Faithful patrons of Dave’s Darkhorse Tavern will have extra reason to celebrate this weekend. Dave’s Darkhorse Tavern is celebrating its 10th anniversary with different bands playing all week.
Along with shows in the past few days, the Rum Drunks will be performing Friday night, with Mark Goldbeck playing piano during happy hour from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and Hogleg will be playing Saturday night.
Dave’s Darkhorse Tavern opened for business in April 1995 and since then has become a favorite local bar for many Starkville and MSU residents. The Tavern’s promotion of live music acts and food have given it a unique personality that many love and have continued to stay with in Starkville.
Dave Hood, the owner of Dave’s Darkhorse Tavern, said these were the reasons he opened the Tavern in the first place, and he knew its charm would attract patrons.
“I already loved the aesthetics with the brick arches and columns, and I felt that with some creativity a niche market could be carved out,” Hood said. “There were fewer clubs in Starkville at the time and none of them focused on developing a local live music scene or concentrated on serving great food.”
Hood also said that the feat of staying in business for 10 years has been a blessing, and he couldn’t have accomplished it without his faithful customers and workers.
“I feel very fortunate to be hosting a 10-year celebration,” Hood said. “It is a competitive industry with a high attrition rate. There is no way that I could have done this by myself. I sort of feel like I am just a steward of the Tavern whose responsibility is to keep it all together.”
The Tavern’s own unique personality and spin on live music acts is what brings most people coming back for more. He attributes most of his success to his dedicated staff and his individual tastes, which set his bar apart from the others.
“The longevity of the Tavern can’t be summed up with one explanation,” Hood said. “I credit our success to the support of the patrons who appreciate live music and the musicians and bands that respond to the support. The low turnover rate of the Tavern staff is also another key factor. I am lucky to have a great crew that enjoys working together and takes pride in providing friendly service and cooking great food.”
As far as the Tavern’s anniversary show goes, it has been a weeklong celebration. And the party will continue into Super Bulldog Weekend, which Hood chose as the time to have his show and for good reason.
“I chose this week ending with Super Bulldog Weekend to celebrate 10 years because of the returning patrons and former employees,” Hood said. “The Tavern wouldn’t have been open this long if it were not for them.”
But for this weekend, Hood selected his favorite bands to perform-ones that have stuck with him on the long 10-year road to this point.
“Although many regional acts come through on the weekends, I asked the Rum Drunks and Hogleg to play for the anniversary,” Hood said. “The Rum Drunks and Hogleg are responsible for some of the Tavern’s best nights over the past few years and always put on a great show. I dedicated the whole week to local entertainment because I credit their talent with a lot of my success.”
Vocalist and acoustic guitarist Del Rendon and keyboardist Mark Goldbeck for the Rum Drunks, who play anything from classic cover songs and R&B to Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye and some original music, said they’ve been around since Dave’s first opened and the Tavern is like their second home.
“We’ve been around for about 10 years; just as long as the Tavern has been opened,” Rendon said. “We’ve played so many times at Dave’s; it’s up in the hundreds at least. It’s by far our favorite place to play, and we’re very glad Dave asked us to play his 10th anniversary show.”
“Rum Drunks sort of started out at the Tavern and Dave always gave us a chance to play, so I’m excited as hell that he decided to ask us to play his anniversary show,” Goldbeck said. “It’s like our own place to play and I can’t wait for tonight.”