Here we go again, Dallas. For the 27th year running, the Dallas Observer Music Awards are on their way.
Each year, the Observer throws a big-ass party to help celebrate all the hard-working musicians of the Dallas music scene. Two of them, in fact. And we even hand out a buttload of awards. This year we'll be having the DOMAs in December, just as we did in 2014, the first time we held the awards so late in the year.
The DOMA showcase will be held in Deep Ellum on the night of Saturday, December 5, spread across nine different bars in the neighborhood. There will be performances from more than 40 local bands held at Club Dada, The Door, The Green Room, Off The Record, The Prophet Bar, Reno's Chop Shop, Three Links and Trees.
To get there, however, we need to have awards, and that's where you come in. Last month, we polled 200 members of the local music community — including promoters, bookers, venue owners, critics, photographers and all other sorts of folks who eat, sleep and breathe local music — to establish the 44 candidates in this year's DOMAs. It wasn't easy, but we've narrowed the list down to the top five candidates in each category.
Voting for the awards will be open from now until midnight the night before the DOMA showcase, Friday, December 4. You can cast your votes by visiting 2015musicawardspoll.dallasobserver.com.
The awards themselves will be handed out the following week at the awards ceremony, the date and location of which will be announced in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, tickets for the showcase go on sale at 10 a.m. next Friday, October 9, at ticketfly.com. Not that you have to wait that long; pre-sale tickets for the DOMA showcase will be available Tuesday, October 6, for anyone who signs up for the Dallas Observer Music Newsletter. Those tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. as well and will remain on sale until 10 p.m. on Thursday, October 8.
There will also be VIP tickets available for those seeking the deluxe treatment at the DOMA showcase. VIP includes access to all participating venues, 3 free drink tickets at the private bar, catered buffet and a free DOMA T-shirt.
All guests must be 21 years of age with a valid I.D. to attend the showcase.