North of the Dial

north of the dial

The summertime heat may not have lifted yet in Denton, but for many in the two-university town, summer has officially breathed her last.

It's fall now. Well, the fall semester at least, as classes started this week at UNT and begin next week at TWU.

Over the summer, a new crop of great Denton-based acts popped up, seemingly overnight. Meanwhile, some stalwart bands left town on tours (and others just plain left). But one of the biggest surprises of the summer came in the past few weeks: Back in May, things looked pretty bleak for Denton's house show scene, what with the demise of Bunker Hill, 715 Panhandle and others. But, then The Schoolhouse, 818 House, The Majestic Dwelling of Doom and The Castle of Luxurious Diamonds picked up the slack and blessed the area with a handful of great shows.

Now, the low-turnout lull between the spring and fall semesters is over. Sure, the townies never left, but thousands of new students just moved into the area—students who've never scarfed down a slice in the Old Dirty Basement of J&J's Pizza or sipped a beer on the back porch of Dan's Silverleaf. That's why, this week, so many bars, clubs and venues will plaster the campuses with fliers for free back-to-school parties, bashes and shows.

But of all the back-to-school events around the city, two venues have lined up especially good bills to help us all get back into the swing of things: Hailey's Club starts the school semester off right this weekend with Friday's "Back to Cooool" party, which features a dozen acts such as Fizzy Dino Pop, Corporate Park and, assuming the band makes it back to Texas in time, VEGA. Then, Spune Productions is throwing its Back to School Ice Cream Social on Saturday, featuring Telegraph Canyon, The Hand Combine and Matthew Gray, just to name a few.

And, starting on Monday, Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios really pulls out all the stops with its Free Week. Launched in 2005, this year's Free Week features four to five bands every evening. Owner Josh Baish booked the shows personally, pulling together a hodgepodge of local acts that makes every night worth catching, no matter how diverse your musical predilections.

"We'll have posters, and I hope to promote the hell out of it on the campus," Baish says. "Because Free Week really is great for the new people in town that may not be familiar with these bands or with Gloves."

Together, all these back-to-school events feature enough acts to fill up this column, so, check the venues' Web pages for more info. And, stay tuned to DC-9 at Night where we'll alert you to other shows that may pop up.