and Walker Smith graciously allowed [us] to build and execute a space for our scene that we felt was needed at the time," Walker said. "There existed a shared understanding of what was not only going to fill the needs in the moment but ongoing what would positively contribute in the lives of Denton's creatives."

"They stayed true to the vision to the end and should be commended for that," Walker said.

Richard Haskins' band, The Wee Beasties, has played at Taps & Caps twice. "Of course, I'm sad," Haskins said. "That's one less place to play. Both times I played there, we had beer dripping from the ceiling by the time our set was done."

"[Taps & Caps] was one of the last places in town that will allow us to play," Haskins said.

"I'm extremely thankful the owners and management never cut back our budget or asked us to do less than what we established for bands and visual artists," Walker said.

The last show the anti-venue will host is tonight at 8 PM. Body English and Spenser Liszt & The Disciples (playing their MF DOOM set) will perform for a whopping $1 cover. The three remaining shows on their calendar will be relocated to different venues, Walker said. 

Denton musician Richard Gilbert had a show booked for August 4 and is working with the booking team at Taps and Caps for a new location. 

"I enjoyed playing shows at Taps & Caps," Gilbert said. "They took care of the musicians monetarily and were always good to us. [They] really worked hard on getting different genres there. It was a cool venue and will be missed."

Header image by Shaina Sheaff
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