We’ve broken out the short pants a bit earlier this year, which can mean only one thing: Summer, God bless, is already upon us. Either that or we couldn’t find any clean jeans. While that’s also a likely scenario, there’s more evidence to support the first conclusion. People’s 1A: If…
Last year at some point, we forget when, we heard rumors that NextStage, the 5,000-or-so-capacity concert venue in Grand Prairie, was on the verge of bankruptcy, on its way out. Millions and millions spent to get the joint up and running, we were told, and not a dime in return…
We here at the Dallas Observer have been griping for years about downtown Dallas, about the need for more entertainment options in the area, not to mention the need for more people to stick around to enjoy the ones that are already there. So far, that means a handful of…
Thirty or so nominators, culled from the rank and file of the local music industry, decided what names made it onto the ballot for the 2003 Dallas Observer Music Awards. Slightly fewer than 6,000 of you decided what names made it onto the 15 pounds of sculpted metal we call…
Everyone who frequents the Curtain Club knows that Craig DePoi, who mans the upstairs bar, is one of the nicest guys around, which is important in a good bartender. If you’ve gotten to know DePoi at all, you might also be aware that he has an extensive collection of autographed…
From Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language: crap (krap), n. Slang. 1. Vulgar. excrement. 2. nonsense; drivel: Man, don’t hand me that crap. 3. a lie; an exaggeration: Bah, you don’t believe that crap, do you? 4. refuse; rubbish; junk; litter: Will you clean up that crap? 5…
We’ve said plenty about Eisley and its sisters-and-brother act (just trying to get ourselves in position for an episode of VH1’s Driven), but there’s another set of family ties that’s gone somewhat unnoticed: Salim and Faris Nourallah. There are a few reasons for that. One, the brothers have a bit…
Write a song. Write 10 more. Find three guys (or girls–sorry) to play them with you. Play your first show on a Wednesday night, part of a three-bands-for-three-bucks bill. Do this a dozen times until you finally hook onto a decent show. Do this a dozen more times before someone…
After a year spent in trend-piece captivity, finally, fortunately, the White Stripes get to be a band again. And a better one, as it turns out. All those pats on the back from the suits at MTV and Clear Channel must have felt like knives to Jack and Meg White,…
When Joe Tillotson and his investors (including Scott Cecil and Richard Winfield) opened a bar in the Knox-Henderson area a decade ago, they were taking a chance. There wasn’t much there in the way of nightlife, and it didn’t look like there would be anytime soon. Take a look at…
If Kelly Osbourne had different parents, we wouldn’t be talking. In some ways, she almost wishes that were the case. She could do without all the attention, the fans on the street who pester her with questions, the journalists on the phone who badger her with slightly more professional versions…
With her car wheels on Lucinda Williams’ gravel road following Steve Earle to Guitar Town, Kathleen Edwards’ debut has a backseat full of drinking songs, but not in an I’ve-got-friends-in-low-places way. More like: She’s the friend in a low place, at the bottom of a bottle, in a dirty hotel…
In its April issue, Spin ran its list of the “40 best artists making music right now.” While we agreed with some of the picks, we feel it’s never a bad idea to play devil’s advocate. 1. Eminem They say: Hip-hop’s hottest MC is also America’s favorite soccer dad–he can…
This is, more than likely, the biggest crowd that has ever seen Radiant* in Deep Ellum. The place is beyond packed, and there’s a line streaming out the front door onto the sidewalk. They probably won’t all make it inside before the group is finished. The members of the band–singer-guitarist…
A month ago (Scene, Heard, February 27–see, told you), we broke the news about Curtain Club buying Club Clearview and what that meant for the local music community. If you don’t remember, we’ll quote ourselves: “Curtain taking over Clearview is good news, because 1) we had heard from very reliable…
Usually, at around noon on the Sunday following the annual South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, we vow never to go again. Usually very quietly, since we can’t speak. Our clothes smell like sweat, liquor and smoke (or: any member of The D4, a rawk-rock!-ROCK highlight of the 2003…
In this installment of Sack of Kittens: Loaded Moses. Looks like? If the entire city of Flower Mound could be distilled into five people, they would look something like these fellas. The same scenario would also work if you replaced Flower Mound with Lewisville or Farmers Branch, or possibly Mars…
Never been too worried about dying at a concert, though we’ve had some close calls. Been knocked to the floor in a pit. Had someone’s wallet chain snag on my nose, also in a pit. Fell into some broken glass, been punched in the face and burned by cigarettes too…
It happens exactly three minutes into “Ay Distress,” the first song on No Silver/No Gold, the Baptist Generals’ first album for Sub Pop Records. Singer-songwriter Chris Flemmons wails into the silent night, going out on a high note of sorts: “Cover up the light,” he cries. “You can dream it…
Idol Records, Erv Karwelis’ local CD-releasing concern, commemorates 10 years in the CD-releasing business this year. The actual date? Not sure, and we didn’t bother asking anyone. (Because that’s how we do things; we’re loose cannons, and one of these days, the chief will have our badge.) March 11 is…
I grew up in West, Texas, a small Czech town about an hour south of Dallas. Five miles up Interstate 35 is Abbott, an even smaller Czech town where Willie Nelson was born and raised. Barely enough people lived there to qualify for a ZIP code. When I was old…
It’s not easy being young and black, even if you happen to be rich and famous. Sometimes, it’s even worse if you’re rich and famous. Because that’s when people notice you. People who want you to be something you’re not. People who think you’re something you’re not. People like, say,…
