SXSW is hardly a festival. It is a free for all. SXSW is the complete opposite of a relaxing Spring Break. By the end of it, you will feel run down, wrung out, and ready to sleep for 24 straight hours. You have to make the after hours show, cause…
We’ve talked about the wonderful Girls Rock Dallas plenty of times on DC9 in the past few years. The volunteer-run, non-profit offers something that no other music camp can provide for females aged eight to seventeen: a chance to learn instruments, form a band, play a show, and most importantly,…
Our boys over on Elm Street, Oliver Peck and the Reverend Horton Heat, have really outdone themselves this time. Fresh off the success of last year’s greatly expanded festival, the guys have somehow arranged for Black Flag to visit Deep Ellum. Starting on June 11 at Three Links, the festival…
Don’t even talk to me right now, Dallas. Twenty notable concerts in the next four days? We don’t have time for your problems, you need to figure out how to be at Childish Gambino and Bobby Patterson’s birthday party at the same time. Oh, you didn’t get a ticket to…
Earlier, we introduced you to our 12 favorite music photographers in North Texas. We got more than 50 nominations, and our team of expert judges narrowed it down to these 12. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be introducing you to each of the finalists in turn by having them…
There is performance art. There is rock ‘n’ roll. And then there are St. Vincent dress rehearsals. Everyone in the showcase room of Prospect Heights’ Complete Music Studios seems to know this, because even at 4 p.m. on the last frigid Friday of January, the end of two months’ worth…
There’s anywhere from 1 to 10 billion bands at any given SXSW. This year I think there are more. This makes planning one’s festival schedule a daunting monstrosity. But don’t worry, The Dallas Observer is here to help. Because it’s our opinion that festivals should be about seeing great bands,…
Y’all, The Boss is coming! The biggest concert announcement of the week had the whole internet buzzing when it broke nationally that this year’s March Madness Music Festival will bring Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, fun., Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, and The Killers to Dallas. Though we can…
“BOOOOOO-TY FADE! BOOOOOO-TY FADE!” chants a mob of people in snapback caps, cardigans and cowboy boots. The Dallas-based DJ duo of Sober and PicnicTyme are just getting started under the tent at Thin Line Film and Music Festival’s main stage. And then a speaker blows out. “Sorry for those technical…
The North Texas region has become a national hotbed of craft breweries and general good times that circle around sudsy concoctions. Aside from the growing numbers of top-notch brewers and hops-focused gastropubs of the Dallas area, the burst of can’t-miss beer festivals has been as enjoyable a benefit of the…
Yes, for the princely sum of $20, you could get in a van with a total stranger somewhere in South Dallas and go to commit property damage somewhere near Greenville. That’s the latest enticing proposal out of our local Craigslist, always a font of good ideas and totally above-board goings-on…
It might have been the Christmas spirit or a feeling of a quarter-life crisis creeping up on me, but whatever the reason, I decided to volunteer. I ended up teaching some local kids everything about hip-hop dancing. Before you glance up at my name or Facebook stalk me, I am…
Organizers of the March Madness Music Festival have announced headliners for the Dallas block party, and you’ve probably heard of a few of them: The free Dallas shows, which will take over the former site of Reunion Arena during the first weekend in April, will include performances by the Killers,…
It’s Friday night, and after leaving work a bit later than you had hoped to, battling the traffic to get home, and finally making it out the door again for a night of steam-blowing revelry, mapping a night out is often more daunting a task than you’d prefer. It’s late…
Known for forming and fronting 7 Seconds, one of the seminal American punk rock acts of the 80’s, Kevin Seconds has always been one of the hardest working guys around. Even today, besides occasional 7 Seconds reunion shows and his solo work, the guy is involved in at least six…
Festival season is upon us, and just because there’s no 35 Denton this year doesn’t mean things have slowed down for 2014. This week Untapped returns to Fort Worth, Three Links and Mad World Records will each celebrate their anniversaries with fests, and the inaugural ONE FEST will spend the…
It all started with one tweet. Nice! Not even MY “entire”family are big fans. A few are like,”meh”RT @paginaskinner:seeing you in concert Sat.My entire family are big fans— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) July 25, 2013 As I was performing my usual pre-concert routine of listening to the artist’s entire collection, I…
My 16-year-old daughter, Iris, is probably the most enthusiastic and positive person I’ve ever known. So when I asked her to write up the Pixies’ show as part of our sporadic series of Kids Say the Darnedest Things About Music posts, I figured she’d have nothing but good things to…
When Jeffrey Brown of King Camel Productions opened up shop last year, he used a tried and true formula for success. He was getting into booking shows around Dallas last year, and started hitting the streets of Deep Ellum to do a little research. What he found was an opportunity…
Our Busking video series with Globe Trek Productions returns this week with guest Salim Nourallah. Our Morgan Chadwick talked to him about cults and North Texas music in his studio before he played a couple songs. The full clip is below. Salim Nourallah was born in Illinois but he is…
Socrates once said, “Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful, or of him who is…
Spring is here and what better time to kick out the cobwebs? I personally like to ring in the season with a good deep house cleaning, lots of “Let’s Dance”-era David Bowie records, and of course some good live music. This weekend presents plenty of opportunities to get your feet…
