Music

Lakewood Bar & Grill serves cold beer and a mean burger.

There isn't much to see inside other than smoke and black ceilings. And maybe a few beer signs.

But that's OK, because your face should either be buried in the burger (a value at $5) or watching the stage, where bands play five times a week. They're mostly rock and cover bands.

We stopped by recently to see Escape, a Journey tribute band. At 10 p.m., there was barely any room to stand.

JASON JANIK/Special Contributor

People in their mid-30s and 40s clutched beers and raptly stared at the stage. Lead singer Terry Murphy wailed a slow song into the microphone: "When the lights ... go down ... in the city ... "

He couldn't match Steve Perry's raspy falsetto, but the crowd didn't seem to care. Couples danced cheek-to-cheek in front of the stage. A fog machine spit bursts of steam.

The singer walked off the stage and crooned to fans' faces. He even sang to a pregnant woman's stomach.

Without the live music, Lakewood Bar & Grill is much quieter. Only a handful of patrons were there on a Tuesday evening around 7. They stared at flat-screen TVs and kept to themselves.

The dearth of people spotlighted one of the bar's gems – a flip-page CD jukebox, stocked with old country, indie rock, '80s music and the bar's own mix of CDs.

Playing Journey might have been fun. But it wouldn't have compared with the whole crowd singing "Faithfully" the other night, cellphones flipped open and waving in the air.

To read more about Dallas night life, visit Quick's night-life blog at nightlife.beloblog.com.

Lakewood Bar & Grill: 6340 Gaston Ave. 214-826-3888, lbgdallas.com

What to wear: Jeans, beat-up leather jacket, T-shirt

What the music is like: Live bands are usually rock-oriented. The CD jukebox has a little bit of everything.

Smoking: Yes.

Cover: Depends on who's playing. Usually $5 or $7.