Better than: Staying home and watching the Morrissey: Live in Dallas DVD Morrissey crooned the lyrics of The Smith’s “I Know It’s Over” to a packed SMU McFarland Auditorium last night “…tonight is just like any other night” he sang, as three security guards escorted a shirtless man up the…
Real Estate, Big Troubles, Lonesome GhostDadaNovember 17Better than: Hanging out with Moz and them. In some strange turn of events, mellow new jersey buzz band Real Estate have become a party band. Never mind that their latest release Days is a breezy, melancholy offering with a handful of surprisingly big…
The Winter Night Lights series at Rio Room is the staff’s attempt to bring edgier, more underground (for lack of a better word) DJ’s to town. At least edgier and more underground than the Vegas-style top 40 or electro house sets that can typically be heard at Rio Room on…
Last Night: The Jayhawks, Jolie Holland Granada Theater November 16 Better than: rummaging through closets for dubbed copies of Crossroads episodes. Looking only at The Jayhawks’ set list from last night, you could think the show was more for a hardcore fan than a casual one, but the power of…
Last Night: Zeds Dead, Bass Science Trees November 15 Better than: Season 7 of Weeds Whether or not you were looking for bass Tuesday night, Trees had your back. The venue in Deep Ellum hosted two of the most nationally renowned dubstep artists for what could be a preview to…
Last Night: The Misfits, Juicehead, Hood Rat, Electric Vengeance, The Hammercocks Trees November 14 Better than: carving Crimson Ghost jack-o-lanterns with Evilive on. The Misfits might have delivered a much more satisfying set last night than Glenn Danzig’s recent train-wreck performance at this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest. Yet their…
As previewed in last week’s issue, The Jayhawks have returned with a new album and a new sense of joy. As the band returns to Dallas with Mark Olson and Karen Grotberg in the lineup, you can expect to hear plenty of great country rock on Wednesday night at the…
Octopus Project, Analog RebellionNovember 12, 2011The Kessler TheaterBetter Than: Having Octopus Project play at your house party and having to clean up the mess. If limited to a single word regarding the live performance of Austin’s Octopus Project, that word would have to be exuberance. Its definition, “joyously unrestrained and…
Five Finger Death Punch, All That Remains, Hatebreed, Rains The Palladium Ballroom November 12th, 2011 Better than: the Cain Velasquez/Junior Dos Santos heavyweight title fight. Even though getting to the Palladium Ballroom was difficult around 7 o’clock on Saturday night, mainly because of the sold-out Zac Brown Band show at…
Modest Mouse Palladium Ballroom November 10 Better than: the person who did a karaoke version of “Float On” at the Double Wide after the show A decade ago I counted Modest Mouse amongst my very favorite bands. Ten years, two full-lengths, a pair of EPs, and a handful of car…
David Liebe Hart Band Bryan Street Tavern November 8 Better than: an evening of stand-up with James Quall. (Well, about the same, actually.) In a 2007 interview with the A.V. Club Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim explained that the secret to their humor lies in the subtle-yet-brilliant way they are…
Feist, The Happiness ProjectMajestic TheatreNovember 8, 2011Better Than: Seeing this show anywhere else in town. Leslie Feist’s genius isn’t as much her ability to write and perform great pop music as it is the company she keeps. And at last night’s performance at the Majestic Theatre, one of only seven…
Last Night: Youth Lagoon, Young Magic, Peopleodian Dan’s Silverleaf November 8th, 2011 Better than: watching a televised poker tournament and wondering why people watch poker on television. The now-smoke free interior of Dan’s Silverleaf hosted a fine collection of acts–one local, two national, to be exact–as the cold front finally…
All That Remains, like their peers in Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall and Unearth, keep the flame of modern metal burning. Clearly influenced by ’90s European metal but filtered through an American hardcore sensibility, the Springfield, Massachusetts, quintet makes their second Dallas stop this year on Saturday night. Only a couple…
Last Night: Purity Ring/Bethan/Peopleodian/Datahowler Club Dada November 7 Better than: anything else happening on a Monday, that’s for sure. A four-act bill headlined by a touring international act is very strange for a Monday, but sadly that’s how things go for post-Fun Fun Fun Fest shows in Dallas. It’s sad…
Last Night: Touché Amoré, Pianos Become the Teeth, Seahaven, The News Can Wait Sons of Hermann Hall November 7 Better than: Glenn Danzig’s “performance” at Fun Fun Fun Fest this past weekend. The persistent early evening rain did nothing to keep Touché Amoré’s fans from making their way out to…
Joe Lally, True Widow Bryan Street Tavern November 6, 2011 Better than: seeing a Michael Anthony solo show. Sunday’s double bill of Joe Lally and True Widow might have not brought out a large crowd, but it seemed like everyone who showed up really wanted to be there. Though the…
We Were Promised Jetpacks, Royal Bangs, Bear Hands Trees November 5 Better than: feeling the 5.6 earthquake and wondering how the hell an earthquake could happen here. Glasgow’s We Were Promised Jetpacks poured their hearts out on Saturday night, but it seemed like only half of the crowd returned the…
Guns N’ Roses, The SwordGexa Energy PavilionSaturday, November 5 Better than: I could have ever expected in weather that was damn near perfect. Mike AlvesDo those jeans make Axl look fat? But somehow, perhaps because expectations were so low, a rather healthy-looking Rose and his current collection of sidemen put…
Ra Ra Riot, Delicate Steve, Yellow Ostrich Granada Theater November 3, 2011 Better than: seeing Ra Ra Riot at a music festival There’s a unique energy that fills a room when Ra Ra Riot performs live — the same warm and excited force that drifted through the Granada Theater Thursday…
Last Night: Youth Brigade, The Hellions, The Broadsiders Double Wide November 3, 2011 Better than: watching Another State of Mind and trying to figure out which parts were staged. Before they paid a visit to Austin for Fun Fun Fun Fest, Los Angeles hardcore punk legends Youth Brigade were kind…
Zach Condon and crew packed ’em in at the Prophet Bar last night for Tactics Productions’ Beirut show. The band is touring for their August-released album The Rip Tide, which, as the pictures by contributor and roving photographer Mike Brooks indicate, have plenty of trumpets (we’re literally listening to the…
