What better way to give 2016 the finger than to get out and see some great shows? It’s been a hell of a year, especially when it comes to losing music icons. But this week’s got some great opportunities to forget all the bad stuff and focus on some once…
Musician Cash Askew was just 22 years old when she died in the Oakland Ghost Ship fire this month. “She was super weird and kind of awkward and had a hard time socializing, but also had this ability to really see people for who they were,” says bandmate Kennedy Ashlyn. “She…
The Lights All Night festival is not letting a single inch of the Dallas Market Hall go to waste, inside or out. The two-day multi-sensory experience, starting on Dec. 30, is their largest to date. “It’s the biggest and most expensive party we’ve ever produced,” says Scott Osburn, co-founder of…
It doesn’t matter what music you like, how introverted you are, or how much dough you’ve got to spend: Dallas has an endless array of New Year’s Eve events that cater to your every need. This year, there is practically a themed event for every decade. These are 10 New…
Emotions run high around the holidays, and that means lots of engagements. Even celebrities are not exempt from this phenomenon. Case in point, Golden native Kacey Musgraves, who hitched her future to boyfriend Ruston Kelly’s on Dec. 24. In an Instagram post Christmas Day, the country singer — who won…
While checking out Houston’s art-heavy electronic music festival, Day for Night, a couple weekends ago, we had the chance to ask local music photographer Adrian Samano about his past gigs and the Houston rappers he grew up listening to. How did you get started in concert photography? I knew this…
Two Dallas artists – Jake Elliott and Pierre Krause of After Deth Productions (ADP) – recently directed and edited the video for Nelly Furtado’s single “Pipe Dreams” off her forthcoming album The Ride. The video was released on Pitchfork earlier this week and has already received praise by Rolling Stone,…
For the third year in a row, DJ Santa gifts us an Observer mixtape filled with deep cuts. In the off season, Santa travels the world playing techno, electro, disco and the strangest of niche genres, “elf house.” Santa recorded this mix a few months ago, right after finishing up…
It’s not known exactly how many people went to the ominously named Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland, California, on the night of Dec. 2, but 36 people — artists, musicians, teachers, aspiring visionaries of all kinds — lost their lives there during a fire. It’s assumed they were trapped or lost in…
It’s become a Dallas tradition on the night before Christmas Eve to attend Trees’ annual Toys for Tots holiday concert with local favorites Drowning Pool. This year’s event marks the eighth year for North Texas music lovers to come together and donate unwrapped toys for local children who may not…
As the year winds to a close, we ask local music insiders who are deep in the trenches and hear new music on a regular basis — promoters, DJs, musicians and music retailers — to share their favorite releases of 2016. Wanz Dover (Blixaboy, the Dotz, Contributing writer) Non-Electronic Albums…
As the year comes to a close and movie critics look back at the films released in 2016, they are citing Manchester by the Sea as one of the best. The Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams vehicle has so far earned nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards and Golden Globes, and it has…
Editor’s note: Over the past year, Christian McPhate has been collecting stories from Dallas rockers whose brushes with fame offer inside looks at the people who devote their lives to rock ‘n’ roll. Bob Haydon’s ears perked up when he overheard a fellow student, sitting behind him in study hall,…
Venues are pretty quiet around this week each year, with little-to-no touring acts and most of Dallas’ own movers and shakers opting to take some time off to enjoy the tastes and treats of the holidays. But we’re not left entirely without the chance to see some great shows. In…
For Fashion Notes, the Observer talks with Dallas’ most fashion-forward musicians and affordably recreates some of their coolest outfits. Last week, Sam Lao walked away with five Dallas Observer Music Awards including Best Album and Best Song, and had there been a “Best Dressed” award for the night she probably…
Ochre House Theater’s original productions often focus on groundbreaking live music performed by notable local musicians. It’s January production of Dr. Bobaganush and His Wonderful World Of The Bizarre and Macabre tells the story of an ancient arts wielding mystic traveling with his show in Nazi-era Europe. The musical delves into…
If while you were ordering a cappuccino at Drugstore Cowboy on Saturday you remarked to yourself, “Hey, that guy over there looks just like Jack White,” you missed a real opportunity to meet the lead singer and guitarist of the White Stripes. White has been making trips to Dallas over…
Hip-hop producer Malik Abdul-Rahmaan is a staunch believer in the power of music to transcend cultural barriers. He’s trying to harness that power with Field Research, a series of albums that will see their first release in early 2017 via the Brooklyn-based Indi-label Paxico Records. Field Research is the musical…
Knox-Henderson looks poised to get a significant makeover in the not-too-distant future, and that could mean big changes for one of the neighborhood’s long-standing nightlife spots. Earlier this week, Dallas’ Open Realty Advisors revealed plans for a new multi-use development along Henderson Avenue, from Glencoe Street to McMillan Avenue. Those…
Young Thug is an unusual rap star. His off-kilter delivery includes rapid flows, screeching falsettos, barks and growls or mumbles that are downright inaudible at times, and he cultivates an androgynous look, often wearing feminine clothing. Even if his music can be as misogynist as that of his genre peers, his…
Charley Crockett is a local blues musician. He recently won the Dallas Observer Music Award for Best Blues Act, and his sophomore album, In the Night — which was nominated for best album — will be released on vinyl Dec. 29. A few years back I was making my living…
For the past decade Lord Byron has been contributing to the fertile gloom-and-doom landscape of Dallas nightlife by way of his Panoptikon residency, where he leads his loyal goth fanbase on a journey through the annals of industrial, dark wave, electronic body music (EBM) and new wave classics. There is…
