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…
The GZA performs Liquid Swords Palladium Ballroom September 1, 2008 Better Than: Watching some current hitmaker performing a club banger and pretending he’s prescient. “When I was little…my father was famous. He was the greatest samurai in the empire. He was the Shogun’s decapitator. He cut off the heads of…
My Morning Jacket Palladium Ballroom Saturday, August 23, 2008 Better Than: Any show where MMJ just covers “Tyrone.” The big news, is, at this point, old news, really. Yes, Erykah Badu performed with My Morning Jacket last night. Yes, it looked like this. Yes, it was a once-in-a-lifetime-type deal. And,…
The Cool Kids, Flosstradamus, Ricky Blaze, The Party The Granada Theater August 21, 2008 Better Than: Your car catching on fire on 75 in the middle of rush hour. Apparently the people of Dallas got the memo there was a free show at the Granada last night because they came…
Nine Inch Nails, A Place To Bury Strangers American Airlines Center August 18, 2008 Better than: Watching all three Matrix movies on blu-ray. Trent Reznor and…The Pips? (Derrick Miller) More of a multimedia event than a concert, the performance last night of Trent Reznor and his latest incarnation of Nine…
(RegoVisualArts.com) Raheem DeVaughn, Bryan-Michael Cox Gilley’s August 13, 2008 Better than: Dwele on his best day. Revelers headed to the Heineken Red Star Soul tour at Gilley’s might have been taken aback by the traffic jam on Lamar Street. But getting closer to the venue, I caught a glimpse of…
The Honorary Title, The New Frontiers, Paper Rival, Mansions The Granada Theater August 10, 2008 Jarrod Gorbel (Janet Reid Boltz) Better than: sitting around the house listening to Wilco, wishing they’d really play The Cavern. Things got started early last night at the Granada. Apparently too early for me as…
The Hold Steady The Loft at Palladium August 5, 2008 Better Than: Jay Reatard on $55 worth of acid. The biggest spazz in the best bar band in America. (Noah Bailey) Craig Finn is a total spazz. On stage Tuesday night with his band the Hold Steady, he was seemingly…
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Acoustic Show Club Dada August 1, 2008 Better Than: One show for the price of two. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club goes acoustic. (Daniel Rodrigue) We warned you that the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show at Club Dada would be a big deal. When BRMC played House…
Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters House of Blues July 24, 2008 Better than: Watching Hearts Afire on DVD. What do you think of when you see the term actor/musician? Do you think of someone who is great at both, like Zooey Deschanel? Or do you think of someone who’s…
Better than: A parade with two grand marshals, or a wolf pack with two alpha dogs. Dan Boeckner. (Mikal Beth Hughey) Wolf Parade’s live show emphasized the equal importance shared by the band’s two creative minds, switching between Spencer Krug’s oddball synth-driven melodrama and Dan Boeckner’s more accessible guitar rock…
