It's nights like this upcoming Saturday night where I really wish I could be in more than one place at a time. But alas, I'm just a man, and I haven't been bitten by a radioactive anything.
I guess there's still time...
Anyway, here's your weekend, folks:
Free End of School Shows with Black Tie Dynasty, Red Monroe, Oso Closo and more 6 p.m. on Friday, April 25, and 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 26 at Hailey's in Denton
The school year up at UNT is coming to a close, and the folks at Hailey's are throwing a big ol' two-night, free (for 21-and-uppers) party to celebrate the coming of summer. Say what you want about the Friday night show headliners, the polished Depeche Mode-esque Black Tie Dynasty (who took home Quick's Big Group award last night), but I'm just not a huge fan of the super sleek act. For my money--which won't come into play here as tonight's gig is, like I said earlier, free--I'd rather take in Red Monroe's driving, jangly indie rock performance right before Black Tie's. Of the two nights of shows, it looks like Friday's bill is a tad more filled out, so if you had to skip one of the two nights, I'd skip Saturday (although there are worse ways to spend your Saturday night than to take in Oso Closo's pleasing brand of pop-rock).
Ultraviolet Benefit 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at Club Dada
It's a combined art and rock benefit concert at Dada on Saturday night as a bunch of area favorites--El Gato, Bridges and Blinking Lights, The Felons and Lovie among them--come together to fight for a cure for cystic fibrosis. Jesse Hughey mentioned this show, where 100 percent of the profits will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, in this week's print edition, so you can read more about the show here. But what Jesse didn't mention in his write-up was Sunward's participation in the event. Now, I admit I haven't seen them live yet, but each time I've stumbled across the band's Myspace page, I found myself drawn to its quirky, cheery indie rock and suddenly unable to click away. Sharing a bill with other heavy hitters offers a perfect excuse to catch this act--and I wouldn't be surprised if, on some level, they ended up stealing the show.
Whiskey Folk Ramblers' CD Release Show 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at Lola's, Fort Worth
We ran a Q&A with Fort Worth's Whiskey Folk Ramblers' lead vocalist Tyler Rougeux this morning, so I won't go on and on about the band here in this space--I'll defer to his words. But I will say that I've dug what I've heard from the Ramblers so far, and I'm starting to think there must be something in the water for these pretty noir-ish sounding country acts to keep coming out of Fort Worth: Tell me these guys wouldn't make a great pairing with their hometown neighbors The Theater Fire somewhere down the line. --Pete Freedman