New Kids on the Block American Airlines Center October 19, 2008 Better Than: I remembered them to be. “New Kids on the Block had a bunch of hits…” (Brittan Dunham) When I was five years old, my mom took me to see New Kids on the Block, sparking a never-ending…
Magnetic Fields Majestic Theatre October 13, 2008 Better Than: Pretty much anything else I’ve ever seen at the Majestic. Just as Magnetic Fields front man Stephin Merritt told the Observer last week, his band does indeed put on a quiet show, and in the right atmosphere that is certainly not…
The Roots, Gym Class Heroes, Estelle Palladium Ballroom October 11, 2008 Better than: dealing with the fallout from a long overdue nastygram to your boss… I’m the first to admit that the most I know about Gym Class Heroes is that “Cupid’s Chokehold” song that comes on the radio every…
The Walkmen and The Little Ones House of Blues’ Pontiac Garage October 11, 2008 Better than: hanging out on Greenville Avenue with all the drunken Longhorn and Sooner fans. (By the way: Way to go Longhorns! 45-35!) Hamilton Leithauser, singer for indie rock darlings The Walkmen, definitely has that frontman…
The Cardinals Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie October 11, 2008 Better Than: Watching Saturday Night Live–which is what I would have been doing had Mr. Adams and company cancelled this show, as they did in Kansas City and Tulsa Thursday and Friday. Despite all the Internet hand-wringing over the possible…
Cat Power Palladium Ballroom October 9, 2008 Better Than: …unfortunately, not as many things as you’d hope. Download: Here’s a slide show from the performance. Almost two hours after starting her set at the Palladium Airplane Hangar last night, Chan Marshall, the alluring chanteuse behind the Cat Power moniker, waved…
Patrick Michels Better than: Any act that ever wailed at a microphone, strummed a little on the guitar, and called that a show. In retrospect, it began all too neatly: a fine stream of lighter fluid splashed across the cymbals as the drummer undressed in the corner. There were other…
Roky Erickson, The Black Angels, Dove Hunter Granada Theater October 4, 2008 Better than: Sitting around my house, listening to records by legendary loons like Daniel Johnston and Nick Drake instead of seeing a real kook live. Roky walked with a zombie last night. (Dylan Hollingsworth) Although it’s almost a…
Jonathan Richman Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios October 2, 2008 Better than: Catching a more stoic artist pretend to be unaffected by the crowd. No strap. No pick. No problem. (Pete Freedman) Imagine, for a moment, that you’re not in Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. The concrete floors and walls and overall…
Cut Copy, The Presets Granada Theater September 30, 2008 Better Than: Chocolate-covered kittens. Last Night, the Granada Theater was buzzing with an eclectic array of people and fashion senses: clubbers, frat boys, and of course, a handful of aspiring hipster, perhaps hoping to reign over the less fashionable show-goers. Unfortunately…
Sunset Rubdown The Granada Theater Better Than: Finding out that the Meridian Room has closed. Sunset Rubdown may be an English-speaking band, but something seemed lost in translation between the Canadian band and the audience at last night’s poorly attended show. After opener “The Taming of the Hands That Came…
Neko Case Granada Theater September 27, 2008 Better Than: Just about anything else you could be doing on a Saturday night. The evening began with Giant Sand led by Howe Gelb, a frequent collaborator with Neko Case. Gelb moseyed on stage with a button-down denim shirt and cap, looking like…
The Black Keys Granada Theater September 26, 2008 Better than: Standing next to a drunken lawyer all night, listening to him extol the virtues of The Black Keys, telling you how they could’ve toured with Cream. The night could not have been more of a yin and yang evening. The…
Del tha Funky Homosapien Granada Theater September 26, 2008 Better than: The GZA’s show a few weeks at ago at The Loft, despite a less-hip-hop-friendly venue. Del kept the fans at the Granada happy. (Bill Ellison) Del tha Funky Homosapien raised eyebrows recently when he moved to a new label…
Silver Jews Hailey’s Club September 20, 2008 Better Than: Robert Wilonsky’s “Till 2” show on The Ticket…if only for a night. David Berman got a warm reception at Hailey’s. (Noah W. Bailey) Local Silver Jews fans had been waiting some 14 years by the time the band took the stage…
Pinback…sits. (Drew Reynolds) Pinback, Kylesa, The Loft Septermber 18, 2008 Better than: Standing behind a guy with a huge head who sways from side to side so that you can’t see the band. My foot was drawn back to kick him (ill-advisedly) in the back of the knee, when the…
Transona Five, A Weather, The New Year Granada Theater September 18, 2008 Better Than: Sulking and reminiscing about the way things were, that’s for sure. The New Year kept things in line all night. (Sarah Jane Semrad) The New Year’s performance at the Granada Theater last night was, oddly enough,…
Ratatat, Panther, E*Rock Granada Theater September 16, 2008 Better than: Momentarily passing out during the third song. Because, yeah, I did. The only place where things were a little calm was on stage. (Nikki Loehr) Ratatat did the expected and sold out the Granada Theater. And the crowd packed in…
Common, N.E.R.D. House of Blues September 10, 2008 Better than: The bar service in the House of Blues’ restaurant last night. (From the Houston show, not last night’s Dallas gig)) You can really liken N.E.R.D.’s show to a rollercoaster ride–the first half of it’s like creeping out of the tunnel…
Why?, Mount Eerie, Fishboy Granada Theater September 9, 2008 Better than: Driving all the way to Denton on a Tuesday night. Why? brought out the artsy undergrads in spades, impressively packing the Granada’s lower half with well-behaved, vintage-clad kids. And while good music was certainly brought by all, the hyper-picky…
Mudhoney, Record Hop, Melba Toast Granada Theater September 5, 2008 Better than: Putting on a flannel shirt and watching a collection of Nirvana and Pearl Jam videos. (Michael Alves) Even though each member is now in his 40s, the guys in Mudhoney rocked like seething, youthful beasts last night at…
A little bit screamo, a little bit hip-hop. (Michael Hawkins) On a complete whim, I decided to stop by the Fallout Lounge with some friends on Saturday night for the big D-Town Booty Bounce show that we mentioned not once, but twice in this on Friday. And, really, I can’t…
