Gaslight Anthem with Heartless BastardsGranada TheaterApril 28, 2009Better Than: Watching an anti-climatic basketball playoff. The Granada played host to brawny rock last night as the Heartless Bastards and headliner Gaslight Anthem played to a testosterone-rich crowd. In sets that were long on music and short on charisma, both bands played…
Mates of State, Black Kids, Sunbears!Granada TheaterApril 27, 2009Better Than: Getting dropped on your head in a failed crowd surfing attempt. Fans didn’t let the dreary weather–or the fact that it was a Monday–stop them from packing the Granada last night, and the largely underage crowd was handsomely rewarded by…
Better Than: Staying at home and watching the Dallas Cowboys trade away their only Day One draft pick. There were three bands on the bill, but the night belonged completely to garage rock duo The Kills on Saturday at the Granada. And, it must be noted, the opening acts did…
Dr. Dog, The Cave SingersLone Star Room at the Palladium/Gilley’s Industrial ComplexApril 23, 2009Better Than: The Pennywise/Pepper show going on at the Palladium last night, which I thankfully saw zero seconds of. Lindsey Moffitt Fans arriving at the Loft for last night’s Dr. Dog show were instead directed to head…
My Bloody Valentine Palladium BallroomApril 22, 2009Update, 4/27/09: Link to bootleg recording of show and set list after the jump.Better than: Standing in the exhaust path of a booster rocket, surviving an earthquake, sharing some communal mass hallucination, or any other comparison my exhausted brain could come up with. Right…
Spent all day Saturday (well, for the most part) at Good Records for the store’s combined 9th Birthday Bash and National Record Store Day Celebration. And, given the at-times cool and at-times brutally humid weather, that kind of marathon was something of a beating. A fun beating, but a beating…
Dan Deacon & EnsembleThe Modern Art Museum of Fort WorthApril 18, 2009 Better than: having to make the tough decisions, like: Do I spend the night looking at paintings, or go out to a show? Do I flip out dancing with my white T-shirt pulled over my head, or with…
[Editor’s note: This review was penned by our newest Observer/DC9 contributor, Eric Grubbs.] Mark Olson and Gary LourisSons of Hermann HallApril 17, 2009 Better Than: wondering if Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary could successfully do a reunion record and tour. The average age of the crowd was well over thirty as Mark Olson…
Electric SixThe Boiler Room, DentonApril 16, 2009Better than: the lame-ass excuses given by my friends found not to join me. You know who you are. Download: Check out our slideshow from last night’s show.Six years and a couple hilarious music videos later, Electric Six still rides on the head of…
Brian Jonestown Massacre, Flavor CrystalsGranada TheaterApril 13, 2009Better Than: attending a seance while rolling on ecstasy. If you noticed the bank of candles that greeted you as you walked through the Granada’s double doors from the foyer into the theater, you could tell last night’s show wasn’t going to be…
MorrisseyPalladium BallroomFriday, April 10, 2009 Better Than: Watching 24 Hour Party People that you have recorded on your DVR. Check out more photos in our slideshow.The crowd that showed up for Morrissey last night at the Palladium served as a tribute to the longevity of the man’s career. People from every age…
Great Lake Swimmers, Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, Kate MakiHailey’s Club, DentonApril 8, 2009Better Than: Checking out the Lost recap on AV Club right after the show is over.When Tony Dekker and his fellow Great Lake Swimmers came out on stage at Hailey’s last night, there wasn’t a “Hello” or…
New Found Glory The Loft (Palladium) Gilley’s April 6, 2009Better Than: Being one of those poor suckers who got their glasses smashed off by 250lb. hardcore dancers with flailing fists. Hey, it happened. Twice.Last night’s New Found Glory show was scheduled to take place in the Palladium’s Loft. Based on…
[Didn’t get around to doing a Last Night review of the Leonard Cohen show over the weekend, but I’d be remiss to let the day go by without recapping it to some extent. So here goes…]Leonard CohenNokia Theatre, Grand PrairieApril 3, 2009Better than: Pretty much anything.In total, Leonard Cohen treated…
MetallicaSXSW’s Guitar Hero: Metallica PartyStubb’s BBQ in Austin, TXFriday, March 20, 2009 Better than: anything else you could’ve seen at SXSW last night–and maybe all week. People might try to disagree on that. But don’t buy into it. This was the show by which SXSW 2009 will be remembered. Pete Freedman James…
T.I.Nokia TheatreMarch 11, 2009 Better than: Watching T.I.’s Road To Redemption on MTV, which is no Rock of Love, that’s for sure. During one of his (too) many monologues to a crowded–but not nearly sold out–Nokia Theatre last night, T.I. thanked God for allowing him to reach the heights he has as a…
Estelle, Solange House of BluesMarch 9, 2009Better than: Catching up on the TV shows backlogged on my DVR. As someone who admittedly knows very little about Solange’s singing career, I just have to say: The girl gives it her all. Her black-suited, shaggy-haired band played a particularly funky rendition of…
Dr. Dooom vs. Dr. OctagonThe LoftMarch 6, 2009 Better Than: Getting to the show when the doors open, only to wait three-and-a-half hours for to Keith actually get on stage. I thought I was playing it safe when I arrived at The Loft close to 10 o’clock. As I got to ticket window,…
Slipknot, Coheed and CambriaNokia Theatre, Grand PrairieFebruary 22, 2009 Better Than: Accidentally stumbling onto the set of a Rob Zombie movie without realizing you’ve been written into the plot. Last night at the Nokia Theatre, the earth shifted, the foundation cracked, and hell poured out through the fissures. Clown make-up,…
Better than: The Richard Cheese ironic-lounge covers of “Welcome to the Jungle,” “People Equal Shit,” “Closer,” “The Wall” and “Rape Me” played on the P.A. before Trail of Dead went on. Two or three would have been funny. Eight was outright hostility.The last time I saw …And You Will Know…
Lucinda WilliamsHouse of BluesFebruary 19, 2009 Better than: sitting on my couch trying to (badly) play Lucinda Williams’ “Drunken Angel” because it has easy chords (as opposed to “Crescent City” which has harder ones). Word was that folks at the House of Blues were fairly blue–ticket sales for Lucinda Williams’…
Lykke LiGranada TheaterFebruary 17, 2009 Better than: staying home and pretending that Lykke Li’s Last Call with Carson Daly performance–which also aired last night–was actually filmed today. It was a pretty chilling sight: the frail Lykke Li, dressed in black and set against a black backdrop in an otherwise dark theater;…
