Handsome FursClub DadaAugust 27, 2011 Better than: getting all hot and bothered for nothing! The Handsome Furs are hot. Hotter even than the 100-plus degree evening air in Deep Ellum.They played hot music. They looked hot. Their love for each other and the fun they have performing together was hot. But…
Randy Rogers Band North Texas State Fair & RodeoDenton Fairgrounds August 26, 2011 Better than: having to sit through the North Texas State Fair & Rodeo’s Saturday night Tracy Lawrence concert, most likely. There are many things that can be said about the rowdy, predominantly college-aged crowds that engulf each…
There are some pretty solid shows this weekend, both local and national, but the biggest one comes to us by way of neo-soul star Jill Scott, who will headline the Budweiser Superfest at Gexa Energy Pavilion on Saturday night. Also on the bill? Anthony Hamilton, Mint Condition, DJ Jazzy Jeff,…
Moments into a discussion about his new solo record, about his performance at the House of Blues’ Cambridge Room tomorrow night and about, well, just the overall state of his world right now, Patrick Stump gets right to the point.”I’m totally at peace with the reality that I’m always going…
Speaking of music videos, Air Review has a new one today featuring their Dallas Observer Music Awards-nominated song, “America’s Son.” It’s a beautifully set video, directed by Justin Ransom and taking place in the woods, as a young boy scurries about, runs around and, eventually, buries a time capsule with…
In her latest music video — for the song “Cruel” off her upcoming Strange Mercy release, due out on September 13 — the Dallas-bred St. Vincent gets tortured, kidnapped, bound to a chair and, eventually, buried alive. It’s all set to a nice little indie pop gem produced and recorded…
For a while there, it was the best rumor in local music — that the Dallas-based Kirtland Records owned Bush’s back catalog because label owner John Kirtland, the former drummer for Deep Blue Something, had won it in a high-stakes poker game.Turns out, alas, it’s just a tall tale.”I love…
Sunny SweeneyThe Glass Cactus in Grapevine August 25, 2011 Better than: having to complain that Modern Country Radio ignores all talented Texans. Texas native Sunny Sweeney is a star. Most of the country music-loving world knows that, too, thanks to her Top 10 hit single “From A Table Away.” On Thursday…
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center August 25, 2011 Better than: Wearing a fake arrow through your head. Most comedians are lucky to have one straight man. When Steve Martin plays the banjo, he has five. Of course, those five men are kick ass musicians –…
Burning Hotels, Air Review, HoyotohoDada August 25, 2011 Better than: trying to replicate something from that Man vs. Food marathon. You’d think a show that almost ran until 12:30 on a Thursday night would keep a large crowd away. Not so. When Fort Worth’s Burning Hotels make their way across I-30…
Hey, a horizontal poster! We almost never see those! But, hey, sometimes a little change is good. Healthy, too…
Unless, like me, you’re a Red Sox fan, there really wasn’t too much to cheer about during last night’s Rangers game at The Ballpark in Arlington. The team got beat badly, losing 13-2. Still, there were at least some moments when the home crowd seemed rather entertained last night. Most…
Just a quick thought, since, due to other obligations, I wasn’t able to participate in this week’s very interesting Conversation about the comparative strengths of the Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton music scenes, if, granted, something of a piggyback on a comment made by Fort Worth Weekly music editor Anthony…
The club kids from the late ’80s spawned, and their children now have oozed onto the surface of popular culture en masse. Subsequently, electronic dance music has become the newest form of mainstream pop music. Or something like that. As a result, on Sunday night at Gexa Energy Pavilion, the…
Today’s piece of proof in the Dallas-loves-electronic-dance-music-and-so-even-do-the-folks-who-run-the-city department is kind of amazing: The folks behind the annual Lights All Night New Year’s Eve party, who last year brought Ghostland Observatory to town, have seriously stepped their game up this year, turning New Year’s Eve (rather surprisingly) into a two-night affair…
The three major cities that make up North Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton, duh!) have always taken part in a sort of friendly competition with each other. There’s always been trash talk from apologists of each music scene, of course. But, in the end, each scene seems to reluctantly…
Ask me to name today’s most influential actor in entertainment. Go ahead. Do it. My answer might surprise you.OK, I’ll just tell you who’d I’d pick. I’d pick Drake.No, really! Following his lead, a few other actors — like Jeff Bridges and Gwenyth Paltrow — have recently tied in singing with…
Singer-songwriter Lee MacDougall hails from England, but the guy just can’t seem to get enough of America. Earlier this year, MacDougall made his maiden tour of our fair country. Just a few months later, he’s back for more. And, seeing that MacDougall’s music is heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen and Tom…
While unashamedly fame-friendly bassist Pete Wentz hogged the headlines, it was Patrick Stump’s savvy songwriting and supple, soulful vocals that propelled Fall Out Boy clear of their emo peers. When FOB failed to build on the sometimes near-perfect pop of Infinity on High with Folie à Deux (and with Wentz…
Nicholas Thorburn, leader of the indie-rock band Mister Heavenly, is one of those classic West Coast slackers. His answers to the simplest questions are all bathed in tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. “I don’t really live in Los Angeles as much as I reside here,” Thorburn says over the phone from his, well,…
Formed in 2006, the Handsome Furs have released three albums, each one a bit more seedy that the last. The recently issued Sound Kapital is by far the darkest and most depraved of the band’s career. But Alexei Perry says things are going according to plan. “It’s important for artists…
There are times when Selena Gomez sounds like your average 19-year-old — like when she giddily (and unprovoked) geeks out over Instagram, the photo app she recently downloaded onto her iPhone. Then there are the times when she sounds far more hardened, like the seasoned show-business veteran that she is,…
