Whether you're in the mood to bounce around with the shiny, happy people of The Polyphonic Spree, or get your eardrums blasted by The Melvins' dual drummers this week has a little bit of everything for Dallas music fans. Saturday is especially packed with options for your ear holes: Denton indie rock sweethearts The New Science Projects will bring a little bit of the little D to Oak Cliff, and Austin country guitar favorite, Monte Montgomery will bring the good ol' boys out to Granada.
Maybe you feel like something a little different, a little fun in the sun perhaps? The Design District Market this Saturday not only has a great live music lineup, but a luxurious dumpster pool for you to clock in as much more time in your swim suit as Summer 2013 will allow. So give Netflix a break this weekend (Orange Is The New Black is not going anywhere Ed. You haven't finished OITNB yet?) and get out there, there's plenty of good shows to be seen.
The Polyphonic Spree Friday, August 9, at Granada Theater In 2007, as part of the "MLS Represent" Campaign, Dallas darlings The Polyphonic Spree penned the theme song for FC Dallas, "H-O-O-P-S YES," in which a choir chimes in with the chorus, "Where in the world do you think you can go? There's no hiding from this Dallas, Texas, fate." The Polyphonic Spree certainly aren't hiding from their local beginnings, and a long and storied career has taken them all over the world, where they've brought fans of symphonic pop and campy productions together in harmony, so to speak. At what may be the biggest album release show in Dallas this year, The Polyphonic Spree will celebrate their newest release, Yes, It's True, at the Granada on Friday, in grand, symphonic and theatrical fashion. What else would you expect from Tim DeLaughter and his upbeat pop troupe, with its history of grandiose theatrical live performances and its first original album recording in six years? They've generated a fan base well beyond the Dallas city limits, but their hometown will be happy to celebrate. The charming folk stylings of Harper Simon and local favorites Telegraph Canyon open. Aaron Ortega
ronnie heart - real bad (live) from Ronnie Heart on Vimeo.
Design District Market Saturday, August 10, at Dallas Contemporary Jamie'll tell you all about the dumpster pool at this thing over on Mixmaster, our arts blog. We're in it for the bands here on DC9, and they are some of the most entertaining in Dallas (The Effinays), Denton (The Birds of Night) and Fort Worth (Ronnie Heart), respectively. KMNew Science Projects Saturday, August 10, at The Foundry Home to Josh Hammertimez's residency, the Foundry in Oak Cliff, run by the owners of Bolsa and Smoke, is one half amazing chicken restaurant and one half amazing patio and performance arena. Which sets up a set by Denton's New Science Projects, who are recently back in Dallas from a tour of our nation's nether regions. Part of Gutterth Records, the band describes its off-stage interests as "Winstar World Casino, cream cheese on hot dogs, German history, sexual exploration, Going Choctaw and MetCards." So it should be a strange and unsettling evening. Catch them at The Foundry at 8 p.m. Saturday, and be part of the refreshingly strange projects popping up around the Oak Cliff and Trinity Groves neighborhoods. Lee Escobedo
Eyes Wings and Many Other Things Saturday, August 10, at The Amsterdam Bar The gloomy guitars will be out in force Saturday in Deep Ellum -- mainstay Eyes Wings and Many Other Things headlines a bill that also features Austin's Technicolor Hearts, the surf demons of Spacebeach and relative newcomer Frauen, who I can tell you from experience kick plenty of ass. Also this is free, so buy merch and beers and things. Kiernan Maletsky The Melvins Saturday, August 10, at Trees The Melvins have been around much longer than you'd think. On this, their 30th anniversary tour, they swing through Trees with the accentuated line-that revitalized the band seven years ago. Absorbing the entire band Big Business into their line-up, the modified Melvins came out the other side with two drummers on one drum kit. These two drummers don't play two different drum parts, you understand. They just play the same thing at the same time, for double the noise. It's a system that sounds ridiculous in theory and yet live is the equivalent of a runaway freight train of rhythm crashing into the faces of the audience. Indeed, the Melvins live will crush your whole being. I wasn't even a huge fan until I saw them at Trees on their tour last year. I've never seen anything quite like the sheer primal force that Buzz, Dale and Big Business brought to bear. It wasn't fast, speedy, metal. It was a dark, sludgy, bludgeoning mess that was somehow invigorating, and which followed me around for the next few months, always in my head. While Buzz makes no guarantees over the setlist, it's more than worth your while to see this concert. One way or another, you won't forget it. Gavin Cleaver
Monte Montgomery Saturday, August 10, at the Granada Theater Billed as his birthday bash, Monte Montgomery's performance on Saturday is in fact the day before his actual day of birth. Small quibbling aside, it should still be one festive occasion. Originally from Alabama, Montgomery has been a fixture on the Austin music scene for ages and his guitar prowess has made him a sizable concert draw all over the country. Like many impressive guitarists, Montgomery is not a great songwriter. His main attraction is his string-bending acrobatics and in that area, Montgomery doesn't disappoint. However, his earnest vocals and pleasant, storytelling manner do lend his compositions a weight missing from folks like Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson. But on this particular evening, one night shy of his 47th birthday, expect another crowd full of professional and amateur guitar wankers ready for a steady dose of extremely fast-paced picking and grinning. Darryl Smyers
Bruno Mars Monday, August 12, at American Airlines Center Peter Gene Hernandez, aka Bruno Mars, broke onto the national scene in 2009 singing hooks on hits by B.o.B. and Travie McCoy, a rather huge breakthrough for an artist who had toiled away in L.A. for six years as a producer and a failed singer. Mars was able to turn these guest spots into a full-length, Doo Wops & Hooligans, and the hype machine was off and running. Mars was everywhere in 2011, popping up on every other track on Top 40 radio, every award ceremony and once on TMZ for a rather surprising arrest. Unorthodox Jukebox came out in late 2012, featuring built-in hype from his rather great turn on Saturday Night Live as both host and musical guest, and the hit single "Locked Out of Heaven" -- the most Sting-like pop song on the radio in decades. On Monday, Mars takes over the American Airlines Center on his Moonshine Jungle tour along with British songstress Ellie Goulding. Expect it to be the party of the (late) summer. Jaime-Paul Falcon
