Cure for Paranoia’s victory lap show at Double Wide was one for the books

If you’ve been paying even half attention to the Dallas music scene over the last decade and some change, you’ve heard Cure for Paranoia. Now, with the band’s Tiny Desk Contest win earlier this month, the rest of the world is also about to become aware of our homegrown hip-hop powerhouse. And fortunately for those soon-to-be new fans, they’re about to have the chance to experience the infectiousness of the group’s live shows like the one they played at Double Wide on Sunday night.

The show wasn’t just sold out — it was at maximum capacity, spilling out into the Double Wide patio by the time Cure for Paranoia hit the stage.

Dallas rock band Curl opened the evening with a high-energy set, blending pop and aggressive rock in a wholly unique way. Frontman Gunner Hardy’s panache combined with guitarist TJ Novak’s intricate solos primed the stage for the contagious energy that would only build throughout the night.

Primo Danger was up next, and lead singer Phillip Jackson started the set in the middle of the crowd, banging and dancing around a floor tom drum before launching himself onto the stage. The band’s sound has evolved from an almost Joy Division-esque goth feel to more indie-rock with highly frenetic energy. Although Primo Danger was firing on all cylinders, they are about to undergo lineup changes that could alter their sound once more, making the show’s inadvertent theme doubly threaded by the entrance into a new era.

While the crowd was behind both openers, this was Cure for Paranoia’s night. For those too young to have seen shows from area greats like Erykah Badu, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians or the Old 97’s on the streets of Deep Ellum prior to their breakouts, Sunday marked an equally triumphant moment for a new generation of Dallas music; it absolutely felt like Cure for Paranoia’s christening into notoriety far beyond Dallas.

The collective, which is anchored by a trio comprising prolific frontman Cameron McCloud, Jay Analog and Tomahawk Jonez, hit Double Wide’s very modest stage as a 10-piece. The lineup featured regular Cure for Paranoia band members like Kwinton, K.J. and Kierra Gray of We Them Grays, but guests arrived and jumped onstage for features throughout the night. The band started the set sans McCloud so he could make a grand entrance (well, as grand as Double Wide permits), and much like the title of their latest LP, they delivered a live work of art.

From the downbeat, the band was electric. There were longtime fans sharing a room with people who had only recently discovered Cure for Paranoia and were wise enough to catch them while they could, this intimately. McCloud greeted the crowd by saying, “…the whole point of a Cure for Paranoia show is to understand, ain’t nobody thinking about you. Amen? So with that being said, if you want to sing, if you want to dance, whatever — don’t worry about how you look to nobody else, because they just worry about hiding. Just be a little unbothered.”

This band itself is far from hiding, and Sunday night’s show not only gave them a boost on their way out to be discovered by the rest of the world, but it also spoke to how much of an impact Cure for Paranoia has had on Deep Ellum as a neighborhood, the local music scene as a community, and Dallas as a city.

The Double Wide show served as Cure for Paranoia’s last Dallas gig before they head off on a run of summer dates for the official Tiny Desk concert tour. If you missed it (and our condolences, truly), you’ll have a couple of other chances to see them here at home soon, including a set at the monthly ‘Til Midnight at the Nasher showcase on June 19 to headline the series’ Pride Block Party — don’t make the same mistake twice.