The 8th Annual Kenny Smith All-Star BashDeux LoungeFebruary 12, 2009Considering the influx of fliers and Facebook spamming that has gone on over the past few weeks, Kenny “The Jet” Smith’s party was relatively word-of-mouth. But that didn’t stop the powers that be at Deux from needing a pop-up tent to…
This afternoon comes word that a handful of other acts have been added to the already stout NX35 lineup. Fat Possum Records’ The Walkmen is the big name, of course. But others include DFW’s own Trebuchet, Saboteur and Jack with One Eye, Austin’s Pure Ecstasy and French duo Electric Electric.In…
The English Beat, Fishbone, Outlaw NationThe Granada TheaterFebruary 13, 2010Better than: Sitting at home watching the Winter Olympics with my wife and kids. An almost-packed house at the Granada Theater enjoyed nearly four hours of ska-related rhythms this past Saturday night as three fine acts made optimism the order of…
Fair to Midland Wreck Benefit with House Harkonnen, Serosia, Bronze Whaler and Moving Atlas Curtain Club February 14, 2009Better Than: watching this year’s very underwhelming Olympic opening ceremonies. (Great job, Canada!) When asked what was on Fair to Midland’s mind the moment its van tumbled through the Arizona desert back…
Erykah Badu, Jamie FoxxPalladium BallroomSaturday, February 12, 2010Better Than: Any other All-Star event going on that night–especially considering it was free. It was a night of opposites. Crowd-pleasing pandering and natural creative energy. R&B loverman showboating and organic, funky soul. Jamie Foxx and Erykah Badu may both be Texas-born icons,…
Your daily dose of national music news for Monday, February 15, 2010… Courtney Love missed her first show with a new Hole due to a “squat riot.”German girl-group members sure know how to make an impression.Knack frontman Doug Fieger has passed away…
Aside from the snow, the big story this weekend is, of course, the NBA All-Star Game and the musicians, celebrities, models, gold-diggers and hookers swarming the city. This week’s cover story tells you why this is such an important weekend for Dallas’ mainstream-leaning hip-hop artists, and the All-Star Guide inside…
Even three decades after the fact, the music of The English Beat still retains the fresh edge that distinguished it back in 1978. Beginning with the “Mirror in the Bathroom” and “Save it For Later” singles, The Beat (as it was then called and is still referred to in its…
Play-N-Skillz’s Welcome to All-Star AffairPlushSeemed it was a late-arriving crowd at Plush, for the first of Play-N-Skillz’s four nights of events at the downtown ultra-lounge: The party was scheduled to kick off at 10 p.m., but even after 11 o’clock, there just weren’t many people there–aside from the hosts and…
Zo & Magic’s 8-Ball ChallengeCentennial Building in Fair ParkThe red carpet walks kicked off at 7.30 p.m., with Mourning’s appearance leading the way. Early attendees were held in a “reception area,” separated from the pool tables by a blue carpet and curtains. Everyone was pretty much told to hold the…
As promised, Neon Indian played Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to the above effect, playing a medley of sorts, blending its song “Terminally Chill” into a rather badass rendition of Psychic Chasms’ most badass track, the album-closing “Ephemeral Artery.” Kind of a brilliant performance, too.And the band received…
This past weekend, our nightlife photo crew ventured to the Lizard Lounge late in the evening for Dirty South — it was also local DJ Willie Trimmer’s record release party of his remix of Andy Caldwell’s “Scream” — after hitting the Green Elephant for 16 Bit from the UK along…
…or so some press release from Chipotle reminds us today. Just don’t tell that to the folks at the McKinney Avenue spot in Uptown, where the burrito–named for Oso Closo after it won a Chipotle-sponsored contest–was being advertised for sale as early as Tuesday this week. Was when I popped…
Your daily dose of national music news for Friday, February 12, 2010…Axl Rose sure has a way with words when he’s flippin’ pissed.Fred Durst says Limp Bizkit’s new album has a “Daft Punk vibe to it.” An overly aggressive, juvenile Daft Punk vibe.UNKLE team up with The Black Angels on…
In this week’s Observer cover story, we take a look at the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend coming through town and what it could mean for Dallas’ hip-hop future. In short: If nothing else, it should add some eyes to the burgeoning D-Town Boogie movement and help the scene get some…
Two years back, Kris Youmans took home a Dallas Observer Music Award that named him the best booking agent in town thanks to his work bringing in some of the bigger indie acts around to the Granada Theater. As of yesterday, though, Youmans is out at the Granada, having accepted…
No winner this week. Sorry, folks.I just got word from POTW Captain and Observer art director Alex Flores that this week’s submissions were rather… um, how can I put this lightly… meager. So, instead of simply picking a poster for the sake of announcing a winner, we’re gonna simply gonna…
…and for you relics still stuck on YouTube, here’s your link.Many thanks to Observer Web editor Patrick Michels for popping by a certain unnamed area high school gymnasium this past Saturday morning to join photographer Steven Visneau, art director Alex Flores and yours truly as we welcomed Play-N-Skillz, Treal Lee…
We’re admittedly a little D-Town Boogie-focused this weekend, what with the NBA All-Star Game in town and all the local hip-hop events planned around it in hopes of busting the scene out of its regional bubble. The way to do that–or so says every local hip-hop proprietor from Play-N-Skillz to…
Motion City Soundtrack, Set Your Goals, This Providence, The SwellersProphet BarFebruary 10th, 2010 Better than: sitting at home worrying about the snow’s possible effect on traffic Thursday and Friday morning. Motion City Soundtrack played–as expected–to a packed crowd in the big room of the Prophet Bar last night–and they didn’t…
Your daily dose of national music news for Thursday, February 11, 2010…John Mayer claims his penis is a “white supremacist” and used the N-word all in one interview. Oh that crazy John Mayer. What a goof ball!Warner Music will stop licensing music to streaming internet services because it’s bad for…
Over at the NX35 blog, the March 11-14 festival’s organizers has started rolling out the nightly schedules and venue homes for each of its performers. Already, the site’s posted its schedules for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Gotta figure Sunday’s right around the corner, so keep checking back there for…
