Niggahlaws
Money Waters (Noir Sound) CD Review(14.November.2006)
Miller Time
Bosque Brown's uncertain future is clarified in an exclusive interview.
(10.November.2006)
Apply Yourselves
Independent music's Spring Break is fast approaching. Which Dallas bands will best represent at the (metaphorical) kegger?
(6.November.2006)
Mercy
Burden Brothers (Kirtland) CD Review...as a one-act play(2.November.2006)
Come and
See
Colin
Meloy wants you to put the dictionary down and get busy sweeping his
chimney. By Pepper Martin
(25.October.2006)
For
New Starts
Dd
pulls recent CDs and worthwhile bands back through the cracks. This
week: South San Gabriel.
(19.October.2006)
Intelligent
Design
The
evolution of Baboon into Dallas' best and loudest rock band took only
16 years, two tastes of major label stardom and a few horse heads.
(13.October.2006)
Attitude Solution
After nearly two decades of
frustration, local MCs Pikahsso and Tahiti finally exhale on PPT's Tres Monos In Love.
(4.October.2006)
A Memorial To The Tunnel
The roadblocks in front of Deep Ellum's entrance probably look familiar to local musicians. (28.Sept.2006)
The Short Version: Denton's Secret HQ (across the street from Dan's) has two really great showcases this weekend. If you've yet to visit, both Friday (Current Leaves / Red Monroe) and Saturday (100 Damned Guns / Brent Best) serve up some of the area's best, most accessible live acts for $4 and $3, respectively. BYOB, shows start around 8 p.m. As for the rest of the weekend...
FRIDAY
Granada Theater: Peeping Tom / Dan the Automator Peeping Tom is Mike Patton's best work in years. For all of his many bands' personality disorders, the man still has an incredible knack for twisted, catchy rock, levels above and beyond that of his days in Faith No More. You should strongly consider this one.
Dan's Silverleaf: The Bottle Rockets The location's perfect for a quick walk after Current Leaves' set, and it's a sensible segue as well, seeing as how Missouri's Bottle Rockets have instilled quite a Mellencamp/Thorogood whallop into their alt-country take for years now.
FYI, The Happy Bullets' 2-hour set tonight at Lee Harvey's has been cancelled. Rain shmrain.
SATURDAY Rubber Gloves: The Nouns Group Denton post-punk with equal parts industrial, mechanical grit and avant-jazz overtones; it's hard to tell from only two song samples on the site how well their violinist fits into the whole mess, but their samples still sound better than I expected. Two other equally young Denton bands open, Angry Businessmen and Christian! Teenage Runaway, but they sound like turds scraping against a snare drum. No thanks. Maximedia Studios: Saboteur A bit pricey at $10, but this all-ages local post-emo explosion is a shitload better than most of the teen-friendly stuff you'll find around Dallas this weekend. Click here for more.
Double Wide: The Great Tyrant I've yet to see Daron Beck's new band, the one that has drawn considerable raves from the JR posse, and I have a bad feeling I'll miss this show as well. The Laptop Deathmatch bunch will be on hand to perform non-competition laptop-beats sets as well, along with Mwanza Dover's 412th band, War Wizards.
The Cavern: Glen Reynolds Former Liquid 3 and Chomsky lead guitarist performs his first-ever full-band "solo" show tonight. This stuff is the polar opposite of the high-wire antics he pulled off in Chomsky; Reynolds' songwriting is strictly for the Blur and Smiths addicts in Dallas, whose ranks I come nowhere near, frankly.
SUNDAY
Murray Street Coffee: Zac and Friends As an official and last-minute farewell to his failed mayoral bid, it only makes sense that Zac Crain gathers some of the musical friends who helped him with his well-publicized Crain for Mayor Benefit CD. The stripped-down set is being held at the campaign's favorite Deep Ellum coffee shop, and it will include members of Shibboleth, Sorta and Pleasant Grove. From what we're hearing, there might be a special guest or two...or three.
88.7 KTCU: The Good Show Hogpig guests on Sunday night's broadcast of the area's best weekly radio show. Acoustic session? Don't count on it. Tune in.
Hoopla over exclusives and "scoops," I've come to realize, isn't worth it in the Web 2.0 era. Once information's out, it's out. Having said that, I could've beaten Pitchfork to the punch today with their St. Vincent story. Though already semi-announced by Gorilla Vs. Bear and Gapers Block over a month ago, Dallasite and Polyphonic Spree robe-bearer Annie Clark confirmed to me yesterday via e-mail that her one-woman band, St. Vincent, has been signed to Beggars Banquet, the British label with subsidiaries like 4AD and XL. Nowhere near shabby. The full-length debut, Marry Me, will see release on July 10th, according to Clark (which Pitchfork doesn't clarify...and that means...we're in SCOOP CITY!!!!!!!).
I'm set to chat with Clark over the phone at some point today--whenever her "Sufjan schedule" clears up (and how many people can boast a Sufjan schedule?). Some of that chat will eventually make its way to the Dd; the rest of it? Who knows. At any rate, expect a significant post (or two) within the next 24 hours. Sorry about the downtime; I've been taking in a few flicks this week. -SM
Looks like my normal means of video upload has gone kablooie, so I can't offer convenient Web-streaming for these clips. Hopefully Mac users won't be screwed out of watching either of these:
As I have previously mentioned, Bosque Brown's lineup has seen a shakeup in the past month or so; this clip comes from only the second performance with Becki Phares on fiddle and backing vocals. This version of "Fine Lines" sees Phares making probably her biggest impact, as her vocals are on a significantly lower register than Gina Caves'; the result is pretty striking. Conversations with the band point to continued work toward the next album--no definitive recording dates have been set, but the band will probably have Caves and Phares together on piano and fiddle, respectively.
This comes from a triumphant Sunday night show by Fishboy where he unveiled selections from his new, unreleased album. Or maybe it was the entire album. Still not quite sure--he's written a "rock opera" of songs, and unfortunately, lead singer Eric Michener's vocals were buried at the Barley House, so any lyrical theme was hard to pick up. Looks like fans won't have to wait long to hear what the hell he's saying, as the band finishes recording the album this week with Matt Pence at the Echo Lab in Argyle, TX.
The boys of Fishboy conclude their Sunday night set
From the sound of it, Michener hasn't exactly followed the letter of his original rock-epic inspirations at his 2005 Rock Lottery performance. Solid, hook-filled pop hasn't been buried by anything exceptionally bizarre or distracting in the new songs--the only caveat I had about that famed "Wombstone Pizza" show of '05--which bodes well for the album. As soon as I have more on that disc, including a release date, a sample song or even a title, I'll pass it along to you, the good D1. -SM
That's a snippet of an unreleased song by Bosque Brown performed this weekend at the Cavern. As soon as my streaming video service is running again, I'll have more clips from this show and Fishboy's set from last night as well. -SM
Fishboy performs the entirety of the band's new, unreleased album tonight at the Barley House for free. Free, free, free. Can't beat that. -SM
IN CASE THERE'S CONFUSION: This was from Sunday night. Too bad none of you checked this page yesterday and came out, as the show was a badly attended blast.
Ms. Dd's in town, so I've been distracted with our new hobby. But after we hunt some more today, we'll stop by tonight's Robert Gomez/Bosque Brown show at the Cavern. See you there? (Might have a weekender post later, but if not, uh, at least check out one of Hogpig's two CD release shows this weekend.) -SM
WEEKEND EDIT/UPDATE: Why be redundant? We Shot JR already posted a weekend selection of tonight's Big Three: Barley House (Current Leaves), Cavern (Robert Gomez/Bosque Brown) and Rubber Gloves (Hogpig / Cartright / Tre Orsi). Saturday sees Gomez/Bosque and Hogpig/Tre Orsi trading cities...Tre Orsi, in particular, is huge on the must-see list as of late for all rock fans, but really, any local music newbie would be freakishly wise to check one or both of those bills out this weekend, as the national schedule is light in this post-SXSW hangover.
All I did today was write a Hogpig CD review and bake a cake. If that's not enough content for you, do check out Noah W. Bailey's amazing SXSW wrap-up in this week's Dallas Observer. Yeah, you're burnt out on the coverage--so's us. It's still among the more informative and well-written things that the paper's seen in months (even if the photo captions are attached to the wrong photos as of right now).
In other almost-music news from today, Secret Headquarters announced its first-ever tournament--come June 1st, the venue will be converted into a Halo 2 warzone. All music nerds are invited to battle for the North Texas championship. My squad of four is already preparing. -SM
(Jasun went to the Toadies/Brutal Juice/Saboteur/Baboon show this weekend and was supposed to write about it. Looks like he went to work instead, so here's some info about shows tonight to make up for his utter lapse in judgment.)
Denton: I almost want to recommend Astronautalis' gig at Rubber Gloves tonight, but honestly, the guy performs in North Texas too often lately. Take tonight off, Denton Astro fans. Go see The Naptime Shake instead (Noah Bailey backed by members of Pleasant Grove), who perform at Secret HQ with Matt Bauer, a mighty fine San Francisco multi-instrumentalist who sat in with Alela Diane's band during her many impressive sets this SXSW.
Dallas: Club Dada has a solid New Music Tuesday lineup with locals jetscreamer and Tame...Tame & Quiet leading off what should be a relatively noisy night. TT&Q's new CD is in a long line of discs awaiting Dd review, but anybody reading this that also frequents We Shot JR is the perfect target for the disc's Slint-appreciative angular rock and should buy a copy tonight. Opening is Denton's Handbrake, while stuck in the miserable Tuesday night headlining slot (read: everyone's left by then) is Tel Aviv instrumental post-rock band Lebanon. Uh, welcome to Dallas! -SM
As a final step in solving Dd's recent nerdy troubles, the site's moving to a new server...as soon as the transfer is approved. The switch may be completely unnoticeable, or it may bring the site to its knees for a 24-hour period at some point in the next 3-5 days. If the latter happens, forthcoming CD reviews for this week will be posted at the official Dd MySpace page, FYI. But because I've posted this neurotic, over-worried post, nothing bad will happen. Always works that way. Thanks for reading. -SM
Stuck in DFW while all of your friends are in Austin for SXSW? Don't worry, there is still plenty to do around here.
FRIDAY
RGRS: Lords, Dead Child If you have ever thought to yourself "I wonder what it would sound like if, after the Slint reunion tour is over, David Pajo grabbed a bunch of his pals and started a band that pays tribute to Iron Maiden", Dead Child is for you. I hope that the boys at Rubber Gloves are paid up on their insurance, because Lords will tear the roof off of the place.
Gypsy Tea Room: Ken Andrews Andrews fronted Failure, one of the most critically acclaimed alt-rock bands in the world. After a few years of producing disks by Tenacious D, Blink 182 and Tool, he has returned to the songwriter side of the window with his new disk Secrets of the Lost Satellite. This show is perfect for you if you love bands like The Doves or like to be surrounded by people in Doosu shirts. (Andrews also plays a free set at Good Records at 4)
Hailey's: Besnard Lakes Tons of hype for this Montreal band, and Im not so sure I understand why... The exact opposite of what is happening a few blocks away at RGRS.
SATURDAY
Energy Square: Toadies, Brutal Juice, Saboteur, Red Monroe Nostalgia, keg stands and tons of bros. FtW's Toadies reunite again for their annual(?) Paddy's Day Dallas Observer rock show, this time pulling Frat of Noise alum Brutal Juice out of the grave with them. Watch the parade and then head over for Red Monroe and Saboteur for sure.
The Cavern: The Hourly Radio, Birdmonster Honesly, what more can be said about San Francisco's Birdmonster? I hope more people make it out to this show then showed up at the Ellum:OnStage fest for their 4pm time slot on Monday.
Gypsy Tea Room: Public Enemy Its Public Enemy. At the frickin' Tea Room.
Ridglea Theater: Pelican Four days of music at the Ridglea Music Festival and this is the one band worth mentioning. Just warning you, its 15 bucks to get in.
RGRS: The Draft 3/4ths of Hot Water Music, if that does anything for you.
Old Monk: Eleven Hundred Springs, The Drams Sam says plenty about the Drams, so let me say something about Eleven Hundred Springs. There is no better band in DFW making country music than 1100. There is no better band to drink beer to in DFW than 1100. There is no better band to break up (and then make up) with your girl to in DFW than 1100. Go to this show.
Dan's Silverleaf: Brutal Juice, Record Hop Brutal Juice do their fans a solid and book a second show for their reunion weekend. This show is early and there is a BBQ happening before (and during?). Most likely, this is the show of the weekend.
Good Records: Lebanon (2pm), Dreamend (3pm), Black Moth Super Rainbow (4pm) Three more bands stop by Good for a free set on their way out of Texas. I would run them all down, but come on... Its Good Records! Have they ever failed you?
The Cavern: Menomena, Tree Wave Gorilla vs. Bear treats us with one last solid show before SXSW weekend is over. Menomena are the shiz. For really tho.
...and just in time to be halfway through with SXSW, no less. Oh well. If you thought the site was down for a few weeks, it really wasn't--feel free to read the horror stories at registerflies.com about the company that held the site's name ransom (along with thousands of others), and then scroll further below for some of what we've bantered about as of late.
Back to the subject at hand: The Dallas-related report is a bit skim for the past 36 hours. The Theater Fire performed to an ample crowd on Wednesday night and--get this--were seen by the President of Universal Records. Really. Don't get your hopes up, as we doubt Universal's sticking its toes into the border-mariachi genre just yet, but who knows what subsidiary might make a random "sorry, we're not that interested just yet" phone call? The thought alone is exciting!
Others: Denton's Howard Draper, one of my favorite local musicians, made his presence felt at Shearwater's performance in a church (the same place I saw effin' Donovan the night before). Thanks to a grand piano and church acoustics, the Austin quintet reached for all Biblical hyperbole in their fine, fine set. Former UNT student My Brightest Diamond also did some damage at a solo show hours later at the Emo's "lounge" (cell phone video to come when I figure this thing out).
Things're hectic. Gotta jet...this girl knocked my socks off last night and she plays a day party in about an hour. -SM
Before I begin--ain't it a hoot that the Observer blog specifies its reliance on "contributions from...Village Voice Media" for its SXSW coverage? Why not just put that disclaimer on every issue of the rag these days?
But I digress... and beat them to the punch for coverage, anyway.
For those of you who stayed home: If today was any indication, you may very well have made the right choice this year. Though it was only Wednesday, the day-party hub of 6th and Red River was packed with concertgoers; Austin's Peter and the Wolf filled the entire indoor room of the Mohawk to the brim at only 2:30 p.m. today. What a zoo.
For the most part, I held court at Momo's, a restaurant much further west down 6th than most any other SXSW venue, for the Chris Flemmons-helmed NX35 party. Wise move--stellar performances all around from every single act (sad that I missed the Drams, but I had wristband issues, sigh). By Midlake's headlining timeslot, the entire house was packed with singing-along teens, and the band played like it deserved to fill the room...methinks a year-plus on international stages has really had an impact on the quintet, most obvious on a new song they busted out that--like it or not--did the Coldplay thing the right way (starry-eyed rock with a thick piano base). Kudos to them, as well as Robert Gomez's best set in recent memory and a helluva return from History at our Disposal.
Oh, and long live Hogpig.
I'm off to see The Theater Fire this evening, along w/ whatever other bands' sets I can squeeze into...a majority of today's concertgoers lacked wristbands, so I'm hopeful that tonight might be a bit lighter.
...I'm choking back laughter. Gah, I'm so funny. -SM
This week, I'm changing gears for the sake of SXSW. Most bloggers are relative newcomers to the SXSW experience--jumping all over hyped bands with their recommendations, which don't take into account crowd sizes and the often underwhelming shows a lot of hyped bands wind up putting on. Other people have done this fest even more than we have, so I'm not pretending to be an end-all expert, but I've lost count of how many years in a row I've done this, close to six or seven, and I'd like to chip in the kinds of requests that other outlets, official and otherwise, generally send.
However, there's one blog whose picks I've generally jived with--Red Blondehead is run by some friends in Birmingham, AL, and they've got some solid choices and MP3 samples handy for their wishlist. Some good sleeper choices there.
Sleeper's the word to remember--day parties could reach record capacity this year, as more people eschew wristbands and fill undersized day-party hotspots like Emo's, while nighttime showcases are an utter crapshoot. Make sure you have some back-up spots written down on your pocket list to avoid any utter bummers.
At any rate, I'll start with the stuff I'm eyeing on Wednesday, with the help of SXSW's official site and the good people at ShowListAustin:
DAYTIME
NX35: Momo's (a ways down West 6th) Denton gets it right at this year's incarnation of the Chris Flemmons-helmed day party. You'd have a helluva day if you camped out here: Midlake (4:30pm), Robert Gomez (3:30pm), History at Our Disposal (2:30pm), The Drams (1:30pm), Hogpig (12:30pm). Curious bloggers and Bella Union fans will almost certainly show up by the end of this one for the Gomez/Midlake combo, but hopefully they'll arrive a bit early to hear songs from HaoD's brand-new record, Symbols of the Architecture. And I could go on all day about Hogpig's new record, Hold Back the Curse, which is netting serious replay spins at the Dd office.
Gonna Gonna Get Down 2: The Mohawk (912 Red River) Our old pal Noah had high praises for Tom Brosseau's recent performance at Sons of Hermann Hall, and he plays here with the likes of Austin's Peter and the Wolf (who plays 100 times this fest...I've checked) and Loney, Dear.
Metro 25th Anniversary: Emo's (duh) I trust this Chicago venue's SXSW showcases for the most part, and considering this'll be the least-trafficked day of the fest, this might be your last chance to enjoy breathing room at Emo's while seeing some good bands. Hop back and forth between the two rooms, or walk down to GGGD2 if you get bored at any time. Just don't bother with the show at Red Eyed Fly--it's RSVP-only, and those craps are closed. CURSES!
NIGHTTIME
Dd pick:Room 710 No wristband? Pay a flat $20 or so here and be satisfied by Austin's Slobberbone-friendly Grand Champeen, Dd faves Brothers and Sisters and our very own The Theater Fire. This'll be the most satisfying non-overcrowded show of the night, hands-down.
Even after my previous rant, I stopped by North by Southwest yesterday to see the band Six by Seven, an instrumental outfit outta Ohio that had been covered by Centro-matic a few years back. Put 'em on your SXSW sleeper list if you're into instrumental, Misra-minded bands like the Japancakes.
At any rate, my count of people in attendance at Ellum:Onstage for their whole set, which ended at 5:45, was 12 people, not including the sound guy BUT including whatever staff members might've been in the crowd already. I thought that was disastrous enough.
Looks like Colour Revolt, a Mississippi outfit who played during the evening's later set of bands at Ellum:Onstage, had their van jacked FROM THE E:O PARKING LOT! Gee, Ellum On:Stage. You put barriers on the streets, draw as much attention to your multi-band fest as possible, and then forget the whole "let's have more security around this less-populated chunk of Deep Ellum" element? When I was driving away from the show yesterday, I noticed a few bands hanging around in an otherwise barren alley, and let me assure you--secure this was not.
At any rate, the band's blog has a huge list of what was in the van, including tons of serial numbers for their massive list of gear, so if you feel like scouring pawn shops on the outskirts of Dallas for the next few weeks, you'd be doing this band a huge one. Spread the word if you know anybody who could be of service--it's not like bands like this are making up for the thievery with jumbo paydays at SXSW or badly attended Dallas festivals. -SM
Head to the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson tonight if you want to see Dd national faves Shearwater and Pattern Is Movement for free (along w/ free food). Sounds like a shitload less than $25 to me! The shebang kicks off around 7 p.m.; visit Radio UTD for more information. -SM
Admittedly, even though I slacked on the Dd front from Thursday onward, I did sneak out on Saturday night to check out a bit of North by Southwest, Ellum:Onstage's four-day music celebration tucked away in the furthest corner of Deep Ellum. I was livid when I saw how little attention the fest received from the Observer this week--one feature on Mates of State, who get written up way too much as it is, and nothing about the bazillions of other bands (not even an "are any of these no-names good?" list). But then I arrived at the gate and found out tickets were $25 a day. Perhaps the Observer knew that as well and acted accordingly.
Presale tickets appeared to be cheaper ("$15-$35" at Front Gate Tickets, though that doesn't say whether those are one-day or four-day prices), and word on the street was that roughly 700 pre-sold tickets had moved, but from the look of Saturday's crowd, those 700 are split widely between the days. As the Polyphonic Spree took the outside stage, roughly 200 people were in attendance; speaking to bands who'd played earlier in the day, the crowd was "a tenth" of that both at the fest's indoor and outdoor stages.
This reeks of Wall of Sound Fest all over again--too many bands, not enough big names, too high of a ticket price for the target audience. And Wall of Sound did the formula much better, I should add, only to succumb to disappointing crowds. The North by Southwest festival intrigued me at its first announcement because of both its buzzy/blog-friendly acts and its solid headliners, but once I was face-to-face with its spread-out schedule, I had to face up to a sad fact--four days in Dallas will never amount to four days in Austin. This thing needed to be much shorter and cheaper--or filled to the brim with bigger or more well-loved names--or promoted so much that people came out for the mere hope of greatness.
Shame, because today, more of the bands people have actually heard of begin rolling through town en route to Austin. Are the likes of Division Day, Birdmonster, Saturday Looks Good to Me and Ladyhawk worth a $15+ ticket for today's afternoon showcase, beginning at 3 p.m.? If you're a teenager off for Spring Break, then darn tootin', it is. If not, then you pretty much have a typical (if overpriced) club-style show later this evening with two mighty solid headliners, Starlight Mints and...you know. Tuesday's interesting as well, with Dallas-friendly Brooklyn popsters Bishop Allen sitting at a convenient 9 p.m. slot, though I'm honestly only interested in seeing Shapes and Sizes that day--possibly my favorite Canadian band at the moment, the kind I'd pay $25 to see, though they're an entirely acquired taste, and their time slot is utter crap at 3 p.m. Looks like I'll be the only one in their crowd tomorrow.
Oh, and about that Spree show...worst Spree show I've ever attended, though that's also keeping in mind that I almost always love them on stage no matter how hard I try not to. The new album's material is a beating in concert--DeLaughter appears to have been inspired by labelmates Pilotdrift to go the semi-orchestrated Andrew Lloyd Weber route, and as a result, most of the new songs draggggg. There was a significant exception--a final new song was unveiled near the end of their set, a guitar-driven start-and-stopper that had "I Got A Girl" written all over it (with the expected Spree-style flourishes added, anyway)--and this got the show back on track, thankfully.
In all, it was still a good show...just not $25 good. -SM
My Rose County Fair album review is supposed to go up later today, but the time I would've spent listening and really reviewing it has been filled with too many distractions this week, so here's the way-rough-draft version to coincide with tonight's CD release for The Overture:
It's probably best that I come back down to Earth when appraising Rose County Fair--they're not reinventing the wheel, after all. Describing The Overture requires more than a few hyphens between Pixies and Uncle Tupelo, and while the resulting take on alt-country is supplanted with unusually high quality songwriting for the often-stale genre, it's also hampered by a few serious lapses in production quality. John Pedigo's been performing around town for just about a decade (Boys Named Sue, Slick 57). With Rose County Fair, it sounds like he's making a completely new start, which is both good for its fresh vitality and bad for its novice-like pitfalls. In all, any Barley House, Sons of Hermann Hall and Double Wide patron would be wise to give the album a shot.
They headline at the Granada Theater tonight (though you wouldn't know it, looking at this week's Observer music section) with Dd faves Dove Hunter opening. Ads say something about carnival-style amusements like fortune-tellers, though I tend not to trust promises about elaborate shows (Pedigo, feel free to comment on this thread and elaborate about tonight's festivities?).
More to come later today...if not the full review, then at least some help picking/choosing through the huge batch of bands at the four-day NxSW fest, along with a rant that's been brewing in my head for a few days. -SM
As we have mentioned before, Fort Worth's Wreck Room is closing its doors soon. How soon? Nobody knows, though the end of May looks like a good bet.
Silver lining? The Wreck's Brian Forella has already opened another place to catch live music in Fort Worth. The beer has been flowing at 6th Street Live for six weeks or so, but the venue has not warranted much mention due to the mostly bluesy calendar. Today, the little birds in the arts district for FtW have supplied us with a bit of info that seems worth posting. Turns out that Spune leader Lance Yocom, who is no stranger when it comes to great Fort Worth shows (see Wall of Sound Fest), is tossing around the idea of booking some shows at the venue. This would be great news for Fort Worth, as it seems the only road shows that the Ridglea Theater is interested in booking are Kittie and Stephen Marley.
UPDATE FROM SAM: Turns out this is much more than rumor. "Done deal," Lance Yocom says, confirming that Spune Productions will become the exclusive booker once the venue undergoes renovations ("knocking out walls, painting it different, buying a brand new PA, etc."), which should be complete within a few months...or as Yocom puts it, around whenever the Wreck closes (dates for neither could be confirmed).
The 200-300 capacity room, meant for all-ages, 17+ and 21+ shows, will also undergo a name change upon completion, which I assume signals a total change in direction for the space from its current, uh, aesthetic.
"As far as Fort Worth goes, it's exactly what I've been looking for in a room and bar owner," Yocom says. "Brian is a legit guy and loves music...he understands what needs to be done to make it a destination venue in DFW." Spune's been working pretty hard to beef its reputation as well--lots of unseen work is being done for the likes of the next Wall of Sound Festival and improved general booking, particularly with the recent re-hire of Glen Farris as Spune super-helper. Admittedly, Spune seemed to be falling off, but these kinds of news updates put the local booking agency back on the radar in a great way.
Keep your eyes on the 6th Street Live MySpace page for updates to their calendar, and make sure you drink at least 20 beers at the Wreck Room before it is no more.
Here's to hoping your post-SXSW hangover isn't too acute...just announced today is a far more accessible Brutal Juice reunion show, set for Sunday, March 18, at Dan's Silverleaf. Record Hop will open, debuting yet another new drummer, former Red Animal War-rior Tony Wann. This. Show. Will. Rule. -SM
Hell, I barely got out of work for long enough to see Dr. Dog put on a dandy of an in-store at Good Records yesterday. My current editing gig is supposedly over by Wednesday, which will give me enough time this week to work on a few killer Dd things, including a Rose County Fair CD review and a SXSW day & night guide for cheap Dallasites. Until then, why not chip in on our current contest? You guys are still quite a ways from deciding a winner, so please post some comments on that strand. -SM
Sorry, am overloaded at my freelance gig right now. Some quick things off the top of my head, and we're sure We Shot JR will have more on the cool stuff at places like Secret HQ this weekend...
TONIGHT: Curtis Glenn Heath from the Theater Fire plays a rare solo gig at, uh, the Lakewood Bar & Grill. Since this is approximately four blocks from my house, I'm fine with it, but I'm curious if the place is really conducive to such a show...still, of anybody around town, Curtis and his impeccable songcraft could survive a gig in a dumpster. Also on the bill are Dd semi-faves Hardin Sweaty and Comrade.
SUNDAY: Lots of Dr. Dog, during the day at Good Records (free) and during the night at Gypsy Tea Room. I've worn my hard drive down to a nub by playing 2007's We All Belong over and over and over...and over and OVER. The production, the songs, the musicianship and the overall feeling of the disc is bewildering, a rare homage to the era of the Beatles and the Band that shines in spite of its over-allegiance to its source material. For $20, Good will sell you the record, a limited edition 7" and a ticket to the Sunday night show. Pretty decent package deal, no?
"Property seized for non-payment of taxes owed the State of Texas."
Roughly 14 months ago, we drove to Deep Ellum on a cold night to discover that statement on the door of Club Dada. The sign was courtesy of the Texas State Comptroller, and the reason was over $18,000 in beverage and sales taxes that long-gone former owner Steve Shin hadn't paid.
This many months later, the district faces a sad sort of repeat: another cold night in Deep Ellum, another investigative drive to a music venue, another Texas State Comptroller seizure notice. This time, the Galaxy Club on Commerce St. is the venue in question, closed officially on March 1 by our fair state. No other signs were up explaining the situation this evening, though bands booked at the venue this weekend have already begun sending MySpace bulletins alerting their fans that shows have been canceled...whether they got word from the venue itself remains unconfirmed. (And if you visit the club and look closely, notice that one of the mini-windows in the front has been busted open. This window doesn't allow access to unlock a door or anything of that sort, but it seemed worth noting.)
I've sent e-mails to the Galaxy Club's management with requests for more information; if they call or e-mail back, I'll be sure to update the news right here.
But in the meantime, I may as well bust out my own guesses. I only visited the place a few times--in particular, to see a personal fave touring band, Lucero, almost a year ago. The incredibly large, concrete room was never set up properly for amplified sound, full of echoes and other sound problems, and the booking catered primarily to the kind of 102.1 The Edge-friendly rock that I've vocally opposed ever since I started blathering about music. That being said, the place always seemed to pull a solid crowd whenever I walked past it on a given night, though that's not to say the crowd was consistent or large enough to cover the venue's lease.
But a warning from the Texas State Comptroller is different than a place simply collapsing. The last time the Comptroller came calling, Shin's alleged record of cooking the books, keeping extra money and leaving people unpaid soon went public. At this point, all I can confidently say is that I'm very interested to hear Galaxy's side of the story, along with that of any bands that have played the venue and are familiar with its recent goings-on. Hit us with an e-mail if you know anything. -SM
UPDATE: Here's a rumor report we've already received from an anonymous source: "Earlier this week, the Galaxy was raided for failure to pay TABC taxes. Employees asked the boss, who said the club would be fine, business as usual. Tonight (March 1), one employee went to work and found the doors locked up. The boss apparently cleaned the place out the night before and just locked it up." Hopefully we'll get a response to this from the folks at the Galaxy Club, as this is currently an unsubstantiated rumor (though well-placed enough for us to post it here).
Though I'd love to harangue the Dallas Observer music section this week for a real boner of an error, I have to resist being mean about it, considering I made enough silly mistakes in my tenure to fill an entire week's section...particularly the zillions of times I listed "Hailey's" instead of "Rubber Gloves." What, aren't all clubs in Denton the same? What? Why are you looking at me like that?
But let's explore--why is it that the Observer has a preview for Austin legend Roky Erickson himself appearing at the Double Wide tonight? (Cutting to the chase: He ain't. It's another local Hoot Night, part of a recent, rising series of interesting, cover-filled shows. Quality locals like Brent Best [The Drams] and American Werewolf Academy will be there to cover songs from Roky's long, storied career. Should be good, even if it isn't the real deal, and I'm looking forward to Best's covers in particular.)
Here's my educated guess: Texas Gigs. Its own error-filled post about the show was loaded to the site February 19, nearly two weeks before this week's newspaper went to print. Does this mean the Observer is relying on the Pegasus News-run concert database to fill its own database? That can't be wholly proven. But judging by the average news-weekly assignment timeline--one I'm all too familiar with--that date is mighty close to when an editor would dig through local listings to find concerts that fill a page's hole.
And that probably means--like I've said all along--that the Observer's music/event/nightlife search system is such crap, even the paper's own staff doesn't use it! Might as well wear a Chotchkie's uniform and eat at Flinger's.
Ahem. Hoot Night at Double Wide tonight. Should be dandy. And hey, who knows...maybe Roky will show up. -SM
But since the official Dd site name is still down, I figured I'd increase the "what's going on?" factor by scribbling up a quick movie review.
My current freelance writing gig has its perks--DVD copies of unreleased art films, mostly, and as we all know, that's not always a good thing. But last night, the staff was invited to an SMU student-only screening of 300, the latest in the Spartan vs. Persian movie inundation of the past 10 years. Or, uh, not really. But the trailers--and the association with Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name--boosted my expectations for this incredibly stylized battle movie.
The movie is completely and entirely about the Battle of Thermopylae (really, read the Wikipedia account for the plot). Ever wanted an action movie to focus on one scene rather than spread itself through five different chases/battles? That's 300. This means the Spartan resistance in this single battle spends half of the movie fighting in the same manner as Steven Segal--kicking ass left and right and taking nary a wound in the process--which is saved only by the grandeur and comic liberties that Miller put in the original book. Every death is brutal and bloodsoaked--amputations come every eight seconds or so.
I couldn't help but think of the video game God of War when watching this (and surely, those programmers read the original 300 when making the game), as lead character King Leonidas look as badass as possible in his every action. The killings, the sex, the one-liners, the ridiculous hyberbole of his every fearless decree--exaggeration comes standard, much like a video game. It's almost as if the filmmakers whipped up the perfect male sensory checklist, and they do their damnedest to do the same for the other side (or are hundreds of chiseled, shirtless men and the hero's overwrought allegiance to a sharp-tongued, feminist wife not appealing to the average American woman?).
The movie suffers from just a few too many cliches; for example, a captain's teenage son joins the Spartan army about 15 minutes in amid worries that he's "too young" to fight. Go on, guess what happens an hour later. But in spite of a relatively slow start, this is a really solid popcorn flick the whole way through with great pacing, striking cinematography, very few fumbles, just enough bearably silly moments and the kinds of one-liners that'll annoy your co-workers for the next month. Comes out in a week. -SM
