Tyler Church
Audio By Carbonatix
Shaquille O’Neal, better known in the bass world as DJ Diesel or Dubstep Dad, just announced a four-stop Texas Tour, and the promo art alone deserves a spot in a museum: Shaq in a cowboy hat, swinging a lasso over his head, straddling a tiny wooden hobby horse like it owes him money. The man is 7-foot-1. The horse looks to be roughly the size of his forearm. It’s perfect.
The Big Aristotle kept the caption simple: “I usually come to Texas once a year for my festival [Shaq’s Bass All-Stars in Fort Worth]… but this year we’re mixing it up and doing a full Texas takeover. See you in September…”
Here’s where the bass drops:
- Thursday, Sept. 17: El Paso at 11:11
- Friday, Sept. 18: San Antonio at 1902
- Saturday, Sept. 19: Houston at Ductwork
- Sunday, Sept. 20: Dallas at SILO
For Shaq, this tour is less a visit and more a return to familiar ground. He grew up in San Antonio, attending Robert G. Cole High School, where he led the team to a preposterous 68-1 record over two years and the 1989 state championship. These days he owns property in the D-FW area, hosts his festival and has a handful of Big Chicken locations planted across the state. He’s gone country, and we’re here for it.
And about that hobby horse — Shaq has always understood the greatest flex is being in on the joke. Long before his ‘90s genie movie “Kazaam” (which, honestly, holds up better than you remember), he was rapping, mugging for cameras and letting the “Inside the NBA” crew roast him nightly. He roasts himself on his own podcast. A man this comfortable being the punchline has clearly made peace with everything, and it makes him impossible not to root for regardless of the endeavor. So, yes, we at the Observer will likely be catching him in Dallas as he brings the bass, the light show and (hopefully) the tiny horse.
Tickets for Shaq’s show at SILO go on sale Wednesday, July 15 at 11 a.m.
