Music

Way, way back in the day (circa 1983), there was a great band hailing out of Los Angeles called the Long Ryders. Back then, nobody had even heard the term “alt-country.” So, when Sid Griffin and Stephen McCarthy started playing songs that sounded like the legendary Gram Parsons, people struggled…

Band: Neon Indian Venue: Rubber GlovesTime: 12:30 a.m.In September of last year, as mega-hyped area band Neon Indian prepared its debut smash full-length, Psychic Chasms, the band debuted its live show with a gig at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. It didn’t go so great.Now, having spent the past six months…

Band: DJ Mom Jeans, Sore Losers, AnonymousCultue, Damaged Good$ and Pigeon John Venue: Andy’s BarTime: All night long.It’s no secret that Danny Masterson is much more well-known for playing the character Hyde on That 70’s Show than for spinning records. But for the crowd at Andy’s last night, it didn’t…

Band: The WalkmenVenue: HaileysTime: 11:25 p.m.The buzz was loud and the venue packed last night in anticipation for one of the bigger bands taking part in this year’s version of NX35: New York City’s The Walkmen. Since I got to Hailey’s early, I happened to catch a couple members of…

Band: PomegranatesVenue: Hailey’s ClubTime: 9:30 p.m.Hailing out of Cincinnati, the youthful quartet known as Pomegranates made one of my favorite records of 2009, the wonderfully chaotic Everybody, Come Outside. This evening was my first chance to catch the band live, though–and it had me (and the fairly large contingent that…

Band: Giggle PartyVenue: Boiler RoomTime: 1145 p.m.Dallas’ frenetic, mad-genius punk act Giggle Party started setting up onstage at The Boiler Room by not only plugging in, but by blowing up balloons.As such, its show started with cheers–plus drunken catcalls and pre-recorded instructions on how the audience could participate, go figure…

Band: The Middle EastVenue: Dan’s SilverleafTime: 9 p.m.True to the random, follow-your-nose nature of NX35, I was just heading out of Dan’s to catch a spot in line at Hailey’s before the much-anticipated Walkmen show filled to capacity, when Australia’s Middle East kicked off just in time to change my…

Band: Unwed SailorVenue: J&J’s PizzaTime: 11:22 p.m.A small place like J&J’s Pizza’s dim basement is a boon to bands who don’t mess with stage antics like “vocals” and “fan interaction.” An audience’s attention is likely to stay on the band if it takes up precious real estate. Unwed Sailor’s craft…

Pretty sure we got no sleep this weekend. Here’s how our weekend began: Sleep Whale, Whiskey Folk Ramblers and Ola Podrida on Friday night. Check out Spike Johnson’s slideshow right here…

Hey, ever heard of Neon Indian? We embedded ourselves deep into dance territory for this picture show. We also caught some other bands, you know–like Ishi, Florene, Giggle Party and The Walkmen. Patrick Michels was deep in dangerously hipster trenches for this one, so you must enjoy the rest of…

Just a casual weekend–Midlake, The Flaming Lips, Stardeath & White Dwarfs all playing in Denton, no big deal. Oh, and Joe Pug. And Slobberbone. [Brain explodes.]Check out the rest of photographer Mattie Stafford’s slideshow for Saturday Night’s juggernaut of good local music right here…

Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao followed his Saturday night defeat of Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium with a post-fight concert next door at the Ballpark in Arlington, joined onstage by Journey’s lead singer Arnel Pineda and big-in-the-Philippines singer Lito Camo.Taking the stage around 2 a.m., Pacquiao revved up the crowd…

Wow. The Flaming Lips put on quite the performance. There’s no way to even start recapping day three of the North by 35 Music Conferette without mentioning the biggest rock spectacular Denton’s ever hosted. To call the show memorable would be the understatement of the decade. The show was eventful…

Band: Slobberbone Venue: Dan’s SilverleafTime: 12:05 a.m. Slobberbone, the reigning godfather of local alt-country acts, hit the stage just a smidge past midnight and proceeded to play all of the band’s “hits” to a blissfully inebriated crowd. It’s a testament to Brent Best’s songwriting prowess that tunes he wrote over…

Band: The Low LowsVenue: Dan’s SilverleafTime: 11:05 p.m. Austin’s The Low Lows was a band I knew very little about. And few in the audience at Dan’s Silverleaf could enlighten me as to what to expect as the band made its way on stage. It was a rather large ensemble:…

Band: Joe Pug Venue: J & J’s PizzaTime: 9:00 p.m., evidently Around the time that the Flaming Lips were dealing with its second power-outage of its set (more on that later), Joe Pug was beginning his solo-acoustic set at J & J’s Pizza. Oh, and, by the way, I hadn’t…

Band: I Heart LungVenue: Texas 8 BallTime: 1:08 a.m. With most jazz music, it’s usually about the sounds you don’t hear. With avant-garde music, like the stuff Southern California duo I Heart Lung plays, it’s about the sounds you do hear–and then some.The audience circled Chris Schlarb on guitar and…

Band: Horse FeathersVenue: SweetwaterTime: 1:30 a.m At first, as the band set up its equipment, I thought Ron Howard had suddenly quit making movies, grown a beard and ditched his cap and decided to make folk music. But, alas, it was just head Horse Feather Justin Ringle setting up his…

Band: The Black Angels Venue: Hailey’s ClubTime: 12:40 a.m. God bless The Black Angels. Rounding out a four-band bill, the Austin five-piece just leveled a well-attended Hailey’s on Day 3. Sporting four new songs from its forthcoming album, this band shows that it had much more mileage left in the…

Band: ColourmusicVenue: Andy’s BarTime: 1 a.m.”Today’s show is brought to you by the color pink,” said the Sesame Street sample that introduced Colourmusic to the Andy’s Bar crowd, which was certainly true visually. What parts of the band’s gear wasn’t covered with chrome paint or aluminum foil had been colored…