Tapes ‘n Tapes, Oberhofer, Les AmericainsFebruary 19, 2011The LoftBetter than: Seeing yet another mediocre opening band. At around 10:40 p.m. on Saturday night at The Loft, Tapes ‘n Tapes ambled onto the stage before a nearly packed venue, channeling the ’90s bands that inspired them. Clad in blue jeans, T-shirts,…
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Jonathan Tyler & The Northern LightsHouse of BluesFebruary 18, 2011Better than: watching Almost Famous yet one more time. Sometimes, tour pairings just make perfect sense. And so it was that Dallas’ own Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights came to join Vermont’s Grace Potter &…
Beth OrtonDan’s Silverleaf in DentonFebruary 18, 2011Better than: the sore throat I’ve picked up since the show. It seems like two or three times a year, Dan’s Silverleaf gets a performer that causes one to double take. Bill Frisell, Daniel Lanois, any number of jazz luminaries in town to work…
Robyn, Diamond Rings, Natalia KillsSouth Side Music HallFebruary 18, 2011Better than: having a few drinks and listening to the DJ at S-4 spin Robyn tracks. The overhead lights dimmed, a whirling sci-fi-sounding effect filled the room and bright blue lights flooded the stage. It was plenty of notice.A wave of…
Nobunny, Cats in Heat, Video, IdiotsRubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios in DentonFebruary 17, 2011Better than: wearing pants. By night, garage rock musician Justin Champlin goes by another persona, transforming, as he has for nearly a decade now, into Nobunny, a man in a bunny mask infamous for live performances filled with…
Welcome to My First Show, where we give bands a chance to talk about the first shows they ever attended — no matter how uncool and embarrassing those tales may be. You might have seen him play with The Americanos, J.D. Whittenburg or as a solo act, but, these days,…
Last night on Twitter, the hashtag “heart shaped pizza” was trending nationwide for Valentine’s Day. Over here in Dallas, as Pete Freedman teased in his recent cover story, Bucks Burnett celebrated Valentine’s Day by opening an eight-track museum.Half of the Tom Tom Club (who officially released a new eight-track through…
Jonathan RichmanRubber Gloves Rehearsal StudiosFebruary 13, 2011Better than: watching the Grammys. A Jonathan Richman show is like nothing else. This was evident very early on last night. Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, where Richman performed on Sunday night, is notoriously smoky and never in any particular hurry to start the evening’s…
Sarah Jaffe, Bosque BrownWyly TheatreFebruary 12, 2011Better than: another show in another bar, as Jaffe so put it early on in her performance on Saturday night. Once upon a time, she was a shy performer, perhaps too concerned with making any on-stage mistakes before her attentive audience. But that was…
The Sword, Garuda, Eagle ClawGranada TheaterFebruary 12, 2011Better than: dealing with the ramifications of a water-pipe burst at my house. Thanks, Snowpocalypse! The Granada Theater in Dallas hasn’t exactly been a haven for metalheads in recent years. No, despite piling up accolades as a top-notch venue for just about any…
A little of this, and a little of that from this weekend. Or, more pertinently: A little panda dance and a little Armenia. It was an interesting Friday night in Deep Ellum on February 11: The Boiler Room featured Alexi Delano and a heck-of-a-lot of mushy clown noses. Also? A…
Welcome to My First Show, where we give bands a chance to talk about the first shows they ever attended — no matter how uncool and embarrassing those tales may be. Matt Pittman is a busy man as of late. When not working on new material for the (thankfully) still-active…
Smith Westerns, YuckThe LoftFebruary 9, 2011 Better than: the Black Eyed Peas halftime show… Last night’s impressive showing for Chicago’s Smith Westerns and UK counterparts Yuck was especially significant considering it was not only a Tuesday, but a night where threats of a repeat of last week’s ice and snow…
D’Drum with the Dallas Symphony OrchestraMorton H Meyerson Symphony CenterFebruary 5, 2011Better than: Getting hit by the ice falling off Cowboys Stadium There were no Packers or Steelers fans at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center on Saturday night, the night before the Super Bowl. Thankfully, the crowd that showed…
Wild Nothing, Abe Vigoda, Soft Environmental CollapseSons of Hermann HallFebruary 5, 2011Better than: enduring another day cooped up at home and off work because of the icy weather. There was very little between-song banter from any of the acts on Saturday night’s bill at Sons of Hermann Hall. No crazy…
Hey, the Big Day is here! And, with it, those highly anticipated music performances! It’s all so exciting. I’ll be honest: I didn’t pay too much attention to the pre-pregame stuff — meaning Maroon 5’s and Keith Urban’s performances in tents outside of Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. I caught some,…
Diplo, Cee Lo GreenAxe Lounge (normally Rio Room, formerly Suite)February 5, 2011Better than: hanging out in a lounge filled with Axe body spray. Fortunately, this sponsorship was in name only. Seems the scene at the Axe Lounge in Uptown was quite different from the one downtown at the Bud Light…
WHAT IT DO D-TOWN?? LOL.First off, let me say that I am real fuckin’ glad we didn’t have to wait in that three-block line to get into the BUD LIGHT HOTEL last night! Corbin from Rhino’s friend’s broker scored us sweet VIP tix and we were inside that bigass tent…
So, the ice finally thawed. Honestly, the weekend was looking a little disappointing right around the Prince cancellation, but the warmer weather brought out the big Super Bowl parties on Saturday. Downtown was buzzing. So was Uptown. Hell, so was everything. Over at the Maxim party in Fair Park, Wyclef…
Giant scarves were necessary for the Wayans Brothers last night, who faired the snowy streets of Dallas in their limo to check out Skye Bar. The snow might have weeded out most folks, but Shawn and Marlon Wayans — stars of film gems like White Chicks and Little Man –…
The Flaming Lips, Neon Indian, New FumesFebruary 3, 2011Palladium BallroomBetter than: realizing that you have the most beautiful face. In many regards, last night’s performance from the Flaming Lips was exactly like the two previous ones we’d seen in the past year — first at NX35 2020 and again at…
This morning in Uptown, a couple of Steelers fans — they were wearing ponchos — drank coffee in the ankle-high snow. Store owners raked mounds of white off their walk-ins, and Dallas folks screamed at cars driving slowly on McKinney avenue: “Go home!” Several hours before this morning’s snowpocalypse, which…
