For all the losers like me who are not going to the Death Star in Arlington to catch U2 and Muse tonight (or, for that matter, either the Alice Cooper show at the Palladium or the Maxwell/Common show at the AAC), there are a few out-of-town artists who dare show their faces in our area the same night as Bono and crew.
One of them is Denver's Death Hickey Blues, which stops by Poor David's Pub this evening. Formed in early 2008 as a collaborative side project for guitarists Samuel Pritchett and Nasir Malik, the band has gone through several incarnations before settling on its current format as a quintet. With a variety of different players, the band has hopped from genre to genre with an uncommon ease, but the current sound features stronger alternative-rock, pop and Americana influences. Currently, the group is putting together its first full-length album, expected in the spring of 2010. Both the single "The Rain is Gone" and the Raleigh St. EP are available on itunes.
On the Fort Worth side of town is La Dispute, a five-piece band from Grand Rapids, Michigan. This acts hits 1919 Hemphill this evening. La Dispute's first full-length album, Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair, is a screaming mess of a record, perfectly suited for any disaffected Cowtown teen.
So, it seems, there is life outside of U2. A least a little.