Andy Hummel, founding bassist of Big Star, longtime employee of Lockheed Martin and Weatherford resident, died yesterday at age 59. His death, after two years of cancer treatment, comes four months after the death of Big Star singer Alex Chilton turned a South By Southwest panel discussion and subsequent performance–it…
Your daily dose of national music news for Tuesday, July 20, 2010…Metallica now thinks that the movie that let us in on it’s completely dysfunctional life as a band was a big mistake. So was razzing Jason Newsted until he left the band, but, whatevs.Diplo doesn’t pull any punches when…
As Warbeast, Akkolyte and others had their way with Reno’s Chop Shop Saloon on Saturday night, those of us sardine-packed and sweating inside La Grange caught Glen Farris, The Naptime Shake, The O’s, Boys Named Sue, The Fox & The Bird and Seryn.For sheer boil-your-mercury heat, though, nothing compared to…
In the “Wikipedia Files” video series, the above episode of which was shot at this weekend’s Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, various bands are questioned about information found on their Wikipedia pages. It’s a pretty interesting project from the Chicago radio station, WBEW-89.5 FM Vocalo, and this most recent take…
Warning: This is not an official Dallas Observer Music Award. If it was, we might break it down into something like–Best Grimace, Best Contortion, Best Scream, Best “Stage Dump.” But that’s not what we’re not doing. No, we’re gonna countdown, without preference or bias, our favorite “stage faces” of the…
Rhett Miller, singer/songwriter extraordinaire and frontman for the Old 97’s, made a TV appearance last night as a legless, prosthetic-armed Al Queda member. No, really. The creators of Squidbillies, the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim staple about Appalachian squids, gathered folk rock’s best and brightest for their season finale entitled “America: Why…
If you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to walk a day in rock star shoes, the folks at Alternative Press have you covered. As part of their “Warped Speed” Vans Warped Tour coverage, the magazine gave us less-famous folk a look at just that, following around Grapevine’s Own hook-heavy…
Your daily dose of national music news for Monday, July 19, 2010…Pink was hurt during an acrobatic portion of her show in Germany.Creed promises/threatens releasing a new song this summer. Devo has taken to the web with their own reality show…
The Secret Machines7:15 p.m.Outdoor Stage The sun had long since baked Deep Ellum’s concrete into a considerable second source of heat by the time the Secret Machines graced the outdoor stage at the DOMAXXII Showcase on Saturday. Knowing this and, like their counterparts on this stage, quick to point it…
The Cool KidsOutdoor Stage8:30 p.m. As the stage was getting broken down from The Secret Machines’ set and set up for The Cool Kids, it looked like the Texas heat had gotten to the Deep Ellum crowd. There was hardly anyone in the parking lot that was hosting the outdoor…
Akkolyte Reno’s Chop Shop Saloon9 p.m.Akkolyte–brothers Aaron and Stefan Gonzalez–delivered their ususal thundering performance grindcore/punk at this year’s DOMAXXII. Aaron wields the bass while Stefan mans the drums. Both thrash away in pure melodic thrash. Both shine with insane virtuosity. Both lash out lyrics with fervor and grit. Stefan’s bellowing…
Tweed EQThe Door7 p.m.The ’70s-inspired blues-heavy arena rock that Tweed EQ throws down isn’t all that much unlike anything one might find in a random smoked-filled blues bar on any given weekend. Perhaps the one aspect that makes them unique is watching somebody as fresh-faced as 23-year-old frontman Robbie Saunders,…
WarbeastReno’s 10 p.m.The back room of Reno’s was well-attended as Warbeast ripped through an eight-song set that lasted 40 minutes. No, the room wasn’t packed the entire time, but there were plenty of folks milling about between the front and back of the place. And the people that were there…
Boys Named SueLa Grange10 p.m.What can be said now about the Boys Named Sue that hasn’t been said already over their rabble-rousing course of recent history? Not much, really, but we’ll give it a shot, since they managed to basically set theoretical fire to the stage of La Grange with…
While Secret Machines played the sunset at the outdoor stage, the Hope Trust lit up Trees bright red. More photos and reviews coming soon, of course, but for now enjoy these pics of Secret Machines and The Hope Trust after the jump…
So, it’s really hot. Like, really hot. Lucero’s Ben Nichols put on sunglasses because “his eyeballs were getting sun burnt.” We’ve got more photos and video and coverage coming, of course, but to get this started: here are some photos (and a glorious youtube video after the jump!) of Lucero…
You already know the deal: The Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase takes over Deep Ellum tomorrow with 46 bands on seven stages for 10 hours (starting at 4 p.m.). Wristbands are $10 a pop–you can get them here–and, let’s face it, for a number of reasons, that’s a hell of…
On Tuesday night, each and every nominated person on this year’s Dallas Observer Awards Ballot was invited to attend an awards season pre-party/photoshoot meant to help us capture some images for next week’s cover package on the awards winners.It was a grand ole time, featuring performances from Matthew Gray (of…
I was catching up with Chris Bonner of the nominated-Best-Hard-Rock-DOMA THe BAcksliders yesterday when the guitarist, rather off-handedly, informed me that the band was changing bassists.”My brother Jason is going off to do the solo thing,” Chris said. “And, sometimes, working with a family member isn’t the easiest thing to…
Your daily dose of national music news for Friday, July 16, 2010…Good to hear that the Guided By Voices break-up didn’t last too long.Turns out there are some honest New Yorkers: Phosphorescent’s gear is finally back in the band’s possession.Ever wonder who the girl on the new Vampire Weekend album…
Just got finished with some due diligence over on Unfair Park, letting the folks who care about things like local news and the like know about this year’s DOMAXXII Showcase. Even handed out a few pairs of free wristbands out to ’em. No worries, DC9 devotees: I haven’t forgotten you…
We’ve made no secret of our in-house excitement for School of Seven Bells’ sophomore full-length, Disconnect From Desire, which earned its release this week. Ambient, grandiose and a little wistful, too, the album’s an almost-prefect summer companion. And, turns out, we’re not the only ones who think so. “Windstorm,” one…
