BRUCE CAMPBELL WILL BE AT COMIC CON THIS WEEKEND, AND SO WILL STAN LEE!
Alright Dallas, I hope you took a powernap and squirreled away a minibar's worth of 12-hour energy drinks, because you'll need your A-game to conquer this jampacked weekend. We've got Bruce Campbell, Stan Lee and folks from Starship Troopers taking over Comic Con. There's an art show at a self-storage facility in Denton on Saturday afternoon followed that evening by Girl Show, that massive, estrogen-rich party that ArtLoveMagic throws annually. Be your group's nightlife guru and share this list with your friends, and click the event titles for more information. I'll see you out there. (I'll be the one with a boom stick.)
Thursday 10.18 Live Fast/Die Slow -- It's been two years since word spread through Dallas that one of the city's brightest, most beloved musicians, Frankie Campagna, had committed suicide. Then, doubling the pain's weight we saw his Spector 45 bandmate, bassist Adam Carter, follow suit only three months later. Frank Campagna Sr. knew that the cycle had to stop, so he started 45 Fest. The annual event generates funding to provide Dallas' musicians and artists with access to mental health programs. Tonight the festival's visual component, Live Fast/Die Slow, launches at Kettle. More than 40 local artists have submitted work -- all potential cover art for a Spector 45 retrospective album. Go and buy something. This is such an important Dallas event that it's all I'm listing for Thursday. 45 Fest's musical component happens on Saturday at DADA. Let's support our own.
Friday 10.19 Fan Days -- Listen up, nerds: If you've ever wanted to party with Stan Lee, Bruce Campbell, Felicia Day and select cast members of Starship Troopers, this weekend is your time. Comic Con Fan Days runs through Sunday, but you'll want to check the schedule so you can be there, drooling, when your favorite dork idle is present.
Warriors of the Discotheque -- Starck Club, one of the most legendary nightclubs in Dallas history, opened its doors in May of 1984. It remained an adult playground for the rich until shutting down five years later. Texas Theatre is showing a documentary about the historic venue on Friday, followed by a dance party where DJ Deep Shade will slip you a set of Starck Club jams.
Linder Daughters of the Promised Land -- There's a gritty aspect to the new exhibition at Goss-Michael Foundation, and it's got my radical cheerleader pompoms all perked up. A little bit Dada, a whole lot of rock 'n' roll, Linder purees the obvious with the subversive, layering pages from pornography with crudely matched abstractions from flower catalogs and home appliance magazines. If you own the Buzzcocks' Orgasm Addict album, take a look at the artwork. That's Linder.
Saturday 10.20 Girl Show -- This ArtLoveMagic exhibition is now in its 5th year, and it attracts so many people (between 800 and 1200) that it will take over a couple floors of South Side on Lamar this Saturday. GO! See the best lady talent in the city as dozens and dozens of visual artists, performance handywomen and musicians spend the evening showing you their goods. It's one of ALM's biggest flagship shows and yeah, everyone will be there. Don't miss out.
Ricki Derek's Very Halloweenie Night-Oh-Cabaret -- Burlesque! Comedy! Entertainment! It's a variety show for modern young adults, and it goes down at Texas Theatre. STORAGE -- The Unnamed Collective is Denton's newest addition to the artful collective assault of 2012. They're a group of sculptors, painters, photographers, print-makers, installation and performance artists, and you're allowed to touch everything they make. (Well, maybe don't get too handsy with the performance artists -- because that's weird.) Adding to the laundry list of unconventional art show spaces (they've been everywhere from trains and swimming pools to abandoned buildings and parks this year), the Unnamed Collective will hold their introductory exhibition at the Budget Self-Storage Space, on Saturday afternoon in Denton.
Deep Ellum Pup Crawl -- You work all week while your dog sits at home. He doesn't have thumbs, so opening a beer without you is damn near impossible. Get some quality time together doing what you both love during the Deep Ellum Pup Crawl, a pub crawl that let's you bring your dog all over Deep Ellum. Cash raised goes to the Greyhound Adoption League of Texas.
Susan G Komen Race for the Cure -- It's time to support the fight against breast cancer with the biggest annual fundraising walk of the year. Get some pink on, tighten up those tennis shoes and let's help put an end to this thing, okay?
Sunday 10.21 Johnny Cupcakes Coffin Tour -- This business owner always has something new cooking in the oven. See his latest experiments and meet the man behind the brand when Johnny Cupcakes sets up shop at the Henderson location of We Are 1976 on Sunday.
Pug-O-Ween -- Here's the deal: pugs dressed as humans are adorable. Also, there's a silent auction and one prize is a PERMANENT PUG TATTOO. You're welcome.
Ways of Seeing, at Smoke and Mirrors -- Wilhelmina Adams-Hartsell and Lauren Ashley make come-hither lady art at this show. There will also be tunes by DJ Johnny Violence. It runs from 3 to 7 p.m.
Monday 10.22 Presidential Debates at Texas Theatre-- Mittens vs. Obama: In the end there can be only one. Debates are just more fun to watch in the company of others, so the Stonewall Democrats will show the final political boxing match on Texas Theatre's big screen. Also, there's a bar, which you'll need.