There was nearly a standing ovation after each song – the audience at the Cendera Center was into his music and his instrumental and vocal prowess... Read entire review

Fort Worth Business Press Commentary

Rooted in the high-lonesome Texas Plains with more than 40 years of music-making experience, the Flatlanders hardly seem the type of ensemble to take the headliner spot at Fort Worth’s Cendera Center. The former skating rink at 3600 Benbrook Highway has emerged from a massive reconstruction process with a new sonic design calculated to show off the finer qualities of practically any musical ensemble.

The Flatlanders, a perpetual venture of the iconic Texas songwriters Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock, have announced an Aug. 3 appearance at Cendera. The individual members are frequent soloists in the metropolitan area, but their full-band appearances in these parts are rare. The Orbans, a Fort Worth-based pop-rock ensemble with a distinct regional twang, will open.

The occasion will launch a collaborative booking arrangement with Dallas-based Spune, a turnkey production-management-touring-recording organization. The sequel to the Flatlanders at Cendera will be an Aug. 24 appearance by Fleetwood Mac alumnus Lindsey Buckingham.

The central element of Cendera – which pitches itself as amenable to performing arts, meetings, parties and sporting events – is a sound system designed for industrial-strength clarity. Fort Worth-based Sowden and Associates and American Audio Visual collaborated on the sound design.

“Cendera Center was designed to accommodate a broad assortment of activities,” explained Mike Horn, president of American Audio Visual. “It was critical for the system to not only provide first-class sound quality, it also needed to be relatively compact [to accommodate] the resulting three stage positions in Cendera Hall.” Loudspeakers are moved according to the nature of an event. A self-contained power source virtually eliminates the necessity of housing separate power amplifiers.

Diamond Rio is one of those special bands that managed to cross over to multiple genres successfully with nine No. 1 hits and 22 top ten singles. After becoming the first country music group in history to reach No. 1 with its debut single, Meet in the Middle in 1991, they would go on to sell over 10 million albums and receive four Country Music Association Group of the Year awards, two Top Vocal Group awards from the Academy of Country Music  and their first Grammy Award in 2011.

For the group's latest DFW concert, they selected the sparkling new Cendera Center in Fort Worth. The intimate venue just off the Traffic Circle proved to be the perfect choice as the Cendera Center Sound Stage was full of adoring fans who experienced the show via the state-of-the-art sound system designed by world-renowned acoustics technological expert Topper Sowden. It was important to Cendera Funding Founder and CEO Brian Collins that his hometown have a top notch music and meeting locale and he succeeded by turning a former ice skating rink into this unique new setting that echos a nice hotel upon entry.

A major plus to the new spot's location is its walking distance to the popular Texas Monthlyfavorite Salsa Fuego restaurant. If you are wanting to eat at the show, the Yes! Taco truck is on location. Similar to sitting courtside at a Dallas Mavericks game, the center's staff will deliver food and drinks directly to your seat so that you do not miss any part of the action.

"Fort Worth is one of our favorite places in the world," lead vocalist Marty Roe said as the show kicked off. "We played golf this afternoon and now we are honored to play at this brand new place."

They went through a montage of songs from "way back in the 90s" as Roe explained that they have so many hits that they were trying to please everyone in attendance and not skip anything. Following One More Day, bass guitarist Dana Williams led the crowd in an impromptu sing-a-long. Williams also took pictures of the crowd from the stage and posted them to the band's Facebook page during the show. He warned the fans, "if you are here with someone you shouldn't be, make it a good one because you may only have one more day."

Between performances of their hits I Believe and Norma Jean Riley, the band mixed Bluegrass-style covers of rock classics Walk This Way, Born to Be Wild and Carry On Wayward Son and the Marty Robbins western classic El Paso. The band also played songs from their latest CD,The Reason, and spoke about their autobiographical book A Beautiful Mess. They wrapped the show up with another of their No. 1 hits, How Your Love Makes Me Feel and returned to to a thunderous cheer with the entire crowd on its feet for the encore with Bubba Hyde.

For further information on Diamond Rio, visit DiamondRio.com or follow them on Twitter@DiamondRioBand. To view the upcoming schedule at the Cendera Center, visit here.

CENDERA CENTER 3600 BENBROOK HWY FORT WORTH, TX 76116 (817) 984-6800

FOLLOW JAY BETSILL ON TWITTER @THEFAMOUSJAY

Parnell has recently begun a series of shows entitled “Lee Roy Parnell and Friends” where he plays the 1st portion of the show with his band and his friends are artists, songwriters and instrumentalist who join him on stage to play and jam with him on a few songs for the second half of the show. At a this particular show Parnell let loose with his portion of the night singing such songs as “On The Road”, “Holdin’ My Own”, “T-Bone Shuffle” and his hits “Love Without Mercy” and “What Kind of Fool Do You Think I am”.

You never know who will be in the crowd at one of Parnell’s shows, and this evening he spotted country legend Dave Millsap, who came up on stage and sang a high energy set with Parnell and his band - featuring his brother Rob Roy Parnell, who is a legend in his own right.

After his high-energy 3 hour performance, Parnell thrilled his fans by sticking around for several hours afterward to meet and greet each one of them. It was a night to remember for everyone in attendance at Cendera Center!

See photos from Darren's presentation on the Cendera Center Facebook Page

Cendera Center is excited to be hosting the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors - SCR Installation Dinner on January 26th, 2012. The event will feature the installation of the 2012 SCR officers and governors, a 2011 recap / 2012 forecast and SCR scholarship presentations to award recipients.

You’d never guess, unless you’d been here before, that this once ice skating rink was now a piping hot, Cirque themed sensory palooza known as Cendera Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Partners and sponsors came out in support of the Cendera Center Grand Opening Tribute with Cirque dancers, living statues, Cirque-themed decor and more, as more than 400 guests waited for the big reveal of the main event hall.

The stage was set bythe debut performance from band members of the FWISD Contemporary Academy of Music at Southwest High School and ribbon cuttingby the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. As guests enjoyed the amazing dinner selections from local restaurants and complimentary libations, they were entertained with performances by an energetic classic rock band, Jurassic Rock, a special performance by Kids Who Care and incredible cirque style talent by Eclipse Entertainment.

Fort Worth, Texas Magazine hosted the Top Chef Competition here at Cendera Center on August 4th. The inaugural event for Cendera Center was emceed by Scott Murray and Courtney Dabney.  Celebrities and Chefs along with over 500 guests watched at Host Chef Tim Love started the competition with a dream challenge - Chef Jeopardy!  The final competition was very exciting and Cendera was just the perfect ingredient to make an event so grand!  Our sound system, lighting and stage was just what the finalists needed to create their edible works of art!  Congrats to Chef Don Agate of Eddie V's for being this year's Top Chef!

"Cendera Center was designed to accommodate a broad assortment of activities," Horn explained. "And as such, it was critical for the system to not only provide first-class sound quality, it also needed to be relatively compact so as to facilitate the resulting three stage positions in Cendera Hall, which is the primary entertainment space at Cendera Center." Loudspeakers are moved depending on the space's use, so a compact footprint was important. "The system's self-powered design was equally important, as it virtually eliminates the necessity of housing separate power amplifiers."

The main sound system consists of two primary clusters - each containing five Aero 12A mid-high line array elements. Each cluster is augmented by two D.A.S. Aero LX-215RA band-pass subwoofers per side, residing behind the Aero 12As. A pair of Aero 12As is used for side-fill purposes. Six Aero 8A ultra-compact, two-way line array elements complete the system, used as side-fill, front-fill and delay.

Since its opening in July, the Cendera Center's new sound system has been winning praise from visitors and staff alike. Brian Collins, Cendera Center's president, said, "We've been very pleased with the new sound system's performance. The audio quality is everything I had envisioned for the room and the versatility of the system is quite impressive. We've received numerous positive comments from our clients. The combined efforts of Sowden and Horn have resulted in a system that delivers upon the promise of superior sound quality for all the events that take place here."

For more information, visit: www.dasaudio.com.

"We want everyone to think of Cendera Center when they plan an event on the west side," said Brian Collins, president and CEO of mortgage company Cendera Funding who is behind the building's renovation. "I wanted a building that housed my business and was a place to connect to the community."

The event space can be leased for such things as music acts, boxing exhibitions, senior proms and wedding receptions.

"The layout, material choices, sound system and color-changing LED lights can accommodate a seminar one afternoon and a quinceañera that evening," said Joe Self, with Firm817, who headed up the design team.

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Cendera Funding recently opened the doors to its renovated Cendera Center. The new space includes a 10,000-square-foot event space, several meeting rooms and a new lobby. The space will also house offices for Cendera Funding, a mortgage company.

“We want everyone to think of Cendera Center when they plan an event on the west side,” said Brian Collins, president and CEO of Cendera Funding.

The building was originally a bowling alley and was last used as an ice hockey rink. “I played ice hockey in this building and so it’s kind of special that I’ve been able to make something happen here,” said Collins.

He said he plans to lease the event space to programs such as music acts, boxing exhibitions, senior proms and wedding receptions.

Joe Self, with FIRM817, headed the design team for the renovated space.

“It was important that the space be adaptable to a wide range of uses. The layout, material choices, sound system and color-changing LED lights can accommodate a seminar one afternoon and a quinceanera that evening,” Self said.

The event space includes a catering kitchen and multiple seating systems.

The exterior of the building includes natural stone, steel and stucco. In the interior, “walnut millwork, porcelain tile and custom furniture create a comfortable setting for special events,” Self said.

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