The Darkness may have stolen the spotlight at South by Southwest 2003, but Petty Booka stole the hearts of those who saw them. Wearing cowboy hats and strumming ukuleles, this quirky Japanese duo played stirring covers of Patsy Cline, Madonna and the Ramones. What makes their music more than novelty,…

“Come awwwwwn!” the girl on the Harley yelled, lifting up her top in the scorching sun. She was growing impatient; it’s not the kinda place you wanna burn. “You gotta put your shirt down,” I told her nervously, proving with one prudish sentence that I know nothing about good photography…

I was 13 years old when I saw Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, so young that all I remember are the opening credits and Rosie Perez’s ferocious shadowboxing to a song unlike any I’d heard at that age–Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” a song that would, over the years,…

The Polyphonic Spree’s first album, The Beginning Stages of …, was a demo recorded in a few days and eventually released by Hollywood Records. As an album, it’s slapdash and scattered, with a lot of instrumental throat-clearing that stretches into tedium. And as Tim DeLaughter’s be-robed gang rose to critical…

Congratulations to Chris Bell, an accomplished Dallas sound engineer recently named president of the Recording Academy’s Texas Chapter. The Recording Academy, you’ll remember, is the group behind a little thing called the Grammys. Bell, who has spent the past four years at Luminous Sounds, has worked on releases from, among…

When I was a teenager, the Granada Theater was a nifty movie house that served booze and decent food. You could even smoke inside. The movies were usually second-run, but they were cheap, and the place got pretty full on Fridays. Still, I always thought the space was underutilized, underappreciated,…

What does your daydream look like? Does it have beautiful colors? Does it shine like the sun? Does it involve you and Johnny Depp in a hot-dog-eating contest? Really?! Me, too. Well, here’s the point: Dallas’ favorite rock-choral group, the Polyphonic Spree, hosts the “Film Your Daydream” contest to find…

It seemed too good to be true–a two-day dream concert with The Flaming Lips and Wilco and Sonic Youth and Morrissey–and in the end, it was. Despite its best lineup, perhaps ever, Lollapalooza went splat, canceled because of poor ticket sales. What the hell happened? Theories abounded: Perry Farrell blamed…

Among the things flying through the air just before the Bad Religion show at last Saturday’s Vans Warped Tour were these: a sopping-wet newspaper, an old flip-flop, a black bra and one economy-size Old Spice deodorant can, which landed with a clatter next to the tattooed guy beside me. He…

Oh, no! The band OHNO is (oh)no more. As reported last Thursday in the new Dallas ‘zine Sample Press, www.samplepress.com, the Dallas band is splitsville. For the past month or so, Rahim Quazi has been playing around town as Rahim the Band and now come reports that lead singer Steven…

Interesting thing about the current media fawn-fest surrounding our cover boys, the Secret Machines: Almost every national article about the rock band mentions their Dallas heritage. Spin, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone. I’ve never met the guys, and suspect I never will, but it still gives me a little hometown thrill…

Erykah Badu’s Black Forest Theater is flat-out happening. I’m not just talking about the gorgeous renovated South Dallas movie theater (1920 Martin Luther King Blvd.)–with better sound and lighting (and attitude) than most any spot in Deep Ellum–but the music. Let’s start with Common Folk, second on Wednesday night’s bill…

Have you seen the Austin City Limits Festival lineup? Bam, someone grew up fast. This year’s roster includes such beloved indie acts as the Pixies, Wilco, Modest Mouse, Neko Case and My Morning Jacket, along with such marquee names as Pat Green, Dashboard Confessional and Sheryl Crow. The festival is…

“Clap your hands all you sexy people!” Prince told the audience. And people, we were not sexy. We were geeks through and through, slapping high fives and dancing with the finesse of a tipsy 5-year-old, whooping with every familiar riff. And yet, the beautiful thing about Prince was that it…

I’m driving to Arlington to visit my friend for the last time. Tomorrow she will die, which is something I’ve been trying not to think about since I heard the diagnosis a year ago. But things have gotten worse fast, and now the magnificent woman I once knew is sinking…

In anticipation of last week’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, The Dallas Morning News offered an exhaustive history of the electric guitar. Here at the Dallas Observer we don’t know, like, facts, but we sure have theories. To celebrate the Prince concert on June 11, we offer this thoroughly incomplete history of…

“It is with great sadness that we share this news with you today,” read the notice posted at www.jibeonline.com. “Joe has decided to leave to pursue other interests. Therefore, we regret to announce that the upcoming shows have been cancelled, and this chapter of our lives that is Jibe has…

Whiskey, women and wheels–the bands at Friday night’s rockabilly show owe a serious creative debt to that glorious trifecta. (Then again, what band doesn’t?) Whether it was Rocket DeVille’s Clutch DeVille bragging about his hopped-up ’32 Ford or Slick 57’s John Pedigo crying for “Alcohol and Aspirin,” these were bands…

This six-song debut EP is a surprisingly strong collection of smooth pop-jazz, showcasing Lauren Gifford’s sly vocals along with her sure-handed piano playing. Like Norah Jones, Gifford is a lovely young thang with a voice that hearkens back to another era, although Gifford lacks the songwriting sophistication to pull off…

Last week, 65 million votes were cast in one night on American Idol. That’s more than half of the total votes in the 2000 presidential race–granted, that particular election didn’t involve middle-schoolers using speed dial; otherwise Justin Timberlake would be rocking the Oval Office. But when two warbling teens can…

More than 30,000 people will head to Fair Park this weekend for the Crossroads Guitar Festival, giving new meaning to the phrase “jam-fest.” If you’re not interested in fighting crowds and traffic to witness the historic lineup–including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and B.B. King–there are plenty of other things to…

This week, we’ve redesigned much of the section. It’s bigger, bolder and–we hope–better. It’s also quite pretty, for which we thank our new art director Steve Satterwhite. The changes are an attempt to give you the most comprehensive music coverage possible. We want to hit this scene at all levels:…