The Granada put on a rare heavy metal show last night, meaning that their particular section of Greenville was occupied by black clothing and facial hair, a far cry from last Saturday’s show from AD.d+. It’s great that one venue can attract such totally disparate crowds, and in such large…
In Death by Microphone, local Brit and barbecue blogger Gavin Cleaver attends stand-up comedy classes at the Dallas Comedy House and reports back for our amusement and education. Check back next week to revel further in his failure. After last week’s disaster, morale was low on the Good Ship Cleaver…
I am back from a recent lunch at a run-down tiny shack in Lewisville, and I am still delighted at barbecue. I mean, it’s just amazing. How does it taste that good? Is it magic? Do they put LSD in it? Why is it that the grimier and smaller the…
If you’re in the mood for some uncategorizable French metal (and who isn’t?!) then the Granada has a treat for you, as uncategorizable French metal band Gojira swing into town. Fans of this deeply specific genre will have been upset to see Gojira’s support slot with Lamb of God and…
It occurs to me that, at Dallas gigs, there are a greater than average number of people whom I would politely refer to as rapscallions. That is, they seem determined to waste the time, energy and patience of the average gig-going person like you or me with a series of…
I can’t hide it any more, guys. I’ve started to vaguely understand what this brisket business is all about. As you might be able to see from the archives, I have eaten a fair amount of brisket over the last eight months or so. I know it should be moist,…
You know what goes well with live music? Alcohol. A large amount of alcohol. But that’s not always cheap. Some nights you’ll end up spending more than the ticket price on non-discounted booze, which is exactly what the venue wants you to do. You’re playing right into their hands. SO…
Tuesday sees the Dallas leg of Lady Gaga’s latest attempt to put some relevant words in front of the word “Ball” and successfully market it as an event. To be fair to Lady G, she’s one of those rare pop phenomenons who managed, at least for a while, to successfully…
Editor’s note: Finally, to wrap up National Pie Day, Englishman Gavin Cleaver takes a break from huffing oak smoke to tell us about some of his nation’s favorite filled pastry treats. Read this and ask yourself how English cuisine ever got such a bad reputation. Custard Tart Wikipiedia (not a…
In Death by Microphone, local Brit and barbecue blogger Gavin Cleaver attends stand-up comedy classes at the Dallas Comedy House and reports back for our amusement. Check back next week to revel further in his failure. It felt like a lengthy course last week, two hours during which we heard…
Last night’s Jeff Mangum show at the Majestic was really a very special event. After a pleasant, relaxing, warm bath of a set from The Tall Firs, Mangum shambled unassumingly onto the stage, clad in a hat that shaded his eyes from view and an impressive beard. From the first…
Everyone’s got a good concert story. Not the “I saw my favorite musician and he was AMAZING” story, but the “I didn’t expect that in the slightest” story. They’re the best. Those are the stories you long to hear, because they’re the most unique and interesting. Here’s mine…
You are almost certainly aware that Mr. Mangum is the voice, guitar and driving force behind a pair of classic, and relatively unique, albums from the 1990s when fronting the band Neutral Milk Hotel. Featuring repeated lyrical engagements with difficult subject matter, most noticeably Anne Frank, and a unique vocal…
In Death by Microphone, local Brit and barbecue blogger Gavin Cleaver attends stand-up comedy classes at the Dallas Comedy House and reports back for our amusement. Check back next week to see how his first bit goes. So then. Learning to be amusing. I am nervous. Especially at the Dallas…
Where does this bridge even go? Why does it have so many names? Is this how I get on the bridge? Why is it so fancy while being a portal to the middle of nowhere? What the hell is the speed limit? Is this a freeway, or a bridge? These…
Guys, the weather forecast for this week is decidedly bad news. We know you all like to get out there, see things and do stuff (this is a very inclusive blog post). We would never discourage you from that. However, seeing as the weather can’t even be bothered to get…
Big comedy news o’clock, everyone, as tickets for Bill Burr’s stand-up show at the Majestic go on sale today. If you don’t think this will sell out faster than a pop star faced with a check from Pepsi, you’re going to be disappointed next week. A fixture across all kinds…
People of Dallas! One of the greatest singer-songwriters of his generation is coming to our fair city in March, and the tickets haven’t sold out yet. I know they’re $80, but come on. He’s very unlikely to come back again, and for some reason that no one can explain he’s…
After my earlier (somewhat sarcastic) rejection of all of Memphis barbecue, I felt I should probably try somewhere that wasn’t Red, Hot and Blue and aim to be remotely fair. As luck would have it, during a New Year road trip we passed through Memphis for a day (en route…
While the UK-US flow of music has become more than the steady one-way stream of US rock of the last two decades (presumably thanks to the internet), I’ve noticed you enjoy importing our wimpiest bands, like the dull drone of Mumford and Sons or the operatic cock-rock of Muse. Here…
Gavin Cleaver is the Observer’s British barbecue correspondent. I’m not a consistently funny man. And while I’m a huge fan of stand-up, I’ve never looked at it and thought “I could do that!” I might be mildly funny in text format sometimes, but in text I have the chance to…
Editor’s note: The author is British, so this thing is, like, authentic. Downton Abbey returns Sunday, so to celebrate, buy the finest wine you can afford to drink in large quantities, send the staff away for the weekend, become horrified by the smallest social faux pas, and sip gently and…
