Crushed Stars’ newest record, In the Bright Rain, came out this week, and to celebrate, we asked band mastermind Todd Gautreau and drummer Jeff Ryan about their first shows. What was the first show you remember seeing? Were you with your parents? Todd Gautreau: My first show was KISS. I…
Country four-piece Somebody’s Darling has a new record ready to go called Black Eyes and Alibis, but we have to wait until the summer to hear it. As a preview of what’s to come, the band headlines Dada on Friday night. Frontwoman Amber Farris and guitarist David Ponder took the…
The Final Annex House Show w/ Spookeasy, Darstar, Rocketarm, Sealion Annex House Friday, February 24 There have been other “last” shows at Annex House before, but the Keller Williams “For Lease” sign out front made it definite on Friday night. If this was the final show, it was pretty fantastic,…
What was the first show you remember seeing? I don’t know which came first exactly, but I did see The Ventures when I was 12. They played at UNT. I think that was one of my first real shows, so that was a pretty awesome way to have a first…
Around this time last year, while the metroplex’s roads were iced over for a week, Mind Spiders’ frontman Mark Ryan found himself stuck in his Fort Worth home. Ryan, whose day job as a behavioral specialist takes him around the area every week, was motivated and inspired to write a…
You’ve seen the white and black Sealion sticker at most bars around Deep Ellum. Luckily, the band is worth the attention, and they’re even hitting the road with the Toadies at the end of March. Friday, they play “the final Annex House show” at the fabled Lakewood crash pad. All…
Let me make myself clear: I love Chris Botti’s music. Not in an ironic or tongue-in-cheek way. Yes, Botti, the trumpet player who’s played with everyone from Sting to Josh Groban to Steven Tyler. He’s the kind of guy your parents love, along with Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand. This…
Patrick “Taz” Bentley, the powerful drummer behind Rev. Horton Heat, Burden Brothers, and Tenderloin, will be back in action this week with his latest band, 76. Since their sound owes a lot to the sonic messiah that is mid-’70s arena rock, it’s no surprise to hear Bentley saw some of…
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, The Angelus Sons of Hermann Hall Sunday, February 12 As snow flurries turned to rain Sunday night, Canadian five-piece Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra performed in Dallas for the first time. And they played for almost two hypnotic hours. Frontman Efrim Menuck was…
Mind Spiders, Low Culture, Brain Attack, Occult Detective Club Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios Friday, February 10 With two drummers, two guitarists, one bassist and one keyboardist, Mind Spiders didn’t sound lopsided Friday night at Rubber Gloves.Throwing in some new material from their sophomore effort, Meltdown, along with songs from their…
Machine Head’s latest opus, Unto the Locust, only adds to their vast catalog of smart, powerful metal. Expect the new stuff to mix effortlessly with classics like “Davidian” and “Ten Ton Hammer,” as Machine Head is the middle ground between older, full-sleeve-tatted folks and younger, not-yet-sleeve-tatted kids. Neither nu-metal nor…
Dallas five-piece The Blurries are riding high from the accolades of last year’s Paper Cuts. With upcoming appearances at Dada and 35 Denton, bassist Andy Lester took some time out to talk about the first shows he saw and played, including when PJ Harvey scared him. What was the first…
Craig Finn, Mount Moriah, Beau Jennings & the Tigers Dada Wednesday, February 1 Craig Finn stepped on stage with his four bandmates and declared, “I’m Craig Finn. This is my band. We need a name.” Serving as the opening date for a two-month tour ahead of them, the erstwhile Hold…
Recalling the post-punk and hardcore bands that frequently played Rubber Gloves in the late ’90s, Denton four-piece Bad Design just released a new self-titled album on Gutterth Records, their second LP since forming in 2009. They celebrate with two release shows: Friday at Bryan Street Tavern and Saturday at Rubber…
Remember when we said it was a busy week for Bad Design? Add the premiere of their new video for “Stained Glass,” directed and shot by Christopher Bryan and starring Ally Hoffmann, both of Denton’s Peopleodian. In this week’s print edition, a shorter version of the My First Show Q&A…
A Lull, Deleted Scenes, Botany Dan’s Silverleaf Tuesday, January 31 Chicago five-piece A Lull took the Dan’s stage at 11:30 p.m. with two drummers in tow, in front of roughly 20 people. Raucous, tribal beats rolled along for a majority of the set and, propelled by these rhythms, the high-pitched,…
Deleted Scenes, a four-piece from the Washington D.C. area, comes to Denton Tuesday, January 31, as they continue a lengthy tour through the states. As a little preview of the band’s post-rock/post-hardcore sound, we asked vocalist/guitarist Dan Scheuerman about his first show experiences. Not only did Sheuerman get to see…
The Life and Times, The Cush, Calhoun Dan’s Silverleaf Thursday, January 19 The Life and Times didn’t get their set going until 15 minutes after midnight, but almost everyone who came stayed until the very end. The trio, lit only by four lights placed at waist level around the stage,…
No matter what night of the week it is or if the weather is terrible, The Life and Times’ spacey post-hardcore stomp is a galvanizing force. Long since removed from the shadows of past bands like Shiner, the Kansas City trio has a reputation that exceeds its lineup. Promoting their…
Calhoun frontman Tim Locke will be live and full in effect on Thursday night at Dan’s Silverleaf. Opening for The Life and Times, the Fort Worth four-piece will deliver a show that could be as inspiring as the shows Locke saw as a kid, which range from John Denver all…
There’s one thing Mwanza Dover wants to make abundantly clear about The Black Dotz: It’s not Dover’s band. Sure, he’s the lead singer of the quartet, but this is a band. Sitting in Dover’s living room, the other three members — guitarist Greg Prickett, bassist Ross Boyd and drummer Ross…
Usually with this column, we might interview one or two people from a band. With Darstar, all five members were kind enough to share the first shows they saw and played. And, if you wanted a reminder of how effective Smashing Pumpkins were in their heyday, listen to what Lisa…
