How a Decatur venue became known as the ‘Ritz-Carlton of house shows’

That became the motivation for Bon House, a residential music venue in Decatur. The space fits 150 people and aims to host monthly concerts, although there isn’t a set schedule. Bon House mainly promotes local indie-rock and pop-punk acts. Wallace said it’s “kind of like what Warped Tour (the popular touring rock festival) used to be but a newer version.”

Wallace, who quickly became immersed in the city’s indie scene, mainly scouts the mix of local and touring bands herself.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Inside, the venue has an open-concept layout. Bands perform in the living room while guests watch from the kitchen, where they’re offered earplugs. Beer and water are up for grabs in the refrigerator. Attendees can also hang out on the lawn, where there are chairs, performers’ merchandise and more music. During the show, a mini-mosh pit is likely to form, but it doesn’t get too rowdy (shows need to be over by 11 p.m. to abide by noise ordinances).

Tickets typically cost $15-20, though Wallace said neighbors get free entry. All ages are welcome. ID checks are required.

The venue’s hospitality led members of the band Trauma Cat to refer to it as the “Ritz-Carlton of house shows.” Wallace thought the descriptor was the “funniest tagline ever,” so she adopted it.

“After shows, people will usually stay after, and they will pick up their own beer cans,” Wallace said. “They’ll all kind of gather around and clean up the space without even being told to, which is crazy because you see these punk shows and you think there’s going to be trash littered everywhere. But I think people are just so grateful to have a space that’s taken care of. That really helps me out and just makes it a lot easier.”

Wallace, who no longer resides in the home but still lives in Atlanta, uses the space as an Airbnb when there aren’t shows. She runs performances herself, but has about 30 volunteers to help when needed. To date, Bon House has hosted more than 70 concerts.

“I’m one person and it gets stressful, but I feel like it’s a clock that resets every time I have a show because it reenergizes me.”

Finding more resources

Indeed, the community Wallace has built inspired her to expand, with plans to launch a record label and management service later this year.

So far, Wallace has signed two local punk/rock bands: Tongues of Fire and Stay Here. She wants to sign at least four more.

“There are so many bands in Atlanta that need a next step and need help to get to where they want to be,” Wallace said, describing the plight of indie bands. “There’s a lot of talent here, but everyone is a little bit stuck, I think, because there’s just not really a lot of major-label focus in Atlanta when it comes to this genre of music.”

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Earlier this year, a bill for creating a Georgia Music Office was introduced in the Senate. If approved, the offices would support music production in the state and garner more investment, similar to the work being done within the Georgia Film Office. The bill was tabled last month.

Additionally, a recent report from music and entertainment data hub Luminate revealed that rock music was a rapidly growing genre in the U.S. in 2024, second to pop and not far ahead of Latin music. However, nearly one in every 17 U.S. rock streams last year were either legacy acts or major-label artists: Noah Kahan, Hozier, Linkin Park, the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac.

Lowell Hobbs, frontman for Tongues of Fire, feels that sting. Most of the band’s money goes to recording music. He said there aren’t many venues for DIY punk-rock bands.

“It’s definitely very frustrating because we have bands that want to take us on tour, and then their management’s like, ‘Well, they’re not like we thought. They don’t have good enough social media numbers.’ They definitely base things off of metrics that don’t matter that much either.”

For Hobbs, partnering with Wallace just felt like the right thing to do, given the success of Bon House. Tongues of Fire was the first band she signed earlier this year. The band originally formed in Asheville, North Carolina, nearly a decade ago.

The four-piece act has performed at Bon House twice, and Hobbs said that it’s a step up from most other house shows.

“Gretta runs it like a proper venue,” Hobbs said of the space.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Wallace is so inspired by the Bon House community that she’s started Hot Stove, her own indie rock band that she describes as Sabrina Carpenter meets punk rock. She’s never been in a band before but has been writing songs for years.

“Music is just kind of in people’s blood sometimes, and it took me a long time to find it, but it was always there,” said Wallace, who is band’s lead singer. Hot Stove plans to release its first album later this year.

“The future is hard and scary to imagine at all right now, if I’m honest,” she said. “But I really just want to be a consistent place the community can go to and find answers and find support and resources — whatever that looks like. There’s a lot of work to do in the music scene here, so I just hope we can have a piece of making that possible for people.”

Heat Check is a monthly music column where AJC culture reporter DeAsia Paige explores the temperature of Georgia’s buzzing, expansive music scene. The column includes music news, trends and any Georgia-related music that DeAsia is listening to. If you’re a Georgia artist and have music you want to be considered for this column — or if you just want to talk music — feel free to send an email to deasia.paige@ajc.com. This article also features an April playlist of new music by Georgia artists.

IF YOU GO

Bon House

3146 Bonway Drive, Decatur. 602-831-8789, bonhouse.com