The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Depreciation Guild, Cymbals Eat GuitarsLola’s Sixth, Fort WorthSeptember 24, 2009Better than: coming to the realization that I am not pure at heart–not in the slightest. With an additional guitarist added for its touring lineup, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart shyly…
Pink, The Ting TingsAmerican Airlines CenterSeptember 24, 2009 Better than: Lions, tigers, and cotton candy under the big top. Rachel Parker For more pictures from last night’s show, check out the slideshow.The Ting Tings got things started promptly last night, as a sprightly Kate White bounded onto the stage for…
Ra Ra Riot, Maps & Atlases, Princeton Granada TheaterSeptember 23, 2009 Better than: Staying at home and pretending the Rangers playoff hopes are in fact still alive. Ra Ra Riot Showing up on time for things is not something that Dallas crowds are especially known for. (A good example of this: Look…
Vanilla IceTreesSeptember 19, 2009Better than: Cool As Ice, the movie. (It was called that right? Right.) Well, he sure took his time in getting out on stage. In fact, it wasn’t until almost 1 a.m. when, mercifully, Vanilla Ice finally showed his face to the too-large-to-be-believed crowd at Trees on…
Motorhead, Reverend Horton HeatPalladium BallroomSeptember 19, 2009Better than: playing poker with friends, just waiting on an ace of spades. Not to harp on the obvious here, but for a 63-year-old man, that Lemmy fella sure can rock.And, for well over an hour on Saturday night, the crowd at the Palladium…
Lydia, PlayRadioPlay!Rubber Gloves Rehearsal StudiosSeptember 17, 2009Better than: Staying home to watch the season premiere of The Office. Despite recently sharing his troubles with his PlayRadioPlay! persona, frontman Daniel Hunter seemed to quite comfortable dancing across the small stage at Rubber Gloves last night under his longtime moniker, playing crowd…
The Mars VoltaPalladium BallroomSeptember 16, 2009Better than: Watching The Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time on cable. There was no opener at the Palladium last night. And, at the onset, there appeared no need. El Paso’s The Mars Volta launched into its set before an adoring, crowded room…
Alan Palomo of Neon Indian.Neon Indian, Kashioboy, Vulgar FashionRubber Gloves Rehearsal StudiosSeptember 9, 2009 Better than: the hype? Keep reading. So, the big question: Did Neon Indian live up to all the hype? Or, maybe better yet: Could Neon Indian live up to all the hype? Well, from the perspective of…
The Dandy WarholsGranada TheaterSeptember 8, 2009 Better than: the recession, for one. If the lights behind The Dandy Warhols on stage weren’t alone enough of a reminder that the slick psych-rock outfit came prepared to offer its fans a show worth the price of admission, frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor soon made…
September to RememberOak Point Amphitheater, PlanoSeptember 6, 2009Better than: a September to Forget?A 15-band lineup, including PlayRadioPlay!, The Secret Handshake and Drop Dead, Gorgeous brought a crowd of mostly (at least 90 percent) 12- to 18-year-olds wearing skinny jeans and V-neck T-shirts to the Oak Point Amphitheater on Sunday.But it…
Fight NightThe Schoolhouse, DentonSeptember 5, 2009Better than: shooting bourbon in an actual schoolhouse. Nestled away from the venues of Denton’s idyllic Square and Fry Street’s controversy, the Schoolhouse is a deceptively ordinary one-story yellow and white residence. But Saturday, at around 3 p.m., as a slew of musicians rolled or…
Elvis CostelloNokia Theatre, Grand PrairieSeptember 2, 2009 Better than: just about anything else on my plate on a Wednesday evening Pretty close to 8:15, the lights inside the Nokia Theatre went down and onto the stage strode legendary singer/songwriter Elvis Costello, along with his current collaboration of sidemen, the unit…
Fruit Bats, Death VesselThe LoftSeptember 1, 2009 Better than: Staying at home watching the Rangers sweep a double-header from the Blue Jays. With temperatures hanging blissfully in the upper 70s, the deck of The Loft was certainly a nice place to spend a Tuesday evening. The view was amazing,…
Dia de Los ToadiesRough Creek Ranch, Glen RoseAugust 29, 2009Better than: planting your ass at a sports bar in the asphalt jungle. Rough Creek Ranch is a scenic patch of olive Texas prarie centered around a modest swimmin’ hole. To the north, a shallow creek babbles in. To the South?…
Leon RussellGranada TheaterAugust 23, 2009Better than: Hearing a medley of classic Leon Russell songs sung in an Asian karaoke bar, but not much better… During the 1960s and ’70s, Leon Russell was the consummate sidekick and bandleader–and he was even solo star in his own right. Hanging with the Stones,…
Old 97’s, Telegraph CanyonBass Hall, Fort WorthAugust 21, 2009Better than: a night at the opera. Make no mistake: The crowd came to Bass Hall–some dressed in their operahouse best, others in more dive bar attire–for the Old 97’s. And though they’d sure get the Old 97’s–to the tune of a…
Bat For LashesThe LoftAugust 20, 2009Better Than: Staind, who played downstairs at the Palladium. As lightning from a distant storm flashed through the windows of The Loft, Natasha Khan (aka Bat For Lashes) proved herself to be an entertainer equal to her reputation. With the support of a fantastic band…
Paul McCartneyCowboys StadiumAugust 19, 2009Better than: a competitive round of Rock Band: Beatles, to say the least. Download: For more pictures from last night’s show, check Patrick Michels’ slideshow from the night.For the first hour or so of Paul McCartney’s set at Cowboys Stadium last night, the show had a…
Mos Def and Jay Electronica House of BluesAugust 18, 2009Better than: Beating the line to the show’s after party. Some artists perform for the audience. Others perform for themselves. And others? They’re still finding their footing as performers at all. Make no mistake: Last night’s show at the House of…
Bowerbirds and Megafaun Hailey’s Club August 12, 2009 Better than: Watching a performance on La Blogotheque Some days the life of a touring musician is just a bitch, especially when you are in that stage of your career that you are traveling in a van. Yesterday was one such day…
Method Man & Redman With Ghostface KillahHouse of BluesSaturday, August 8, 2009Better than: Watching How High sober. From Ghostface’s rant about how “the rap game in New York is fucked up” and how nothing on the radio these days inspires him to the cheers that greeted Method and Red every…
Broken Social ScenePalladium BallroomAugust 7, 2009Better than: The last time I caught Broken Social Scene in Vancouver. Check out photos from the show in our slideshow here.When Broken Social Scene frontman and co-founder Kevin Drew fell ill earlier this year, the band was left with no choice but to back…
