Do you like potentially life-altering scavenger hunts? Do you like Slayer, M.I.A., and the great capital of the state of Texas? If the answer to both of these things is yes, you may be interested in the Dallas leg of the Fun Fun Fun Fest Scavenger Hunt, in which people…
Summer is coming to an end, but not without one more festival to tie the season up with a bow. Paste Untapped is touting about 200 craft beers on deck, so that ought to help you battle out the heat outside Gilley’s. Hopefully they won’t make the same mistake as…
Every week more and more shows are added to the Dallas Observer live music calendar — here’s how to make sure your show is included. And you can always peruse every upcoming concert on our calendar. Below are the this month’s best new additions, to date…
Editor: We sent two writers to this weekend’s Mad Decent Block Party. Vanessa Quilantan was mostly worried about the kids asking her for drugs and pissed about Action Bronson canceling. Carmina Tiscareno is a college student and therefore much more a member of the Block Party’s target demographic. She had…
There’s something kind of romantic about walking through an empty theater, up a few service steps, and into a small black box of a room behind the other side of a projection screen to watch a punk show. The Texas Theatre and promoters Spune spread the word about Friday’s No…
Daniel Johnston will play in Dallas on September 28 at the Kessler Theater. The announcement came over the weekend, alongside several other good ones at Oak Cliff’s finest music venue. But let’s focus on Daniel Johnston, because it’s going to be wonderful…
As I walked out of the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie late Saturday night, I commented that Steely Dan sure featured some good musicians. “Great musicians, you mean,” said my father-in-law. “Those guys were great.” And so they were. Some four decades after Walter Becker and Donald Fagen first decided…
On Saturday, cool-kid record label Mad Decent will throw a welcome-back-to-school, summer’s-not-quite-over party at Club Zouk. Head honcho Diplo will play with Major Lazer, alongside heavyweights like Dillon Francis, Baauer, Action Bronson and Flosstradamus. Many things will bounce. Including you, possibly! We have a couple pairs of tickets to give…
In some ways, getting backstage at Gexa Energy Pavilion is a letdown. Semi-trucks that carry the bands’ stage lighting and equipment hummed a familiar chorus, and several tour buses formed a barricade that left an opened area in the center where a small group of people conversed and smoked cigarettes…
Steely Dan and Backstreet Boys are both in town this week, two bands your friends can’t tell if you like sincerely or ironically. Looks like they’re about to find out. If you answered neither, fret not! You’ve got plenty of options. Looking for something a little hard, fast, and intimate?…
This Friday, Dallas-based music blog Gorilla Vs. Bear hosted their third annual festival at Granada Theater. Local music fans flocked to the historic venue to watch Booty Fade, Empress Of, HAERTS, Blue Hawaii, and Danny Brown share the stage. We talked to the crowd to see how the night’s festivities…
Legendary Americana songwriter Patty Griffin is going on tour this fall, and the October 26 date at the Kessler Theater is already almost sold out, less than a day after it went on sale. As of right now, only suites and standing room spots remain. So get going now…
This is your official warning Dallas, It’s going to be a rough Monday. This weekend is packed to the brim with great live music and there’s nothing you can do about it. Honestly, you’ll be lucky if you make it to brunch at all (gasp). Friday night will be especially…
Every week more and more shows are added to the Dallas Observer live music calendar — here’s how to make sure your show is included. Below are the this month’s best new additions, to date. The most recent announcements are in bold…
There are no shoes allowed in Wondaland. There is grass, however, and candlelight and there were free drinks and candy in Wondaland’s lobby, so no one seems to mind. Plus, Janelle Monae is here, standing barefoot in the grass. Wondaland, for now, is inside Luminous Sound in Richardson, where everyone…
Kurt Vile | Sonny & the Sunsets Trees August 19, 2013 Sound issues can ruin a good show. The band keeps stopping to fix things, the crowd grumbles because of all the stops, and no one has a good time. So it’s to Kurt Vile, and his copious crowd of…
My Bloody Valentine | New Fumes Saturday, August 17, 2013 Verizon Theatre There is a universal truth about My Bloody Valentine, agreed upon by nearly everything ever written about them. They play ridiculously loud. It was at about two thirds of their way into “A New You,” a soft poppy…
Kidd Kraddick Memorial August 15, 2013 AT&T Plaza in Victory Plaza Last night’s open-to-the-public memorial for Kidd Kraddick was a very moving and surprisingly upbeat affair. Feeling like a live episode of Kidd Kraddick in the Morning, there wasn’t any sugarcoating about Kidd’s death, but there were plenty of laughs…
Growing up in the late ’70s and early ’80s, bands like Heart were the bane of my existence. As a teenager, I cringed when hits like “Magic Man” or “Barracuda” were constantly coming from the radio in my dad’s car. Sure, both Ann and Nancy Wilson were easy on the…
This week brings us another installment of Red Bull Sound Select, one of Texas’ best country bands, a local radio milestone, and some of the most influential artists of their respective genres. Lil Wayne has had some health issues on the road this year, so here’s hoping that his time…
Together, Dean Allen Spunt and Randy Randall make up the experimental post-punk duo No Age. Since 2005, they’ve proven to be one of the most durable and exciting bands in punk. At the end of this month, they’ll hit Oak Cliff’s Texas Theatre for an intimate performance that promoter Spune…
Bruno Mars American Airlines Center August 12, 2013 Bruno Mars stands on the very end of the stage, adorned in a brown Panama hat, bathed in red-hued stage lights and wearing a smirk on his face. For the last hour and a half, Mars has driven the capacity crowd into…
