It Was the Art!

While the bands (The Theater Fire, Pleasant Grove, I Love Math), the art up for auction (created by 150 local artists during a 24-hour period) and the charitable cause (Children's Health Fund) were mighty impressive, what made last year's inaugural Art Conspiracy event exponentially interesting was its historic choice of venue. The Texas Theatre was where police cornered Oswald after the JFK assassination. Likewise, The Longhorn Ballroom, home to this year's benefit, has its own infamous local history. Aside from being a live music institution that saw folks such as Bob Willis, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ernest Tubb regularly grace its stage, the venue is also renowned for hosting the Sex Pistols in 1978, when Sid Vicious was head-butted by a female audience member. So come on down, dig on the art, jam on the music, and if the feeling's right, re-create that fateful night by assaulting a local musician with your forehead. Peter Schmidt and His Gentleman Scholars, Fishboy, Spitfire Tumbleweeds, John Holiday and DJ Stephen R join repeat offenders the Happy Bullets and Salim Nourallah and the Polaroids at Art Conspiracy II, 7 p.m. Friday at the Longhorn Ballroom, 216 Corinth St. at Industrial Boulevard. Admission is $10, with proceeds benefiting La Reunion artist residency in Oak Cliff. Visit artconspiracy.org for more info.
Fri., Dec. 1, 7 p.m.