“The dome was part of the original plan when the Caravan was being designed,”Kathelin Hoffman said. “We were looking for something that would make a statement and reflect the theme of the Caravan and also fit into the southwestern environment. That’s why there are yucca trees on the roof and why we decided to use the dome for a cactus and succulent garden.”

Hoffman carefully fingered a potted cactus with broad, flat thorns that sat on a table in the theater lobby. “It’s interesting when you think about the ways that cacti and artists are alike. Those that have adapted to their environment develop tough, prickly outer skins to protect them in their struggle against adversity.” It seems that both have found a home at the Caravan of Dreams.

— Jo Ann Guido

“It didn’t take long for the Caravan of Dreams, with its rooftop grotto bar and glowing glass geodesic-domed cactus garden, to become known around the country and much of the world as a leading venue for revered jazz and blues acts.

“More than a club, the Caravan was a performing arts center, and it was one of the main sparks businessman Ed Bass used to ignite the development of the Sundance Square project.”

Bob Ray Sanders FWST, 7-29-13

“The cave bar on the roof came from the time we performed my play Billy the Kid in Munich. One afternoon, some of us visited ‘Good King’ Ludwig’s Palace. It turned me on with the way it fit perfectly into its site. Between the King’s bedroom and the kitchen lay a room carved out of natural rock; a cave in which he could get away from the polished splendour of the rest of the palace. The Caravan should have such a contrast, I thought and so did Margaret, so we built a cave for the roof bar - a wonderful contrast to the surrounding steel and glass buildings. We located the waterfall, desert dome, and the Rooftop Grotto Bar so as to create magical spaces, what we called ‘econiches for conversation.’ Real conversations did flourish in the gardens on the rooftop and, on special occasions, the atmosphere approached my design criterion, the vibe at the Café de Flor.”

(John Allen, Me and the Biosphere, p. 103-104.)

“Caravan of Dreams, long the linchpin of the downtown entertainment scene, is going dark after Saturday night to make room, in 2002, for the new and greatly expanded version of Reata, the ‘Cowboy Cuisine restaurant’ that is relocating from the tornado-damaged Bank One tower.

“‘It’s sad to see such an institution gone,’ said Bubba Hernandez of Brave Combo. ‘I don’t care if it’s God’s cuisine - music is the food of the soul, man, and you can eat somewhere else.’

“If I had my choice, Caravan would stay there. It’s been a great concert / dance-room, and the people there were very good at what they did.

“Musicians who have played Caravan invariably praise the club for its sound, the treatment they received from the staff and the almost palpable sense of uniqueness that permeated the joint.

“‘Everything is high quality and everyone is very friendly,’ says Hernandez. ‘It’s one of those top gigs where you feel like, this is gonna be like riding in a luxury car. It’s totally world-class. And as a fan, you could lubricate yourself - and I don’t just mean alcohol. You could mill about and talk to friends and groove out.’

“Hernandez said the band was extremely honored to get the call to play the final show. There will be no opening act, he noted; this will be ‘an evening of Brave Combo.’

“‘I’m sure we’ll be putting in 120 percent,’ he says. ‘Let’s get cathartic and get some yin-yang going, some band and audience participation.’”

- Dave Ferman, FWST, 9-29-01, Photo by Jeffery Washington

There were two very different worlds at play in the course of the Caravan’s history, represented by the1983-1991 jazz era, and the wide variety of musical genres found in the final 1991-2001 era, and the social forces at play behind those respective camps.

That difference is epitomized in the following reflection, “That a polka band was chosen for the closing night was an additional poke in history’s eye.”(Maria Golia, p. 285.)

Fortunately, these two worlds overlapped occasionally, and even harmoniously commingled at times, to the credit of the three founders and the Caravan itself, as an entity with its own life-force, whose vision and destiny was open to the winds of change, embracing the extremes of free-jazz, alternative-country, and even new wave nuclear polka / rock / world-beat over the course of its 18 years.

“Most investors never would have opened the Caravan in the first place, and almost nobody would have shown such staying power.

“Inspired by serendipity and the public good, he (Ed Bass) approaches his Fort Worth ventures as a dreamy idealist. The Caravan was started…during a decade Bass called his period of ‘adventure investing’ - a hotel in Kathmandu, conference centers in London and the south of France, a cattle ranch in Australia.

“A banker never would have loaned the start-up funds to build the Caravan, but Bass applied a different standard. ‘I try to adhere to a business discipline, but I’m not pursuing the maximum possible return,’ he said. ‘Many of my business deals are structured to accomplish other purposes.’ 

‘“It was like being in an urban forest,’ Bass recalled. ‘Instead of redwoods, you were surrounded by skyscrapers. It was magical.’”

- Mitchell Schnurman, FWST, 10-3-01

This is just the beginning of this volume. If you want to keep reading, here's a link to Williams' website, where you can download all three volumes for free! Thanks for reading!