Four of the biggest names in Dallas music over the past 20 years? All on one stage? Gotta say, you guys, we're pretty freakin' stoked about this one.
No, we're not knocking last year's deal at all -- our first Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase in Deep Ellum and our first to feature an outdoor stage was by all accounts a hit, featuring the likes of The Cool Kids, Lucero, The Secret Machines and Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights. But this? It's bigger. Just is. All-local, too, which we think counts for something -- considering, y'know, this is the Dallas Observer Music Awards and all.
No, we're not knocking last year's deal at all -- our first Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase in Deep Ellum and our first to feature an outdoor stage was by all accounts a hit, featuring the likes of The Cool Kids, Lucero, The Secret Machines and Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights. But this? It's bigger. Just is. All-local, too, which we think counts for something -- considering, y'know, this is the Dallas Observer Music Awards and all.
So who do we have? Oh, just the Toadies, who are playing to the biggest crowds of their careers at the moment and who are on the verge of once again returning to the studio. The Old 97's, too, who are earning their greatest critical acclaim yet of late, thanks to their two-volume, return-to-form Grand Theatre album series. Plus the criminally underrated Centro-matic, who earlier this year released Candidate Waltz, perhaps the best album of their long careers. And, oh yeah, folk darling Sarah Jaffe -- just one of the most decorated DOMA musicians of all time, having been nominated for 11 awards since 2008 and winning the prize in all of them.
Oh, and it won't be in the sweltering heat, either. It'll be in the (fingers crossed) gorgeous weather of mid-October. Saturday, October 15, to be specific. All around Deep Ellum. With another 50 or so bands, too.
And it's only gonna get better as we move forward.
We're still waiting to confirm and announce the 50 or so other nominated bands that will be playing the indoor stages at this year's event. We should have that ready for you in the coming days and weeks. We'll have other details as we get closer to the event, too -- like, say, where exactly the outdoor stage is going to be and when tickets are going to start going on sale. Just hammering out some last-minute details on those fronts.
But this was news we couldn't sit on any longer. And -- wait! -- we haven't even told you what may be the best part yet. Walk-up, day-of tickets will run $25, but tickets bought in advance will run just a cool $15. Uh-huh: That's $15 for eight hours of music, access to the outdoor stage plus another eight or so venues, and, oh, the chance to see some 60 or so of the region's best bands. Not bad, not bad.
Can't wait! See you on October 15, no doubt.
