For being a relatively friendly bunch of guys, the Fray gets a lot of flak from critics. Admittedly, some of it is deserved as the band’s overly earnest brand of pop/rock can be a bit grating. But hell, the majority of acts in the Top 40 can be just as…
It’s a tradition as old as pop music itself: A band discovers how much money can be made by crossing over to the pop market and starts crafting softer music accordingly. It has happened to the best of bands. Most of the time, but not always, this occurs when a…
The Yardbirds hold a special place in the history of rock and roll. Over the course of some fitful years in the mid- to late 1960s, the band featured the talents (separately) of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. During that time, the Yardbirds made several classic albums and…
Boston With the Doobie Brothers Allen Event Center Wednesday, June 18, 2014 You know the summer has officially started once the oldies package tours make their way through town, or in this case, the suburb of Allen. But last night was a bit different as two legendary acts from the…
Mike Dillon sounds weary but resilient. It’s inevitable when he comes back to Dallas. His memories of the city and Deep Ellum in the 1980s haunt him like the ghosts of old relatives. Back then, when the neighborhood was in its heyday, he played in two of the scene’s most…
Since the early 1960’s, Dan Hicks has been creating his interesting hybrid of folk, jazz, country and pop. Hitting his stride with 1971’s Where’s the Money?, the singer-songwriter formed the first version of Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. The unique, drummer-less five-piece quickly found a niche market based on…
New Jersey’s the Front Bottoms is the classic love it or hate it proposition. The duo of Brian Sella and Mathew Uychich play an acoustic-based folk/punk that’s very catchy and not a little cheesy. Album titles such as I Hate My Friends and My Grandma vs. Pneumonia tell a good…
Oh, it’s that time of year again. It’s the time for all those sweaty punk and metal (and whatever bizarre blend of either) bands to descend on Fair Park under the banner of the Vans Warped Tour. This go-around features a lot of variety and many new(er) bands that should…
OFF! With Cerebral Ballzy and Nasa Space Universe Club Dada, Dallas Friday, May 23, 2014 There’s the great scene in The Dark Knight where Alfred explains to Bruce Wayne the true nature of the Joker. “Some men just want to watch the world burn,” says Alfred. Watching Keith Morris front…
The up and down career of Skid Row is a microcosm of just about any successful 80’s metal act. Hitting a peak with the 1991 sophomore effort Slave to the Grind, the band was quickly derailed by the grunge movement and ended up losing lead singer Sebastian Bach. Amazingly, the…
Besides her time fronting Concrete Blonde and maintaining a solo career, Johnette Napolitano has carved out a successful niche for herself as an author and a visual artist. And in her free time, she also cares for rescue horses. Not too bad for someone best known for the ’90s alternative…
With extremely low expectations, I made my way into the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie on Saturday night to catch a trio of acts that saw their best days nearly four decades ago: Foreigner, Styx and Don Felder, of Eagles fame. For the two co-headliners, it was a case of…
Look, Dave Matthews seems like a great guy. I even like him as an actor. But the guy’s music bores the living hell out of me. Maybe it’s because he’s basically a younger version of Jimmy Buffet just playing to a crowd partying with a different substance. Maybe it’s because…
England’s Band of Skulls is the perfect mixture of style and substance. For over a decade, this alternative blues rock trio have been impressing just about anyone who gets a chance to catch the band’s distorted fuzz. Although Band of Skulls has only released three full-lengths, each album has something…
Hailing from someplace called Ashtabula, Ohio, Homewrecker are an extreme metal/hardcore band that have been raging like a psychotic beast for a little more than five years. In that time, the band has made its way to the Dallas area on several occasions and found a niche performing at a…
Having a famous musician as a father can always put pressure on a son or daughter who chooses the same profession. Not so for Bobby Bare Jr. With a blistering sense of humor and an emotional earnestness, Bare has never tried to walk in his father’s shoes. Instead, Bare Jr…
For over 25 years, Eddie Spaghetti and The Supersuckers have been playing a raw brand of hillbilly soaked rock and roll in just about any venue that would care to book them. Over the years, a definite country influence has steadily wormed its way into the band’s creative center resulting…
Since beginning his career in the Bay Area in the 1970s, Tommy Castro has become one of the most consummate blues musicians currently working. Castro’s body of work is an amazingly diverse collection of albums that are always tethered to classic blues and R&B. His most recent effort, The Devil…
Miss Marcy is a powerhouse. She may not look like it as she relaxes in a Whole Foods Market in old East Dallas, reflecting on her oeuvre, but she’s every bit as brash and confident as the blues diva she inhabits onstage. A throwback as a performer with her vintage…
At 74, Al Jarreau is one of the living legends of jazz and R&B. For well over five decades, the man has been one of the few singers to cross over and have success in the pop marketplace. Jarreau’s 1981 album Breaking Away featured his signature song, the lovely “We’re…
Naming your band TEEN can have some repercussions. Just ask Kristina “Teeny” Lieberson. While some might assume a band called TEEN might feature a least a few teenagers, Lieberson simply used her childhood nickname as the inspiration for a moniker. And there is nothing immature about the music of this…
Atlanta’s Manchester Orchestra play indie music with an epic feel. Over the course of a decade, this nimble five-piece led by the enigmatic Andy Hull have released four albums of quality alternative rock. The band’s most recent effort, Cope, may well be the band’s best effort yet. Speaking from his…
