The X marks the spot

Occasionally, a perceived slight and a few choice words can expand into a feud, especially when one of the parties involved (Street Beat) has a short temper, an itchy e-mail trigger finger, and access to several thousand readers. For instance, because of a believed bias by the Dallas Observer against the record stores where he serves as general manager (Denton's The X and Hurst's CDX), Craig Crafton recently swore he'd never again send us a schedule of upcoming in-store performances at either location. In turn, we promised we'd never print said schedule should it ever materialize. But, after some much-needed steam-letting on both sides, it seems we've agreed to disagree for the time being.

"My back is fine, now that it's been whacked by the sinister mighty pen," Crafton says via e-mail, referring to our assertion that his back had given out after carrying around a grudge for a number of years. "But that's OK. Many people take an Observer assault as a positive sign, kind of like a bad review in Spin makes you want to check out a CD...Keep slammin' -- I guess it's the best we can hope for."

While that may not sound as if we've come to much of an agreement, we will say that we never had anything against either store, and we certainly had nothing against the bands that occasionally play there. With that in mind, we're relenting. The next project Crafton and company are involved with happens on April 15, when The X presents the Acoustic Stage at Fry Street Fair, featuring performances by Centro-matic, Slobberbone, The Riverboat Gamblers, and Baptist Generals, hosted by John Freeman. Music starts at 2 p.m. After that, Dub Narcotic Sound System will perform on April 22 at 4 p.m. at CDX, before the group's show at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. Brigida also performs. That should probably make everyone happy.

And speaking of in-stores, Good Records also has a few on its schedule, the most notable of which is a set by The Dismemberment Plan on April 18 at 6 p.m. The band will play later that night at Rubber Gloves with Sand Which Is and Retton. If you didn't see the Plan when the group swung through Denton in February, we implore you to check out at least one of its performances in the area. They're worth the drive in either direction.