Happy Halloween, ya freaks! Our favorite holiday is officially here, and boy are there a lot of different ways to celebrate this year. Throw on your costume tonight and catch a free copy of the latest Track Meet DJ Crew compilation, one of the best local rap bills of the year, or Swamp Dogg at the Kessler. Either way, stay safe in these streets, and for the love of god, no black face.
After a day of rest, get ready to hit the town again this weekend for another ridiculous amount of music festivals all taking place at once. We're excited to host our 25th Annual Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase this Saturday, and hope that you'll join us for a night of celebrating this city's rich and colorful music scene.
Bobby Patterson and Swamp Dogg Thursday, October 31, at the Kessler Theatre The Kessler's eclectic and wonderful programming continues with a peach of a Halloween show in the form of two old-timers, Swamp Dogg and Bobby Patterson. While Swamp Dogg, or Jerry Williams to his mom, plays some of the best soul music to never crack the mainstream, Bobby Patterson is a rollin' good time, a man who once spent five minutes telling me and a few hundred others how, before rap, he invented "talkin' in time" before freestyling for a while. His music is the best kind of '70s R&B, and you're guaranteed to leave smiling. Gavin Cleaver
The Golden Age Halloween Party Thursday, October 31 at 141 Glass St. Boasting one of the most comprehensive and compelling local hip hop lineups of the year, The Golden Age Halloween Party is the place to be this holiday. The bill features Tunk, -topic & Team From Nowhere, Buffalo Black, AZ, Tony Vice, Jenny Robinson, Bobby Sessions, Lord Byron, Taylor Effin Cleveland, and DJ D. Teknics. Ladies in costume get in free before 10pm. Vanessa Quilantan
Track Meet 02 Release Party Thursday, October 31 at The Crown and Harp In honor of their second compilation release, Track Meet DJ Crew is hitting The Crown and Harp with #FEELINGS labelmates, Ben Aqua and Supraman. Free physical copies of Track Meet 02 will be on hand, and it's free. This one is a no-brainer. VQ
The Fall Punkstravaganza Friday, November 1, at the Double-wide It may have been a while since you kicked in some heads with your freshly polished pair of Doc Martens, but you're never too old to enjoy the sheer majesty of watching a room full of youths and the young in spirit thrash each other to the wall with the raucous, rebellious noise of the punk music scene as the soundtrack. The Double-Wide will give you the chance to do just that by throwing a whole bunch of local punk music acts at you during its upcoming Fall Punkstravaganza. The lineup includes Darlington, The Faps and Responsible Johnny. Danny Gallagher
Doublewide's 10 Year Anniversary Party Saturday, November 2 at Doublewide To commemorate a decade of business, one of Dallas' most treasured dive bars is doing it big. The House Harkonnen, The Roomsounds, Dead Flowers, The Hazardous Dukes, PLISKIN, and ZHORA will share the bill and honor the occasion along with a secret surprise headliner. Happy birthday, Doublewide! VQ
Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Galactic Saturday, November 2, at the Granada Theater Established way back in 1977, New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band has been a staple on Bourbon Street ever since. Led by trumpeter Gregory Davis, the band has released more than 15 albums and has been featured on recordings by Elvis Costello, Joe Henry, Modest Mouse and Widespread Panic. The eclectic list of artists shows the uniqueness of the band. Eschewing the obvious sounds associated with New Orleans and even those associated with a brass band, this sometime seven-piece goes in all sorts of interesting directions whenever the feeling strikes. The move away from the expected influences has produced popular inroads that have allowed the Dirty Dozen Brass Band to tour and record often. It's a win for all involved, as music this joyous should never be restrained to one place. Adding to the fun is Galactic, another funky outfit hailing from New Orleans. Darryl Smyers North Oak Cliff Music Festival Saturday, November 2, at Lake Cliff Park The Dallas area hardly needs a special occasion to host the almost-adopted musical son Bob Schneider. Put the uber-talented Austinite in just about any room in town and that locale will be pretty happening. But this year's North Oak Cliff Music Festival is much more than that. With a stellar lineup including local talent (the about-to-be-huger-than-huge Seryn from Denton) and revered regional artists (Ruthie Foster, Ian Moore), the second year of this shindig makes one think the fest will continue to be around for many more installments. As with the massive weekend-long festivals such as Bonnaroo and ACL, the intrigue of the lineup typically lies in the early to middle part of the day. In this festival's first half, one will see a slimmed-down Band of Heathens, newly engaged Jason Eady (arguably this state's most underrated songwriter) and the rightfully buzzed-about Tennessee roots act The Black Lillies. And if any Schneider show is a party, then a festival featuring an early dose of The Relatives' locally sourced gospel-funk will elevate the day from lawn-chair affair into a psychedelic revival, providing blessings for the rest of the fest. Kelly Dearmore
The Polyphonic Spree does Rocky Horror Saturday, November 2, at Lakewood Theater The first annual Halloween Hootenanny happens this Saturday, on the second day of November, which is obviously not Halloween. But the spooky season can always be a few days longer, and most of us will still be buzzing from sugar highs or breathing in the fumes of latex masks. So why not get thrilled, filled and fulfilled with the Polyphonic Spree as they perform numbers from the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Luke Darby
Rock Lottery Saturday, November 2, at Dan's Silverleaf, Denton Good/Bad Art Collective's Rock Lottery is a tradition that has spread from Denton across the globe, and this year's 12th installment, back in the little D where it all began, is one of the most unusual yet. For the uninitiated: Twenty-five musicians are thrown into a hat from which randomly constructed bands are pulled. They have the day to prepare a set and then -- voila! -- a showcase ensues. Some of the personalities on this year's bill are big ones, including Dan Dockrill from Warren Jackson Hearne & Le Leek Electronique, Burton Lee from Eleven Hundred Springs and D Magazine music writer Chris Mosley. Oh, and members of the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm and Blue Drumline. Dream up your own strange lineups by staring at the full list of participants on the Rock Lottery Facebook page. KM
25th Annual Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase Saturday, November 2 in Deep Ellum This year, we celebrate 25 years of the Dallas Observer Music Awards. Saturday night, we bring over 50 of our nominees to eight different stages across Deep Ellum to show their stuff. For a multi-genre cross-section of the Dallas music scene's best and brightest, look no further.VQ
Dallas Observer Music Awards Ceremony Tuesday, November 5, at House of Blues The DOMA Ceremony should be a spectacle. Your MC for the night is comedian Paul Varghese. The house band is The Cannabanoids -- they'll play a solo set and then they've got a few special guests planned: rapper Tunk, rock band Somebody's Darling and guitar hero Ronnie Heart. And your headliner is The Polyphonic Spree. KM
CULTS Wednesday, November 6, at Trees We'll stop talking about CULTS in terms of their song "Go Outside" when it stops being so perfect. The New York duo has plenty of go in their short catalogue, but nothing quite as ebullient as the song that made them famous. KM