Critic's Notebook

In ancient Roman times, citizens began the year by offering hopes for the future to the god Janus, thus beginning the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. Folks back then probably had fairly practical requests (“no plague this year, please”) while today it’s common to resolve to improve one’s career,…

Sometime around 10:30 p.m. Friday, as the shuffling of patrons’ feet above reached its apex, comedy headliner Shane Torres paused to reflect. “Yeah, I was on Conan,” he said. “Look at what it did for my career. I’m playing a creepy basement underneath a pizza parlor for you clowns.” The…

Lower Greenville’s La Panaderia Chichen Itza has an unexpected ally in the fight against gentrification. The restaurant has a history of hosting concerts, and next month hardcore punk and grindcore musicians will throw a benefit concert to help the restaurant meet its rising property taxes. “Chichen Itza let us play shows…

Fortress Fest is selling more than tickets to its second annual music festival April 28-29. The festival’s co-founders and co-owners, Ramtin Nikzad and Alec Jhangiani, have created an entertainment presenting company, Fortress Presents, and they’re inviting the public to buy stakes in it. “We anticipated this [starting a presenting company]…

As 2017 continues to wind down, concert announcements for 2018 continue to roll in. It’s shaping up to be a banner year for live concerts. Here are the biggest shows announced this week. This month, R&B songstress K. Michelle released her fourth studio album, Kimberly, The People I Used To…

Robert Earl Keen plays the House of Blues on Friday, Dec. 29 and Bass Performance Hall on Saturday, Dec. 30.  This time of year, most musicians pause their tours to head home and spend time with friends and family. Not Robert Earl Keen. The country and folk singer-songwriter is busying…

Dallas’ Erykah Badu went on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon yesterday to promote a new box set of Fela Kuti’s music that she curated. Knitting Factory Records has released this and three other vinyl box sets of the late afrobeat pioneer curated by famous musicians such as Brian Eno,…

Sixteen months after Dentonites showed up to mourn the loss of one of their most beloved music venues, J&J’s Pizza’s basement music venue is again open for shows. “Hey Y’all!! The Ol’ Dirty Basement is back!!!” a post to J&J’s Facebook page last night read. The first show back will…

For the fourth year in a row, DJ Santa gifts us an Observer mixtape filled with his latest and greatest Christmas jams. In the offseason, Santa travels the world playing his unique brand of “elf house.” This year, he has been part of of the rising tide of Christmas electro…

It hasn’t even been a year since Dallas’ Dezman Lehman, aka Dezi5, left Dallas to pursue a music career in New York City, but Lehman is already signed to a new bicoastal label, 11A, and is gearing up to release his first EP as a New York-based artist. At the…

At the Dallas Observer Music Awards ceremony earlier this month, we asked eight local bands to cover songs by their favorite Dallas musicians. The songs chosen by 88 Killa, Starfruit and others were by artists such as rapper D.O.C. and indie rock-pop auteur St. Vincent. In reviewing the best albums…

Two Texans are going at it this month. Dallasite and conservative pundit Tomi Lahren, who got her start on Glenn Beck’s Irving-based news and entertainment network The Blaze, referred to “police hating Beyonce” on Twitter. Houston native Beyoncé was in New York City to present former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick…

Local new media artist Eric Trich was thrilled when he got the call that Canton Hall needed his help. He’d attended the Grizzly Bear concert in November, the Deep Ellum venue’s first, and walked away impressed by the space. “I like how it’s straight to the point,” Trich says. “You…

When the sun finally set on the short-lived tiki bar Sunset Lounge in June, Dallas waited and watched the corner of Liberty Street and Ross Avenue to see what would be next for the location. The Sunset Lounge failed to capitalize on the recent growth along Ross in the no…

Concert promoters haven’t yet slowed down for the holidays. This week brings a bevy of new announcements with the likes of Kesha, Jack Johnson, Yanni and Jeezy all revealing Dallas performances in 2018. Also, a crew of Celtic rockers comes through, an up-and-coming rapper will appear on a larger stage,…

Michael Todd is a seasoned DJ who has been on the frontline of dance music culture since the ’90s. In that early era, he helped launch the Groov-e Company crew with Britton Schweitzer, DJ Merritt of Edge Club fame and Rob Vaughn. The crew hosted a who’s who of ’90s Dallas…

Photographer Will von Bolton was born Will Bolton in Belton. His “stage name,” as he calls it, is a remembrance from his earlier marriage to model Veda von Bergen, as friends referred to the couple as “the Von Boltons.” He sold all his possessions four months ago and is without…

Bucks Burnett has met most of his music idols, and he’s not afraid to share the details. In this column, he reveals tales from the front lines and backstage. I found about about the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion when I received an email with “Led Zeppelin Reunion” in the subject…

Gary Numan plays Trees on Thursday, Dec. 14. Over the nearly 40 years Gary Numan has been recording and performing, he has made forays into punk, new wave, funk, jazz funk, R&B and straight ahead rock. Through all of these phases, his sweeping melodies, roaring hooks and introspective lyrics have…

Lewisville’s Vista Ridge Mall has a new owner and a new name: Music City Mall Lewisville. ICA Properties, an Odessa-based real estate management company, purchased the floundering, 1.05 million-square-foot Vista Ridge Mall for $17.3 million through an online auction in September. ICA is planning to attract tenants and shoppers to…