A couple of years ago, Austin singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz got to open for Steve Martin, when his bluegrass band taped an Austin City Limits episode. At that point, she wasn’t even 21 yet, already had a Sugar Hill Records debut under her belt (2009’s Song Up in Her Head) and…
A year after the Identity Festival — co-founded by Kaskade and DJ Steve Aoki, and billed as the “first-ever touring festival exclusively featuring EDM” — came to town, Chicago house DJ and producer Kaskade returns. This time he’s flying solo, though fellow EDM musicians Alvin Risk and Fareoh are opening…
As Black Dotz shows are getting, according to singer Wanz Dover, “fewer and farther between,” you’d be wise to catch this great local triple bill. If you happened upon the phenomenal Ronald Shannon Jackson show at the Kessler a couple weekends ago, you caught Dotz guitarist Greg Prickett lending his…
At some point in the near future, Justin Young might end up playing in every active band in Dallas. He recently filled with Menkena while also finding time to play with J. Charles and the Trainrobbers, Auxiliary Voice, Arm Tha Homeless and the beloved Hall & Oates cover band, The…
Roky Erickson The Kessler Theater Friday, July 13 Sam was in a tattoo shop Savannah, Georgia when he heard Roky Erickson and decided he needed a two-headed dog tattoo. I spotted him at the Kessler Theater bar, and noted Sam looked very young, probably not much past his late 20s…
If loud noises and capricious amounts of alcohol could scare off the evil spirit of Friday the 13th, then the stage at LaGrange was a safe place. The Von Ehrics and Sleepin’ Rattlers took the floor with Les Pauls popping like firecrackers, and a crowd that was more than willing…
See also: Q&A with Kendall Schmidt of Big Time Rush See also: Photos from Big Time Rush Big Time Rush, Cody Simpson and Rachel Crow Gexa Energy Pavilion Saturday, July 14 Being a parent takes a lot of patience, especially when it comes to your child’s musical taste. Saturday night…
Last night I attended a new improvisational night at the Nasher Sculpture Center, led by SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts Dean and pianist José Bowen. He and his band, Jampact, played for close to an hour, dipping in and out of free jazz, funk and electronic pockets. In addition,…
A heavy but measured affair that balanced singer Casey Hess’ pained invocations with a rougher, guitar-driven edge, 2011’s Dark Water set the metronome for Dallas four-piece Descender. Doesn’t hurt that the band is made up of members of Dallas bands like Doosu and Slow Roosevelt — people do love nostalgia…
The trajectory of Dallas’ own Roky Erickson has been quite riveting. From his time in Houston psychedelic pioneers the 13th Floor Elevators to being committed to a mental institution to his strange solo career in the ’80s, his story has all the makings of a Greek myth. (The 2007 documentary…
Michael McDonald, Donald Fagen and Boz Scaggs will join forces and play as one big band. Pretty cool concept, especially since Fagen will get to play “Peg” with McDonald, the original backing vocalist. Scaggs, who spent time growing up in suburban Dallas, will certainly be welcomed with open arms. With…
If you’ve ever seen Irving’s own John Wesley Coleman with the Golden Boys or solo or with whomever he manages to snag as a backing band, you know his live show always holds the promise of going off the rails. Coleman’s output is sort of staggering, and he just released…
The New Orleans duo returns to town after their New Year’s Eve show at Zubar, in a much more fitting venue. Hopefully this time Miss Pussycat will do her acid-trip puppet show, as it’s always the perfect psychedelic appetizer to Quintron’s organ-grinding swamp-tech. Dallas’ Darktown Strutters play one of their…
Mayhem Festival Gexa Energy Pavilion Tuesday, July 10 See also: The fans of Mayhem Festival As I parked next to the Amsterdam and walked through Fair Park’s Esplanade yesterday, I took in the neo-modernist sculptures and murals that adorn the Art Deco buildings. The closer I got to the Gexa…
Louisville, Kentucky four-piece Trophy Wives are giving DFW a treat this week. Not only are they playing Andy’s Bar in Denton tonight with Bad Design, they’re also playing Double Wide on Thursday with Nervous Curtains and Descender. They’ll be previewing material from their album Old Scratch, so don’t moan about…
Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci took time out while the band was in Ohio a few weeks ago and talked about his first forays with music. It was expected Rush would be mentioned, but we also talked about the first time the band played Dallas, new drummer Mike Mangini’s first…
Ronald Shannon Jackson The Kessler Theater Saturday, July 7 Wish fulfillment at a concert? I’ve experienced it a few times: Captain Beefheart in 1976, Muddy Waters in 1977, Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton in 2001. It happened again this past Saturday night, when Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society played…
The Angelus, Le Leek Electrique, Clint Niosi Dan’s Silvereaf Saturday, July 7 The Angelus, Warren Jackson Hearne and Le Leek Electrique, and Clint Niosi complemented each other handsomely on Saturday night, building a perfect crescendo from the reflective intelli-folk of Niosi, to the jazzed-up Eastern European death ballads of Hearne,…
Free shows at The Common Table are one good reason to hang out in Uptown, and this lineup of Denton regulars is another. Ryan Thomas Becker seems to play Dallas pretty frequently, but you don’t get to see Tony Ferraro’s impeccably named Denton “supergroup” Satans of Soft Rock that often…
This show is being touted as “a night of decadent and debaucherous Moon Rulers celebrating their descent from the womb,” and it’s at Queen City Hall, which has been showcasing some of the more interesting and challenging local music as of late. To wit: Cleric, Small Talk, Deflowered Electric Flesh…
Saturday, July 7, at Dan’s Silverleaf The Angelus return to the town of their birth, where they’ll slowly massage the stage at Dan’s Silverleaf with their hypnotic live show. Opening for the Angelus is Warren Jackson Hearne’s new outfit (though he hasn’t changed his signature black suit in over a…
Progressive rock titans Dream Theater hit Verizon Theatre for the second time on their A Dramatic Turn of Events tour. It’s another chance to see the band with newest member Mike Mangini filling the seemingly-impossible-to-fill shoes of original drummer/mastermind Mike Portnoy. And yeah, this is metal/rock for rocket scientists and…
