Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic, DJ Big WizGranada TheaterSaturday, December 5, 2009 Better than: studying for an essay exam. Easily one of the most eccentric and talented wordsmiths in the world of hip-hop, Aesop Rock has been giving underground heads some of the most dense and textured rap to unravel for…
Cursive, Capgun Coup, Old Canes, The Timeline PostHailey’s ClubNovember 27th, 2009 Better than: realizing that the Black Friday deal you got was a Black Friday bust. Watching the four-band bill on Friday was like watching many Dallas Cowboys’ wins: Everything came together in the last part. The mighty Cursive arrived…
Neko CaseGranada TheaterNovember 23, 2009Better Than: Sitting at home playing with your dogs. It wasn’t hard to see that it was Neko Case’s show last night at the Granada. With the singer’s penchant for songs filled with animals and nature, the tree-adorned banners that hung on the side of the…
Imogen Heap, Back Ted-N-Ted, Tim ExileGranada TheaterNovember 17, 2009Better than: a night at home with your diary. While many long-time fans of Imogen Heap will praise the deep emotional quality of her work, her quirky honesty is what may strike you initially when seeing this marvel of a woman perform…
Peter Bjorn and John, El Perro del MarHouse of BluesNovember 14, 2009Better than: slogging through my DVR. “This is Dallas, right?” Bjorn Yttling asked, his porn ‘stache bobbing above the microphone. “Maybe you know him from your school. Or your dad’s school. Do you know Meat Loaf?”Say what?…
Elvis Perkins in Dearland, A.A. BondyHouse of Blues’ Cambridge RoomNovember 14, 2009Better than: Having to actually attend a New Orleans funeral to feel uplifted. I confess to be fond of brainy, melancholy music leavened with joy, and, I’m happy to say, that itch got scratched last night by Elvis Perkins…
Three days after getting back from Austin, I’ve still got a good post-festival buzz. With all apologies to NX35, it was by far the most fun I’ve had at a Texas music festival. Oddly, the rain didn’t bother me all that much. It made things messy and uncomfortable, but it…
Some people attribute weather changes, fortunate or otherwise, to God. The Riverboat Gamblers’ Mike Wiebe thought someone else was responsible for the all-day drizzle and showers that turned Waterloo Park into Mudderloo Park. “Someone said, ‘It was sunny yesterday, I’m surprised it’s rainy now,'” he said during his band’s set…
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Deadly Syndrome, Family of the Year The Loft November 7, 2009Better than: nursing a bottle of wine while watching a Cheaters marathon. Underneath the disco ball at The Loft, the swaying and jumping of the crowd caused the floorboards to shake and shiver…
HEALTH, Times New VikingThe Lounge on Elm StreetNovember 6, 2009Better than: a visit to the free clinic. Even the bands noticed it: Something was just off about The Lounge on Elm Street on Friday night.”There’s kind of a weird vibe in here,” Times New Viking drummer/vocalist Adam Elliott said, somewhat…
Choosing Fun Fun Fun over the Austin City Limits festival this year was a no-brainer decision, and I have not regretted the decision to pass on Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam and Ben Harper for a nanosecond. Sitting on the soft grass and turning away from the Orange Stage before Death’s…
AC/DCAmerican Airlines CenterNovember 2, 2009 Better than: sleepwalking through another night of the World Series snoozefest… AC/DC didn’t rip a page from the Rolling Stones playbook last night and dig deep into its early catalog. Rather, with few exceptions, the band played it by the numbers, sticking predominantly to its…
Hanson, HellogoodbyeHouse of BluesNovember 1, 2009Better Than: Spending $80 to sit in the nose bleed section at another concert Hanson stopped in at the House of Blues last night to perform before a more than loyal crowd as part of its Use Your Sole Tour. But these weren’t the kid…
Butthole Surfers, Peaches and MEN Granada TheaterOctober 30, 2009 Better than: Not too much–especially since it was my birthday. About this same time last year, the original conglomeration of the Butthole Surfers came to Dallas to perform for the first time in over a decade. And even though drummer Teresa…
Brand New, ThricePalladium BallroomOctober 30, 2009Better than: flipping through zillions of censored horror flicks on cable. Waiting for the members of Brand New to approach the stage was more like waiting for a song to begin on Guitar Hero–or kinda like an encore before the show even begins. One of…
The Pogues and Justin Townes EarleThe House of BluesFriday, October 30, 2009Better than: any other pretense for self-destruction this Halloween weekend. For most of the show, the argument behind me simmered at a level of quiet disagreement–a nudge into the crowd, a quick tug of restraint and a few words…
Mutemath, As Tall As LionsPalladium BallroomOctober 29, 2009Better than: Watching Spinal Tap’s Experimental Jazz Odyssey… well, almost better. It was clear that when Mutemath started its set that it would be playing new songs–lots of ’em. And it was clear that the band was going to have to work hard…
Alice in Chains, Puddle of Mudd, Chevelle Nokia Theatre, Grand Prairie October 23, 2009 Better than: your lame family reunion. After five hours of mind-numbing, mediocre music at Friday’s Freakers Ball at Nokia Theatre, the night’s redeeming moment came when Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell invited his dad, Jerry…
Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr., Lou Barlow & The Missing Men, Disco DoomGranada TheaterOctober 22, 2009 Better Than: a Thursday evening at home in your rocking chair. At his Good Records performance held earlier last night, Lou Barlow expressed his love for playing in the endangered venue of the record…
Rodrigo y GabrielaHouse of BluesOctober 19, 2009 Better than: anything else in the flamenco-meets-rock-meets-mariachi wheelhouse I’d heard about Rodrigo y Gabriela’s ability to harness the power of a six-piece band with just two acoustic guitars, but seeing the phenomenon live was nothing short of spellbinding. The duo–originally from Mexico and…
Hope Sandoval & The Warm InventionsSons of Hermann HallOctober 19, 2009Better than: having to tell everyone to shut up myself. Hope gets what Hope wants. And, four songs into Hope her Sons of Hermann Hall performance with the Warm Inventions, Hope Sandoval had had enough of some of the relatively…
Daniel Folmer, Dust Congress, Glen Farris, and Sabra Laval J&J’s Pizza, Denton October 17, 2009 Better than: watching OU-TX fans yell at one another on the parking lot that was I-35E. Were it not a music venue, the dirty basement at J&J’s Pizza would be the kind of place you…
