But none of those bulletins has been anything like this one. Josh Venable, host of 102.1 The Edge's Adventure Club (nominee for Best Radio Show that Plays Local Music), sent the Internet voting link to his fans a little over a week ago, and underneath that link was the following (unedited):
"Here is a disclaimer I've made a bit over the past month or so. Vote if ya want. We won't be doing the full court press of years past because...I don't really care this year. I don't read the Observer anymore except for the DVD reviews occasionally. That being said, we all love to be recognized in our field. So vote for the Adventure Club in best radio show if you'd like. If not, thanks for listening anyway. xoxo, Josh."
Come on, Josh. Not even Jim Schutze's column? Really, we're not sweating his opinion--if Venable thinks coverage of Bosque Brown, the Theater Fire, Fishboy, Red Animal War, the Undoing of David Wright and other promising locals isn't worth reading, he wouldn't be the first. And for the record, our very public hatred of 102.1's dismal play list, which plays more Sublime than our college dorm neighbor ever did, has never seeped over to his Sunday night program, even after he dedicated an entire episode to Coldplay a few months back. But the whole "here's how to vote for me, but, uh, don't vote for me" schtick is pretty transparent, and he slaps some wonderful local radio shows--and fellow nominees--in the face with his posturing.
So, out of respect to the other nominated radio shows, we're a little miffed, but we're not here to start a feud--the last thing local music needs is a urinal swordfight between the big indie-rock show and the music rag--so come on back, Joshy baby. We'll have Brit-pop dinner waitin'. As the inestimable Will Smith would say, "Daddy loves you."
Get Fry'ed: If you were too intimidated to give the two-day Wall of Sound Festival 2006 a go a few weeks ago (and, to some extent, we can't entirely blame you), then you'll probably have enough energy pent up to check out Saturday's Fry Street Fair. For the second year in a row, the day-long music fest has secured its hometown location after an ill-fitting move to Deep Ellum in years past--really, how did FSF work on any street other than Fry? In addition to four local-loaded stages, crammed full of Denton treats like Birth to Burial, Fra Pandolf, Pinebox Serenade and Record Hop, along with Dallas powers Bobgoblin, Saboteur and the Happy Bullets, the fairgrounds will be packed full of booths where you can enjoy local food, art, clothes, "smoking accessories" and more. Festivities kick off at noon, and gubernatorial hopeful Kinky Friedman will entertain fest-goers with a speech on the Fry Street stage at 3:30 p.m.. Visit frystfair.com for full schedule details.
DW 24/7: In case you missed our updates at Unfair Park last week, here's the latest: As of 1:13 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, 2006, the Double Wide is up and running. We've just opened our newest editorial bureau beneath the bar's jackalope; if the club randomly and inexplicably shuts down again, or even if someone farts next to the jukebox, we'll be the first to report it. You can count on our dedication.
Handstamps: For some insane reason, three quality bands from DFW are unleashing albums this week. We simply couldn't get to all of them for this issue--in particular, Calhoun still hasn't sent us their new platter--but we'd be remiss not to direct readers to the release shows in the meantime. The Cavern hosts 'em all: Calhoun and the Chemistry Set throw a dual CD release show on Friday, and Black Tie Dynasty unveils Movements there on Saturday...Holy crap, Chicago's Fruit Bats are playing at Dan's Silverleaf on Thursday night. Last time they came through town was when they played to a barren crowd at the Cavern. Hopefully, the UNT crowd will get off their butts this time... Course of Empire's Paul Semrad recently hipped us to his latest band, Team Evil, and the straight-out southern-rockers on the trio's MySpace page are pretty bitchin'. See the band open for the Tah Dahs at the Bar of Soap on Friday.
