Authenticity and impeccable simplicity have always been Kris Kristofferson’s stock-in-trade. On Saturday night in Fort Worth it couldn’t have been more apparent, as he performed a couple dozen of his plainly poetic songs in two nearly one hour-long sets at the classically beautiful Bass Performance Hall. It was the evening…
Future With Rico Love South Side Music Hall, Dallas Thursday, June 19, 2014 On his first-ever visit to Dallas, Atlanta rapper Future played his crowd at South Side Music Hall like a yo-yo. With flashing LED lights synched up to the music and smoke machine billowing into the room, the…
Next month, the Kessler will open its doors to hundreds of people in celebration of Trees, a music venue long revered for its contributions to the historic Deep Ellum community. As one of the neighborhood’s earliest and most popular venues, Trees has been part of Dallas nightlife for over 20…
Boston With the Doobie Brothers Allen Event Center Wednesday, June 18, 2014 You know the summer has officially started once the oldies package tours make their way through town, or in this case, the suburb of Allen. But last night was a bit different as two legendary acts from the…
What a production. The folks at Index Festival have gone out of their way this year to build up anticipation for the show, now in its third year, which will happen in late September. Case in point was last night’s announcement party at Trees, which was sponsored by Chicago brewer…
Austin’s the Octopus Project are bringing their brand of lively, technicolor “indietronica” to Dallas on Thursday for the latest installment of Red Bull Sound Select. If you hate impassioned performances, dancing and having a good time, stay far away. This will be the first time the Octopus Project will play…
Vans Warped Tour Gexa Energy Pavilion, Dallas Sunday, June 15, 2014 If I were younger or were a newcomer to the Vans Warped Tour’s annual Dallas stop, I suppose getting there at 10:30 a.m. when the gates opened and staying until the last barre chord decayed into the dusk would’ve…
I was not alive when James Taylor and his self-reflective brand of folk music were most popular. For my entire life, Taylor has been touring the country playing songs that are as familiar to my grandparents as they are to me. My own first experience with James Taylor was finding…
Centro-matic With True Widow and Cliffs of Insanity Kessler Theater, Dallas Saturday, June 14, 2014 Early on in Centro-matic’s Saturday night show at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff, a shout from the middle of the comfortably crowded throng provided with a well-timed bit of levity — and a healthy…
It’s as if Dallas collectively decided to self-fulfill the prophecy of the full honey moon on the 13th causing a crazy night. As the whiskey flowed in the packed bars of Elm St., the bands of the festival smiled and played to crowds of freshly inked fans, the majority of…
Such is the way of the Elm Street Tattoo Festival: I went to Deep Ellum last night with the goal of watching locals Ishi headline at Club Dada and wound up spending the night bouncing between several venues along Elm St. Granted, such is the way of many a night…
Yoni Wolf With Serengetti, Topic Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, Denton Wednesday, June 11, 2014 By H. Drew Blackburn We’re gonna go ahead and break the fourth wall right off the bat here: I had a roommate who was into Why? He didn’t listen to rap music. If he did, it…
Black Flag Elm St. Music and Tattoo Festival, Night 1 Club Dada Wednesday, June 11, 2014 I do not like punk rock. I do not like what it was, I do not like what it stood for, and I do not like how it’s become short hand for some ideal…
Seventeen years into their time as a fully fleshed unit, the Denton-born indie-rock band Centro-matic seem to have the formula for creating one well-crafted album after another down to a science. Though lead singer and songwriter Will Johnson has lived in Austin for some time now, the band’s spiritual home…
Failure House of Blues Tuesday, June 10, 2014 Over the course of two hours on Tuesday night, reunited Los Angeles trio Failure showed why they were such a highly regarded band back in the ’90s — and why they are now, as well. Many years removed from their last time…
Caleb Campbell, guitarist and one half of jangly electronic duo Moonbather, props himself in the iron patio furniture outside of a café on West Eight St. in the center of the Bishop Arts District, outlining in detail an innovative way to easily package dispensable peanut butter and jelly. Much in…
For the fourth year running, Dallas’ Gorilla Vs. Bear music blog will be teaming up with the folks at Lower Greenville’s Granada Theater to curate their very own music festival. Past years have attracted big-name indie artists like Danny Brown and Grimes as headliners, and this year’s installment, which takes…
George Strait The Cowboy Rides Away Tour AT&T Stadium, Arlington Saturday, June 7, 2014 Last Saturday night, a massive crowd of dedicated country music fans crammed into AT&T Stadium to say goodbye to the king of country music, George Strait. After 30 years of making some of the best music…
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a show going on in Arlington this weekend. It’s not all that big of a deal, really, aside from selling out a 100,000 tickets at the Cowboys stadium. Almost inevitably, the George Strait show should be a mecca for concertgoers come Saturday night (or…
On Saturday at AT&T Stadium, one of the biggest country music crowds ever will witness perhaps the most significant day of country music the Dallas-Fort Worth area has ever hosted: George Strait will ride away and fans of all ages, from many parts of the world, will likely shed a…
Perfect Pussy With Potty Mouth, Stymie and Orgullo Primitivo Three Links, Dallas Thursday, June 5, 2014 No one should’ve come to a Perfect Pussy concert expecting it to last very long. A scorched-earth approach is just the commodity this Syracuse band trades in. But what was unexpected about their visit…
Ringo Deathstarr With Blackstone Rangers, Midnight Masses and Blessin Rubber Gloves, Denton Wednesday, June 4, 2014 Ringo Deathstarr are fucking sick of the word “shoegaze.” Even before they played a single song, Elliott Frazier, singer, songwriter and guitarist for the Austin band asked the audience to “look at my shoes,…
