This year's shindig happens at Broncos Sports Grill in Hurst (900 Airport Freeway) with a lineup featuring Michael Earhart, Scott Hall and John Melchiorre, Goodwin and Velvet Love Box. But the auction is the real draw, including autographed items (donated from DePoi's personal stash) from the Foo Fighters, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, guitars from Slash and Brian Setzer and an 8-foot submarine torpedo signed by Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. (Bring your checkbooks: The Plant and Page torpedo starts at $600.) They'll also be raffling off an autographed Dallas Stars jersey. Doors open at 4 p.m. and the raffle and auction should get under way around 11:30. Call 817-498-0600 for directions and more info.
Hagfish is back (for good, apparently) and celebrating that fact with a show at Gypsy Tea Room on April 18, along with Swingin' Utters, Youth Brigade and the Adventures of Jet. The group has played sporadically over the last few years while its members spent time with other projects, most notably guitarist Zach Blair and his bassist brother Doni's band Armstrong. The Blairs, along with singer George Reagan and drummer Tony Barsotti, aren't just sticking around for one gig this time around; from what we hear, a new album, along with the requisite supporting tour, is already in the works. We'll have more to say on this later as the situation progresses. Which actually makes this sound like war coverage, but whatever...
The big joke used to be that the annual Fry Street Fair may as well move to Dallas because that's where all the bands were from. This year, well, it's not just a joke. The 24th annual fest hits Deep Ellum on April 19, putting a brief end to the long-running feud between Fair organizers the Delta Lodge and the city of Denton. (If we had to guess, this is a cease-fire rather than an actual surrender on anyone's part.) There are a limited number of $8 advance tickets (hit www.frystreetfair.com for the details) and the lineup would justify the price even if it were triple that, featuring, among many others, Astronautilus, Doosu, Red Animal War, Slick 57, Wee Hour Movie, (the mother-effing) Dooms U.K., Baboon, [DARYL], Hi-Fi Drowning, El Gato, Budapest One, the Adventures of Jet, Centro-matic, LCC, Little Grizzly, Panda, Sparrows, Sorta and the Chemistry Set. Maybe next year it'll be back in Denton, but enjoy the short drive while you can...
Josh Venable, host of KDGE-FM's The Adventure Club, will be the guest curator at the Dallas Museum of Art for its Come Forward: Emerging Music in Texas "exhibit" on May 9--basically, a concert that ties into the museum's current showcase of up-and-coming visual artists. In his role as curator, Venable has assembled a bill that includes the Deathray Davies, Cordelane (featuring Adventure Club fave Taylor Reed), 41 Gorgeous Blocks and Panda. The show happens at 9 p.m. in the museum's atrium and it is free. Enjoy...
Hand stamps: The Theater Fire opens for Angels of Light and Devendra Banhart at Gypsy Tea Room on April 17, and the Faceless Werewolves do the same for Division of Laura Lee and the Young Heart Attack on April 23; the temporarily titled Pleasant Grove Preservation Society and Chao are at Curtain Club on April 17, followed by OHNO, Valve, Far Star and the Chemistry Set the next night; the pAper chAse plays Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios on April 19, with the Prids, We Ragazzi and Lady of the Lake; Baboon and Falkon team up at the Ridglea Theater on April 18; and the Happiness Factor, Shibboleth and Household Names rock and/or roll on the ad hoc stage at Good Records on April 19.
