Good Friday: M.I.A., Theater Fire, Stumptone, I Love Math, Tapes ‘n Tapes

The Theater Fire

Kinda a busy weekend ’round these parts. Lots of good shows–especially local shows–happening around town. Here’s your weekend:

M.I.A., Holy Fuck
Friday, May 2, 8 p.m. at the Palladium

I wrote about M.I.A.’s coming to town in the paper version of DC9, so yes, I’ll be at this show. But I’ll also be there for Holy Fuck, the electronic act opening for Ms. Arulpragasam tonight. When they opened for the Fiery Furnaces and Super Furry Animals at the Granada back in February, their energetic sound stole the show from the headliners.

The Theater Fire, WS Burn
Friday, May 2, 7:30 p.m. at Bend Studios

Am I crazy, but have we not seen many Theater Fire gigs around of late? Well, this should be a good chance to see the western noir act (my words, not theirs) in an intimate setting.

Stumptone CD release shows
Friday, May 2, 8 p.m., at J&J’s Pizza in Denton; Saturday, May 3, 8 p.m. at Lola’s in Fort Worth

Everyone in the Observer offices (save for maybe one nameless former music editor) was pretty blown away by what we heard of the new Stumptone disc, Gravity Suddenly Released. Now here’s our first two chances to see these songs performed live. Need a push? OK, read our review and download the kickass “Halfforgotten” for free.

I Love Math, Happy Bullets, Buttercup
Saturday, May 3, 10 p.m. at Double-Wide

Looks like we got some bad info when we wrote this post, saying I Love Math has a new disc, but ain’t gonna tour through Dallas. Whoops! Turns out they are! This should be a real good show, too; it’s also the first time we’ve seen the Happy Bullets in a bit–this gig’s one of our first chances to see their newly revamped line-up.

Tapes ‘n Tapes
Saturday, May 3, 10 p.m. at Hailey’s in Denton; Sunday, May 4, 4 p.m. at Good Records

Yeah, you can go check out Tapes ‘n Tapes in Denton this weekend, as Merritt instructed you to do in the paper this week. Or you can check out their just-announced free in-store at Good Records at 4 p.m. on Sunday if you’re not willing to make the drive up I-35E. Me? I’m thinking I’ll be at the Double-Wide on Saturday, so you’ll see me at Good on Sunday. Either way, expect to be asked to participate in Relay for Life if you attend one of these shows; the TnT guys are using the tour for their new album Walk It Off as a way to recruit participants in the good cause. —Pete Freedman