This past Sunday night in Deep Ellum, the folks behind Dada officially opened their side-room space, which had been previously used as the venue’s green room and by the previous owners as “The Listening Room,” as a new dive bar concept called The Red Door. The soft, unannounced opening took…
The word has gotten around quickly: Justin Timberlake was indeed among the investors that bought a stake in floundering social networking site Myspace this week. According to the press release from Specific Media, Timberlake’s partners in this venture, Timberlake himself will “lead the business strategy with his creative ideas and…
FYI: The Hard Rock Cafe totally still exists. Believe it or not, we actually have one here in Dallas. And, on Saturday, the chain dedicated to rock ‘n’ roll history, iconic t-shirts and overpriced bar food is celebrating 40 years in the biz. According to the note we just got…
“Meltdown! Meltdown!” He wouldn’t stop shouting it. No, not Brent Best or anyone in Slobberbone. Some dude in the crowd during a recent gig.It was constant. Consistent, too. Always “Meltdown! Meltdown!,” never just “Meltdown!”This was a guy that I had already moved away from once, yet somehow found myself all…
Most musicians who make it big had to start somewhere. For every sold out arena show or big festival slot, there were at least a couple of open mic nights in empty, seedy dives. For many area rock stars and former rockers, those dives were on Elm, Main and Commerce…
R. Stevie Moore, Tropical Ooze, Marriage Material, Hares on the MountainHailey’s Club, DentonJune 30, 2011Better than: waiting in line to see Santa in the mall Last night at Hailey’s, R. Stevie Moore really lived up to his reputation. The singer-songwriter is just as legendary for his seemingly endless stream of material…
The reflecting pool in front of AT&T Performing Arts Center is fun to wade in when it’s hot outside. We’ve learned this over the course of our Patio Sessions, which came to a close last night with performances from The O’s and Chris Holt.You see, at past Patio Sessions, kids…
Is that the disembodied head of a paper mache raccoon? With lasers coming out of its eyes? Yes. And that’s pretty awesome…
For almost two months now, we’ve been waiting patiently for the chance to hear some music out of Preteen Zenith’s camp — you know, it being the new band from Polyphonic Spree and Tripping Daisy mastermind Tim DeLaughter and Secret Machines member Philip Karnats, and also featuring members of The…
Once upon a time, when I was living in Minnesota, I saw a concert flier that appeared to be advertising a show by Impaler, one of my favorite Minneapolitan metal bands. So I went to a local record store to score some my tickets.But, when I announced that I intended…
After traveling around cities in New England for a week, I’ve found myself writing this week’s “The Problem With…” in Taylor Swift’s neck of the woods — Pennsylvania. It’s a hilly, rocky and forested state where old-school white churches stand in the middle of pastures and where mountains and skyscrapers…
Alt-country singer-songwriter Rod Picott writes songs about the working man because, well, the guy is the embodiment of the working man. For over 20 years, Picott held down a day job hanging sheetrock. At night, to perfect his songwriting, he would hit whatever coffee shop would let him play. Such…
Back in January, Stickybits co-founder Billy Chasen registered the domain name turntable.fm. Earlier this month, the previously alpha-tested music-sharing site made its debut as as an invite-only beta site, the only prerequisite being that new users had a Facebook friend with an already registered profile. By last week, the site…
Baby likes Arlington’s Own Pantera. Baby probably doesn’t know that the song’s called “Fucking Hostile,” but he really doesn’t care either. Baby has good headbanging form. Baby has solid rhythm for a toddler. Baby has the proto-circle pit arm swing thing down pat. Baby doesn’t like when the song ends,…
On July 8, actor Michael Rapaport’s directorial debut, a documentary called Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, will earn its release theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. Later that month, on July 28, the film will begin a run locally at Dallas-area Angelika…
Wiz Khalifa is a 23-year-old kid from Pittsburgh. You might know him from his Pittsburgh Steelers anthem, “Black and Yellow.” He’s got unkempt hair and a preference for raggedy skater clothes, and he likes weed a lot; in a recent interview, he bragged that he spends $10,000 a month on…
Buzz is a confusing word, really. Incessant, aggressive hiss isn’t what one hears when a band abounds with so-called buzz. In actuality, the sound heard when a band is “buzzing” is more akin to the pained moans of pissed-off would-be ticket buyers when they realize that they’re seconds too late…
Aging American icon Willie Nelson really hasn’t slowed down. Whether it’s the amount of albums he records with any number of musical partners, his still-relentless touring schedule or hell, even his pot-related arrests, the braided shaman from Abbott is a man who loves hitting the road. Obviously, the road still…
Since the mid-’90s, David Bazan, more so than any of his contemporaries, has held a reputation for composing shrewd and engrossing songs that deal in the subjects of religion and the Christian faith. Pedro the Lion, the band he fronted from 1995 through 2005, sold a few hundred thousand records…
Taking Back Sunday’s current tour represents a sort of homecoming for the emo-punk icons. After going gold with their 2002 debut, Tell All Your Friends, the band almost immediately imploded. In 2003, guitarist John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper left Taking Back Sunday to start Straylight Run. Now, though, eight…
The whole fuzzy, distorted, pedal-laden and ambient electronic music thing is hard to pull off. Fact is, it’s really easy to get it wrong amidst the growing stacks of undulating effects. It’s far too easy to be excruciatingly stripped-down and downright boring. When a band can pull it off, though,…
Joey Kendall deserves far more credit than he receives. Truth is, the mastermind behind Grapevine’s joyous Mount Righteous collective is something of a pop genius. Always has been. For years now—prior, even to Mount Righteous’ circa 2008 explosion—Kendall has been penning offbeat pop ditties that toe the line between the…
