Beggars Banquet Concerts
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History

In the summer of 2002, Craig Bernhardt was asked to book a fall music festival to take place in Prosper, TX north of the Dallas area. Having been a huge fan of Texas singer-songwriter music and with his wife, Lee Wauters, a regular at many Dallas area venues, he jumped at the chance. As often happens, good ideas do not necessarily guarantee a successful outcome. The festival collapsed for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which were underfunding and a lack of the organizer’s inability to commit to the proposed artists in a timely manner.

One of the artists Craig had tried to book was Austin based singer-songwriter, Michael Fracasso. When the festival collapsed, Fracasso’s booking agent, Laura Thomas at Comboplate Booking in Austin, called Craig to see if he would be interested in hosting a house concert for Fracasso. Craig was intrigued by the idea and took it to Lee to talk about. He knew this would not be a one time deal if they agreed to host. So Lee and Craig agreed to jump into the hosting of a series of house concerts under the name Beggar’s Banquet.

The Moniker

The moniker for the house concert series was a tribute to a series of concerts attended by Craig in the early 1970's in Toronto , Canada . These were outdoor, small stadium shows in which the tickets were reasonably priced and everybody brought in refreshments and shared the good vibe, the food and the music.

The Kick Off

Craig and Lee agreed to kick off the Beggar's Banquet series on November 22, 2002 with Michael Fracasso. The show was a revelation to the 43 initial attendees, none of whom had ever attended an intimate show in someone's living room. With such a great audience reaction, they agreed to continue the series, looking to stage 6-8 shows a year.

The shows were great fun with the audiences eclectic in both age and occupation. A few shows into it, Craig decided to build a back yard stage with a rudimentary lighting system. There was also another element that Lee and Craig wanted to tap into. Since the audience was captive and willing, they asked for a small donation to help support a local no-kill animal shelter and that each attendee also bring two cans of food for the North Texas Food Bank.

The first season donated a few hundred dollars to Operation Kindness and a few hundred pounds of canned goods to the food bank. Seasons two and three have been tied to East Lake Pet Orphanage and the food bank. Season two saw donations of over a thousand dollars to East Lake and several hundred pounds of food to the food bank. Season three promises an increase in both food and cash to each organization.

The Stage

Craig and Lee have been staging a large Halloween party with live music since the mid 1990's. Since 2004, they have co-opted that function into the Beggar's Banquet series with great results, turning it into a multi-act festival to benefit the chosen charities. This show will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.


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