D Nuts || December 26, 2006

Usually, contest news around town ranks along the likes of "up-and-coming teenage so-and-so wins Richardson's Rising Suburban Star Award," so we're happy to report a local contest winner with a prize actually worth getting jealous over. Radiant has won a Pontiac-sponsored contest to perform during this year's Jimmy Kimmel Live New Year's Eve. You wouldn't know it yet otherwise; the contest site, countdownto1.com, hasn't announced the winner as of press time, but drummer Daniel Hopkins is happy to allege the victory.


Radiant (...old, outdated photo, but perhaps the guys will take a new one after the Kimmel gig?)

"levi and jesse were watching jimmy kimmel one night, saw the advert and decided to sign up," he writes via e-mail. "they failed to tell anyone else, so you can imagine the state of shock and bewilderment i was in when a month later i received a phone call saying we were the winners. it took me about 5 minutes to figure out exactly what it was that we won."

The thing they've won, exactly, is national airtime on the ABC Times Square stage to perform the song "That Girl" from We Hope You Win, before ball-droppin' performances by Kasabian and My Chemical Romance. Hopkins couldn't confirm much else, including the exact time of the performance, so we hope he pops on here when he has more info to either e-mail us or just comment on the thread with further details.

Before posting this story, we flipped through the contest's rules to see if the guys won a car or anything. They didn't, but they are subject to this interesting tidbit: "As a result of weather, production and/or technical requirements, Sponsors in their sole discretion may elect to use the songs recorded at the pre-performance recording session for the New Year's Eve performance, with the Grand Prize Winner playing 'live to track' (i.e. the recorded music will be to track, but the vocals will be live)." We didn't ask the band about that since we're out of town, but we can imagine that such a decision is out of the band's hands and to be determined the night of the show. At any rate, here's to hoping Daniel isn't forced to air-drum. -SM

Merry || December 25, 2006

We're on vacation (for the most part) until January 2nd. But that doesn't mean we can't banter about local music while away...after all, two local artists--both of whom are on Idol Records--put out Christmas singles this year, so throw these songs on your stereo between hipster spins of Sufjan's X-mas albums and the classic (Idol Records-released, of course) Electric Ornaments compilation. Until someone else ponies up, Erv Karwelis will continue to be Dallas' Santa...thanks for the stuffers, bands! -SM

"Christmas Time" - click HERE to listen at Black Tie Dynasty's MySpace page
"You Know It's Christmas" - click HERE to listen at PPT's MySpace page

Tonight, Tomorrow || December 22, 2006

Tonight: Double Wide
Chad Stockslager and Keith Killoren play a stripped-down take on their Budapest One catalog tonight, and El Gato's John Vineyard opens with his own stripped-down solo affair.

Tomorrow: Club Dada
Callithump Christmas; bunch of bands we like and talk about way too frequently perform together, so get yourself some Naptime Shake, Cartright, Tame...Tame & Quiet and Happy Bullets (among others).

OR

The Cavern
Rose County Fair is another band we like and talk about way too frequently, but they don't perform with a bunch of other good bands at their Saturday night gig...just two we've never seen live before. First act Moonlight Mile sounds tolerable on their MySpace page...Thief, on the other hand, sounds like how it might feel to jab a ponytail into a urethra. Go somewhere else from 11pm-midnight.

More stuff around town than those shows? Sure. weshotjr.com has blurbs on other shows. Us, we gotta run, but before we go, you might wanna check out the haps at Metrognome Collective...a relatively dire situation brought to our attention by the RSS feed reading maniacs at TexasGigs.com. -SM

Uncle Sam || December 20, 2006

If you're wondering why DdHQ has been slow to post its year-end features, take a look at the reason. Little asshole. (And please note that the headline says "UNCLE," not "FATHER." Just so our readership doesn't get confused...........ladies.)

Local musicians' picks for best record of the year are now posted, just underneath our own year-end local album selections on the left sidebar. Singles from the region will receive love later in the week, as will our picks for national records that deserve a second listen (read: the ones that aren't necessarily on every other year-end list on the Internet). Until then, please use the comments thread and share your 2006 picks from the DdFW area. -SM

What You Missed || December 18, 2006

Slick Rick in Dallas video clip, Friday, December 15 (sound quality's suspect, but the bling is hard to miss)

More to come later today. Year-end stuff? Perhaps. -SM

How'd I Miss This? || December 15, 2006

Shapes and Sizes perform at the Cavern tonight...one of my faaaaavorite bands of 2006. Thanks to Gorilla Vs. Bear for reminding me. I'm scared about how under-attended this show will almost certainly be, as the local papers missed it, so I do hope a few of you take a chance and sashay toward the Cavern at 11 p.m. this evening. I'm guaranteeing a dandy of a show. -SM

D Nuts || December 15, 2006

Deep Ellum Live is alive again?

For tonight, at least, when legendary New York rapper Slick Rick rolls through town tonight at the long-vacated venue at the far end of Deep Ellum. We received a flyer for the show last week and have spent the past seven days trying to track down anybody who operates the club...but, of course, nobody does, as the venue isn't really alive. No true management or long-term lease tenant exists; it's just a slab of concrete owned by a realtor group.

The only thing attached to the show, really, is a promotional company we'd never heard of, Fundamental 1s, but their site is sloppy and only has two shows scheduled: the Slick Rick gigs (one in Dallas, one in Austin). So is some ramshackle bunch of guys busting the windows at DEL and partying until the cops show?


MYK

Turns out things are more organized than we'd suspected, and the culprit behind F1s is none other than local rapper MYK, better known to a few of you as Jesus Chronic and better known to most everyone else as "who the fuck?"

"[I haven't been up to] very much," MYK says about his sparse music career. "I really hadn't cared to [gig], just cuz of the shape of the industry, and my real life is not that bad, so I wasn't really motivated."

MYK's performing name, Jesus Chronic, impressed the hell out of us earlier this year at an appearance at the city's biggest monthly local hip-hop showcase, Final Friday, and we were surprised to learn just how deeply rooted the man is in the local scene, complete with connections to Erykah Badu and more crews than an aircraft carrier. So we're glad to know that 1) he opens for Slick Rick tonight, 2) he has a Jesus Chronic album set for release this Spring and 3) he has aspirations to throw even more hip-hop shows at DEL.

"We're trying to acquire the building," MYK says. "There's nothing there, know what I'm sayin? Deep Ellum Live, those cats, that entity, is no more. It's been about three years. Basically, for the last three years, it's been Halloween parties for the realtor group that owns a lot of Deep Ellum."

That realtor group, Westdale Asset Management, is leasing the space to F1s for the night (teaching us that one-day leases actually do exist), but MYK has plans for more at the venue. "We have some stuff lined up for 2007. One is officially signed in, but until we lock the order of how exactly we're gonna do it, I don't wanna leak anything." The relationship is there, as is the insurance policy, to resume shows whenever F1s book 'em, and he has plans for rock shows in addition to hip-hop gigs, though he's not shy about his priorities.

"Dallas is a fickle market, especially with hip-hop and the presentations of hip-hop that we've had in the last couple of years. It seems like nobody has stepped up to the plate; we've had a few local shows here and there, some real underground stuff, but no one has put forth any money. It just seems like there should be more options for such a large city. More mid-range venues...think about it. There's Gypsy, and that's basically the only game in town."

The aspiration to buy the building outright, of course, is insane--property values in Deep Ellum are sky-high, and we told MYK that he'll need to sell a bathtub full of kidneys to afford a long-term lease, let alone the building. And there's no telling how the show will do tonight; with ticket prices between $22-$45 and bad receptions for big-name hip-hop club shows in the past (Chingy cancelled his last Dallas gig outright upon seeing the low attendance), the show isn't a guarantee. But Chingy is no Slick fucking Rick (who, uh, never tours), and from our experience, MYK is no slouch about the face of local or national hip-hop. We're looking forward to tonight's show, also featuring Headkrack and Money Waters, and hope that the mainstream hip-hop community shows up for a potentially huge party.

Tickets are available at FrontGateTickets.com, though you can probably safely dodge the service charge and buy at the door.

[NOTE: We're skipping our concert preview blurb tonight, as this is We Shot JR's night to shine. His curated noise-rock gig at the Art Prostitute is a short walk away from Deep Ellum Live, so imitate us and check both out this evening.] -SM

Stuff Tonight || December 14, 2006

As of right now, Sean Kirkpatrick is better known as the pianist from the pAper chAse. Will that change with the release of his solo debut album next year? For a sneak peek at the answer to that question (you know, something along the lines of "why, yes"), listen to the four songs he posted just hours ago at his MySpace page, or just see him wring the blood out of his white and black keys at his Club Dada residency gig at 8 p.m. tonight.

Sean's got some competition for the solo songwriter crown next year, though, as Johnny Lloyd Rollins' Let's Be Poor Together is a perplexing disc, filled as much with average radio fare as it is with white-hot, Sun Records-era Americana. We're still not yet sure which side wins out, so we're off to Good Records this evening for his free 7 p.m. show between the multi-colored CD racks. Nothing like a free show to sway our opinion, right? -SM

D Nuts || December 12, 2006

This video has verrrry little to do with the Dallas area, but since we've yet to see a better implementation of the hit song by Dallas' Drowning Pool, we couldn't help but post it. Click the image to open the video link, since apparently this guy doesn't like embedding (or if that doesn't work, click here), and watch as freak-out pastor Benny Hinn lets the bodies hit the floor. -SM

What You Missed || December 11, 2006

Will Johnson at Rubber Gloves

We shot a few videos at concerts this weekend, but only one had sound quality tolerable enough to publicly unleash. Thank goodness that we nabbed this song, at least, because it's a cool take on Fort Recovery's version (the band's 2006 album that we will probably mention at some point later this week...hint, hint). Watch it at the link below, and if you want better concert clips, well, hope that Santa leaves a camcorder under our tree this year. -SM

"In Such Crooked Time" by Centro-matic

Three Days To Rise || December 7-9, 2006

Busy three days ahead. Lots of text to dig through below. -SM

THURSDAY

Mount Eerie's Phil Elverum
Metrognome Collective annnd Rubber Gloves: Mount Eerie / Adrian Orange with Child Slave Rebellion
Get to Fort Worth's Metrognome by 5:30 p.m. (roughly an hour from when this post goes up) for the first taste of Phil Elverum (The Microphones), and barrel down to Denton by about 10 p.m. for the second taste of the minimalist K Records singer/songwriter. Last time we saw Mount Eerie, Elverum was by himself and forced the Gloves to turn all of its lights off for his set, so if that interests you, expect more of the same tonight. Twice.

Club Dada: BocaTinta Birthday Bash
Anything that features Astronautalis garners an automatic Dd recommendation, and if you haven't seen the SMU alum storm a stage with more charisma than just about any MC in the nation, then you're missing out. Fortunately, the rest of the lineup is intriguing, starting with pAper chAse keyboardist Sean Kirkpatrick with his early residency slot at 8 p.m. He's that rare solo piano-driven songwriter who can actually match an intriguing piano line to a great song, so do try to arrive early. Though make sure to get a stretch break between the opener and Astro's closing set, as one busy and diverse lineup strolls through between them, including a few acts we've never seen live before (Will E. Lee, I Heart Trouble), one we love (Shibboleth) and one whose new music album disappoints compared to his local stand-up routines (Dave Little). Hey--even Eddie Murphy had a tough time, man. 15% of proceeds for this birthday show go to Bryan's House...golly, it's all charity this December, ain't it?

Double Wide: Marcus Striplin (of Pleasant Grove) / Smile, Smile
If Dada wasn't so busy, I'd be at this Zac Crain benefit, but since it is, I'm not. Sorry, Zac.

FRIDAY

Dr. Dog (photo: Ryan Collerd)
Good Records: Dr. Dog (free, 4 p.m.)
Granada Theater: Black Keys, Dr. Dog ($15-$20, 8 p.m.)
We Shot J.R. has a nice Q&A with one of the Black Keys online right now, so we'll focus on the other half of this touring combo, Dr. Dog. Back in '05, we caught these goofy Philly bastards at Emo's during a SXSW day party and were astonished at how well white boys could convert the Motown spirit into rock music worth dancing to again. Well, we're still astonished, and we'll be front-and-center at the quintet's free Good Records in-store performance, if not the Granada show afterward as well. Figure out a way to leave work early on Friday and stand with us between the multi-colored CD racks...you won't regret it. (Unless, of course, we forget to shower again. In which case, just stand a few feet away.)

Double Wide: The Golden Falcons / Rose County Fair / White Denim
Assumedly, the Golden Falcons will finally have their full, normal lineup again, assuming that their amazing, balls-out guitarist Joshua Weber is in town from graduate school, but even the Falcons' brand of mega-rock isn't the big reason to show up. Nor is Austin's White Denim, though that's close, as they landed on our top three concerts of the year with what they did to us at their last Dada blues-punk freakout explosion and by themselves make this gig rival the Keys/Dog show across town. But this show's biggest selling point, actually, is Rose County Fair, the John Pedigo-led country-rock four-piece that has very quietly become one of the best things to happen to Dallas since big hair. They'll have free CD copies of their newest studio tracks on hand, available for sampling before their debut full-length hits next year, so pick you up one, won'tcha?

Chocktaw Casino Resort (Durant, OK): Loretta Lynn
Remember when Loretta cancelled her last appearance at Billy Bob's? We haven't heard about that show being rescheduled in the Dallas area, so this may be your last chance to drive less than an hour and a half to see her. Jack White, of course, will be nowhere near Oklahoma during this gig. Don't let that sway you.

Wreck Room: The Drams
Stuck in Fort Worth? Sad that Dd isn't known as DdFW? Then bitch about us at the Wreck Room while the Drams barrel over your corpse with Brent Best's best songwriting since Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today. Can't vouch for the openers since we ain't seen 'em, but oh, how we love the band name The Shut-Up Shop (who, by the way, have their entire album available for free at that MySpace page, so that's somethin).

SATURDAY

Hailey's: A Spune Christmas 2006 ($12, 5:30 p.m.)
Again, Spune Productions rolls out yet another overlong show full of great local artists, breaking our general "no more than five bands per event" rule. But of course, when it's this solid of a lineup, we have trouble making too much of a fuss, because other than The Marked Men, none of the local bands (click here for further links to every act) should be missed. Record Hop will be on a touring hiatus after this one, while Pleasant Grove insists that they'll have at least one never-before-heard song during their set, so there's some unique stuff if that helps.

Rubber Gloves: Centro-matic / The Drams
Ooooh, cross-town big-show rivalry! Centro-matic returns to its hometown after an east coast tour last month (and before a southern tour starting next week); we'll be sure to ask lead singer Will Johnson if rumors of a Redo The Stacks 10th Anniversary concert/re-release will come to life in March '07.

Barley House: I Love Math / Handclaps & Harmonies
Your best bet if you can't get out to Denton on Saturday. Is what we're hearing about recent Barley House robberies true? If so, watch your stuff. If not, well, watch your stuff anyway. We don't trust any of the underage frat boys that call the House home these days.

D Nuts || December 7, 2006

Bad news, Red Monroe and John Dufilho...the official Grammy nominations list was released today and, in spite of your shot at the top five, you didn't reach it. Guess you'll have to wait until Dd's forthcoming year-end spectacular for your consolation prizes, huh? -SM

Bucks To Spare? || December 7, 2006

Then ignore that Amazon Wish List to the left (only for a moment, though) and PayPal a few bucks to the folks at Secret HQ, the Denton art/music DIY space that faces a personal blackout by the end of, uh, today. Thankfully, their requests for electric bill cash come with a bonus offer:

"If you donate today, we'll give you a FREE Denton Cohesion Holiday CD featuring both the profane and sacred sounds of jetscreamer, shiny around the edges, pinebox serenade and PLENTY of others..."

Interested? Call 940-383-1400 or click this SHQ PayPal button:

[UPDATE: The place has enough money now, see below. But I suppose they'll still trade cash for the disc.]

That CD, packed with some of Denton's finest, sounds much better than a crappy PBS mug. Truthfully, if that offer wasn't included, we wouldn't have reposted the money request--even with some very solid concerts in the pipeline, including our new fave local band Tre Orsi's rare gig in January.

Heartless? Blame our relatively conservative upbringing, but even though the appeals for cash are asking fans to help keep SHQ's concerts free, the DIY space was started as an office space as much as it was a public house of music. Denton musicians Scott Porter (Record Hop), Cody Robinson (Medicine Window) and Rob Black (Birth to Burial) tried to pitch the thing as a sensible venture (and a home for their TXMF Records operations) back when we wrote about it for the Observer earlier this year: "That's the beauty of it--we all have day jobs, so our success doesn't hinge on these shows, not on people buying records," Porter says. "We don't want to hang our hopes on people spending money because nobody's got any fucking money."

Add SHQ to that list of nobodies. Ultimately, this public appeal is a last-ditch effort to delay the realities of owning a business space and managing its every financial angle. The DIY spirit is great, and SHQ has served it well with movie showings and a diverse lineup of early-evening concerts, but without a trust fund, a liquor license or some other stable well of cash, that spirit doesn't keep the electric company at bay. Unless SHQ figures out a way to get cash flowing through its doors, expect a sad MySpace announcement around, say, March, which we'll dutifully repost. -SM

UPDATE: Here's a snippet from SHQ's response that is making the rounds, which also indicates that the space has enough regular cash flow thanks to office tenants paying rent:

"It has been a hard month. Some of our partners split on us, which we knew was inevitable. But now, those spots are filled by people that have been watching our "thing" and believe in the concept and might be better able to utilize the opportunity. We have never been flat out of funds, but after the tenant switching and such, money got a little weird...

"Now that we have the new blood, we're better off than ever and will more than likely never need to beg again. We don't want to, and generally we don't need to. SOOOO... Your money is not financing our hobby. It is not paying the rent so we don't have to. The model of operations is sound. This was just a rough spot. What your money did was pay an electric bill that snuck up on us after Thanksgiving. And we thank you. By keeping the power on, we get to not cancel this weekends shows. And you have GOT to look at our calendar, because it's as good as it's ever been."

Pega-whew || December 6, 2006

Back at our Dallas Observer tenure, we had access to the paper's comprehensive, private concert database, and thank Vishnu. With one click, every North Texas gig on a given day/week/month could be found on a single page. No obtrusive ads, no long page loads, no extra clicks...nothing but gigs on one big, convenient list.

This was swell, because we wouldn't be caught dead bothering with the abomination that Village Voice Media's corporate offices called a Web site when they "overhauled" the public pages at its syndicate of papers earlier this year. Truly, when we had to search for live music info anywhere other than the Observer office, we knew where to log on: TexasGigs.com, with its all-on-one-page, mega-simple concert database that made switching from day to day quick and painless. Upgrades like that made the site a shoo-in for its Best Music Blog win at the Observer Music Awards this year.

Unfortunately, that convenience has been choked to death this week, now that TexasGigs.com has finally transformed into the larger beast that is Pegasus News. As the site has expanded to include a zillion more articles about news, sports and general entertainment, the search has as well, which isn't terrible at first glance--art gallery info and other interesting local events are popping up on the calendar now, and not everybody in Dallas is as concert-crazed as the Dd staff (weird, but whatever).

But the search function now spreads its results on multiple pages, and considering that the thing lists roughly 5,000,000 music events a night, many of which are throwaways like the "Funk 'N Blues Evolution Jam" at the Mardi Gras Cafe (uh?), this is a big pain when trying to keep track of events on a given night. Expect to keep five browser windows open if you want to sort through this coming Friday's musical goings-on, for example.

Mostly, we're bitching because it used to be so easy to zip through dozens of regional clubs in one fell swoop. Open the TexasGigs calendar search, hit control+F on the keyboard, search for keywords like "cavern," "gypsy" and "ridglea," be on our way. Maybe we were spoiled, and the site still has a pretty good database, but we still hate to see Pegasus News fall victim to a greedy "let's get more pageclicks" scheme that already ruined the Observer site. But we assume bitching won't change a thing over at Pegasus...Perhaps it's time to get our crap together, hire more interns and start a new section modeled after http://www.showlistaustin.com, one of the simplest and finest concert calendars in any American city. Whaddya think, folks? -SM

UPDATE, 1:05 p.m.: Well, that was a waste of a tirade. We just received a response from Pegasus News President Mike Orren via e-mail, who confirms that they were working on that very problem at the time that I wrote my rant, which has now been fixed! "Never assume that bitching won't change a thing at Pegasus. We listen to and answer every user complaint. Even from people who jump off with an axe to grind without the courtesy of asking a few basic questions first." Duly noted, but what axe? Like we said, we're just greedy concert bastards, nothing more, and apparently, TexasGigs isn't being greedy about pageclicks after all, so I guess they take the moral high road? Have fun up there.

The question now is whether the Dallas Observer ever plans on catching up. Guys?

What You Missed (Pt. 2) || December 5, 2006

Attached are two video clips from Cartright's raucous CD release show on Saturday night. Be warned: The brightness on both makes these damn near unwatchable in their current state. Once you adjust the brightness setting on Windows Media Player (pick either the "view" or "enhancements" menus to find the "video settings" bit), they're totally worth your time, even in spite of some questionable sound quality. (Sorry, Mac users.) -SM

"The Series"
(or click here if you'd rather watch the dark version anyway)

Unreleased Song
(again, click here if you don't wanna hassle)

What You Missed (Pt. 1) || December 4, 2006

Review and video clips from last night's Picnic Fire Benefit are available at the top-left link, so do check those out. Some thank you's are in order, since I depended on the kindness of more than a few people to host the affair.

Thanks to: Tahiti for being the organizational mastermind (when he wasn't chattin' with ladies, anyway); Shanghai 5 and EZ Eddie D for manning the BBQ and buying/cooking food for everyone; the Double Wide and its staff for allowing the benefit through their doors; B Smoove and Chris X for manning turntables throughout the night; every one of the acts who performed; every person who contributed to the nearly $1,500 that was donated at the venue; Dream Fund for ponying up an additional $1,000; that dude who freestyled with me while we were killing time; Jose Cuervo; Chee-tos.

Oh, right--Pt. 2 of "What You Missed" will be uploaded tomorrow. Can anyone say "best folk-rock band in town"? You will in less than 24 hours. -SM

Three Days to Rise || December 1-3, 2006

FRIDAY

FunFunFun Fest in Austin: This just kicked off minutes ago, so if you're interested in a cold-as-[expletive] outdoor concert with some national acts, drive three hours south to Waterloo Park. The only band we're really tempted to drive down for is Memphis' Lucero, so we're staying put and grumbling about said band's lack of Dallas gig on this tour. Still, the rest of FFFF's lineup ain't shabby, especially if you haven't seen most of those acts in the past year (and we have...brag!).

Spitfire Tumbleweeds

Longhorn Ballroom: Art Conspiracy II ($10)
Local artists (150, if you're askin') whip up a bunch of one-of-a-kind 18"x18" paintings in 24 hours, then display and auction 'em with five local bands and a few DJs playing a few steps away. Based on how much fun we had at last year's, we know the auction/concert combo is a good way to entertain yourself if a particular band doesn't tickle your art fancy. Will Spitfire Tumbleweeds debut any new songs tonight? We have a strange hunch.......

SATURDAY

Sons of Hermann Hall: Reunion Tower Revue ($...not sure)
You want one-of-a-kind? You got it. Bobby Patterson steps out of his KKDA 730 AM radio booth for a rare concert, and anybody who wants to enjoy a soul legend on stage (and seeing Al Green two years ago in Austin does not count cuz the man needs to go back to bed) should park their kiesters at this one. The Nourallah Alliance (as we've dubbed the Salim Nourallah / Sorta / Peter Schmidt / Shibboleth / Chris Holt bands that share a similar 30-something local music mentality and play together frequently) will be out in full force for this one as well, apparently performing parlor style and switching members to perform various songs from Dallas' musical history. This is the stuff Robert Wilonsky dreams are made of, and we imagine 4,000 "Zac Crain For Mayor" banners will be posted as well.

Rubber Gloves: Cartright CD release ($5)
From the buzz spreading on other local media blogs, we have a sinking feeling that the Sons show will attract more than a few douchebags who lack concert etiquette, and quite frankly, that crap drives us nuts. If you're going to talk while the band's playing, at least go to the back of the crowd, right? And quit making fun of the lead singer. I didn't pay to hear you bitch about what your tone-deaf ass thinks is off-key.
...sorry about the slip there. Won't go into first-person again.
So we're gonna give the slight edge to Cartright this time, a five piece that we would declare the best local band in town if they were still local. Currently Austinites (better than Brooklyn, at least), the former Denton band has upgraded its already awe-inspiring, ramshackle live show with a superior new lead guitarist and much-improved drumwork, not to mention a few new epics that won't be found on the band's CD. Of course, the songs that are on A Tall Tale Comes Of Age are magnificent boot-stomping rockers, so be sure to pick up a copy. Red Monroe and George Neal open; the former is vying for Cartright's "best live band in town" title, as we've stated many a time, while the latter's legacy in Little Grizzly is the kind that Cartright owes much of its character to, so the bill is fitting.

SUNDAY



Double Wide: Picnic Fire Benefit ($10)
Sam Machkovech will host this benefit to raise money for PPT producer Picnic, whose possessions went up in flames two weeks ago after a fire broke out at his Plano apartment complex. The local hip-hop community has come out in droves for this, as has Waco up-and-coming troupe Strange Fruit Project; their performance alone is reason to show up, since this old-school trio hasn't performed in Dallas in many moons. But there's more, of course, from neo-soul princess Thesis to Observer hip-hop winner Steve Austin to PPT rap-battle rivals Lazer to even Black Tie Dynasty, along with many other acts. Most of the hip-hop sets are limited to seven minutes a pop, which we're pretty sure will work out as a good thing. Music kicks off at 8 p.m. so that everyone can get home early enough for work the next morning. Sam doesn't really host things that often, so do come out and throw crap at him while he's on the stage. -SM