CocoRosie, Sleep WhaleGranada TheaterSeptember 29, 2010Better than: listening to recorded CocoRosie. Far better, actually. The sisters Bianca and Sierra (CoCo and Rosie, respectively) Casady and their sidemen brought their unique brand of freaky fairy music to the Granada last night…
Marc RibotKessler TheaterSeptember 25, 2010Better than: Being challenged by musical banality. The Kessler Theater presented its first “Storytellers at the Kessler” event on Saturday night, hosting Marc Ribot in his first-ever Texas performance. And the combination of music and space could not have been better suited for each other. …
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Grace Potter and the NocturnalsPalladium ShowroomSeptember 23, 2010Better than: well, not beholding the power of music that can make a white man try to dance. Last night, an audience of about 600 people at the Palladium Showroom (formerly Gilley’s Saloon) were treated to the power…
Jamie Lidell was in a period of laid-back bliss during the summer of 2009 when his friend Beck Hansen called. Seems Beck also had some down time, and was wondering if Jamie would be interested in spending some time in the studio to work on any songs he might have…
Autolux, Golden PandaThe LoftSeptember 10, 2010Better than: waiting six years between albums. The distinctive, spectacular drumming of Autolux’s Carla Azur is enough to draw a crowd. Consider, too, though, the elegant mystery of this credit for her work with Joe Henry on the album Fuse: “Carla Azur appears like the…
Some artists are so good they get in their own way. And sometimes the world and events just conspire against them. Los Angeles-based trio Autolux might be the poster child for these cruel realities. Evidence? How about the time in 2002 that drummer Carla Azar crushed her elbow in a…
Here We Go Magic, Beach FossilsThe LoftAugust 4, 2010Better than: Seeing these headliners open in a hot and crowded Granada, as was the case last time around. Last summer, Brooklyn’s Here We Go Magic opened for Grizzly Bear in what many considered to be one of the concert highlights of…
Mates of State, Free EnergyGranada TheaterJuly 7, 2010Better than: Sitting home and watching cooking shows Mates of State were back at the Granada last night playing to a very appreciative crowd of fans that filled the theater’s floor level–but not the whole theater space. The balcony section was closed off…
BuzzcocksThe LoftJune 11, 2010Better than: nostalgia. Buzzcocks (a more appropriately named band escapes me at the moment) roared into The Loft on Friday evening delivering on the promise of the Another Bites tour premise: The band roared through their first two albums–and a few other gems–in a virtually non-stop 90-minute…
Truer words have perhaps never been spoken: “The road is still fun—although perhaps not as much fun as it seems over some drinks where you decide, ‘Right, let’s do it!'” says Pete Shelley. Shelley, a founding member of the Buzzcocks, has just arrived in America to resume what has been…
Laura Marling, Smoke FairiesThe LoftMay 23, 2010Better than: trying to make sense out of any finales that were on TV last night. Let me just say it right up front: Laura Marling is an amazing talent. The native of the “quite beautiful” countryside of Hampshire, England is now 20 years…
There is no shortage of articles or opinions lauding the superb guitar playing skills of Jeff Beck. And deservedly so: He’s part of what one might call the Divine Three (along with fellow guitar gods Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton). But Beck is the lone member of that league who…
One of the reasons that the movie Amelie was so engaging (besides the beguiling performance of Audrey Tatou) was the soundtrack composed by Yann Tiersen. His offering was a compelling mixture of French folk music, classical piano, and pop—and it subsequently found footing with a number of mid-Noughties indie acts…
The Big Pink, A Place To Bury StrangersGranada TheaterApril 9, 2010Better than: Tinnitus, but only by a little. Heading into Friday night’s show at the Granada Theater, you had the feeling it was gonna be a special night. Electro-rock act The Big Pink was making its concert debut in Dallas…
Chris Keating is effusive, having just returned home to Brooklyn for a few days from a European tour. But he seems a little shocked when he’s reminded that he and his bandmates in Yeasayer will be appearing at the Granada Theater this week as an early date in the band’s…
Surfer BloodGranada TheaterMarch 15, 2010Better than: Watching The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, if nothing else.Surfer Blood took to the stage ahead of schedule last night–and saw a decent crowd (for a Monday night, at least) awaiting it.Not bad following a weekend of pretty much relentless partying for most of…
It sounds like an aperitif on the menu for the finny diners that tend to hang out just beyond the white sandy beaches of South Florida. But, turns out, the name Surfer Blood actually applies to a group of fresh-faced dudes who formed a band in West Palm Beach and…
I’ve always been a sucker for a good lyric. Friends and family know I’m prone to well up simply recalling some of the great songs that I’ve committed to memory over the years. (At least Flight of the Conchords finally gave me a good excuse for when this happens: “My…
The CribsGranada TheaterJanuary 22, 2010Better than: Missing the show entirely. I clearly need to pay more attention to the Granada’s useful day-of-show set-time tweets. Friday night at the Granada, there was a lineup of three great bands. Adam Green (formerly of the Moldy Peaches) and The Dead Trees opened for…
Fact: Guitar legend Johnny Marr is not a vampire looking for youthful blood. He is not having a mid-life crisis. He’s not even a guitarist-for-hire. Fact: The brothers Jarman, now officially eight years into life as The Cribs, did not recruit new member Marr as a calculated way of expanding…
John Iskander has been bringing a parade of cutting-edge, live performers to Dallas for the past three years—much to the joy of those who pore over the blogosphere looking for indie rock’s latest breaking bands. His are the bands from the coasts or from Brooklyn—those whose name you might have…
Elvis Perkins in Dearland, A.A. BondyHouse of Blues’ Cambridge RoomNovember 14, 2009Better than: Having to actually attend a New Orleans funeral to feel uplifted. I confess to be fond of brainy, melancholy music leavened with joy, and, I’m happy to say, that itch got scratched last night by Elvis Perkins…
