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Belated Gift
15.October.2007 You might've noticed there was no Dd birthday post last month. For the most part, that lack was just another drop in production that stems from my Seattle move. Still, I suppose it's worth noting that Dd's anniversary is only days after a less pleasant anniversary in my Dallas music life, and I didn't want to get caught up in any "let's focus on the good times to come, not the bad ones in the past" crap. But forget Dd's year in review. What about the Dallas area's? ITEM: Are we in Dallas or Southlake? House of Blues and The Palladium Ballroom are the proud recipients of The EC's deceased spillover, and I'm not sure how music fans should take that. It's easy to get caught up in the issue of character when pining for the former Gypsy Tea Room days--you should have to park in a shady neighborhood and go to a crowded, smoky club to see My Morning Jacket, brah!--but I don't think we have to romanticize GTR or Trees to realize that Dallas' venue shift is overwhelming, near-permanent and a little sad. The mid-level concert experience is ultimately about intimacy and local flavor, two things that the House of Blues and the Palladium do not deliver. To be fair, the Palladium's smaller Loft room has gotten fine marks for its quality and shows...but the booking ain't consistent. With that in mind, I'm glad to see the Granada Theater has enjoyed some EC spillover as well, as the Granada has always made strides for the local scene and for risk-taking booking. SUB-ITEM: Get tickets for this coming Sunday's Gogol Bordello show right effin' now. That includes you, dear D Magazine readers. ITEM: Local radio is still the pits, especially when you consider that KZPS' switch to "Lone Star 92.5" beefed the station's quality but not its ratings. If I'm reading this ratings sheet correctly, KZPS' '07 jump in ratings came before the April format switch. The change to fewer commercials, more deep cuts and more local acts (hey, two or three ain't bad) hasn't shocked the bottom line. Shame. And with the city's lone "alternative" (read: stagnant) rock station still treading water with the big dogs, chances are nobody's going to feel compelled to jump start local radio with more diversity and local coverage. This applies to the two big hip-hop stations as well. I'm of the belief that radio is the great equalizer in invigorating and encouraging music bystanders, more so than print, Web or TV. But as long as Movin' 107.5 and 102.1 The Edge do well, nobody's curiosity is going to be piqued. Wouldn't it be great if those stations understood their cultural responsibility and shed a few bucks to take risks? Oh, wait. Publicly trade companies. Never-ending desire for quarterly growth. Forget it. ITEM: Speaking of responsibility, I wonder if the Dallas Observer's Jonanna Widner really comprehends the outburst of hate mail she's getting this week. We Shot JR rightfully called her to task for her half-baked article "about" Ghosthustler--something I already addressed in WSJR's comments thread--but her article about the GoGirls Fest is somethin' else. Short version: Widner whips out some snide comments and weird, misplaced commentary about an acoustic singer-songwriter love-fest. Coming from a music critic who has spent the past year gushing about locals like Sarah Jaffe and Amy Curnow, it's a weird about-face, but there's something far more tragic at work: The Not sure what her purpose is in trashing a "fest" at Opening Bell Coffee, a venue that seats about 40 and caters to devoted niche-ists. The trashing has drawn nearly 100 rabid commenters--friends of GoGirls who are apparently required to whine on its behalf. Fine, that happens, and their bias is flagrant enough. But they're on to something. In attempting to be aggressive, Widner comes off as a pithy, ineffectual bystander of the local music scene--a wimpy blogger. There are great stories to chase in local music. Great concerts to attend, great interviews to conduct, great investigations to expose the breakdowns and upstarts. And that's where the word "responsibility" comes into play. Are you going to wait until Secret HQ shuts down to look into the musicians and area fans who keep that compelling DIY venue alive? Are you going to put heat on local radio stations and other media outlets about their failures (and successes) in recognizing area music? How about the continuing rise of local hip-hop, or the incredibly strange Life In Deep Ellum up-and-down story, or things bubblin' in Exposition Park, and on and on...? Or are you just going to go on about a "menstrual pit," ridiculing an easy target and ultimately exposing yourself as a worthless, lazy sellout? ITEM: In case you haven't noticed, the music scene is still vibrant--enough so to deserve better treatment in the area's media. Rock Lottery 9 & 10 just annihilated Dan's Silverleaf with little fanfare (though the Denton Record-Chronicle's new No Fold blog put in a good word). Red Monroe, The Crash That Took Me, The Demigs, Sean Kirkpatrick, History At Our Disposal, Mom, Hogpig, Tre Orsi and Silk Stocking are among the acts making 2007 a surprisingly good year for local CDs. A lot of my complaints are about the people who aren't in the choir; you, Dd reader, are typically not demoralized by a bad Observer article or lame setlist on The Adventure Club. You probably seek out--and find--this city's great music...and tell your friends about it afterward, too. So until hell freezes over and any of my previous blather means something in the scheme of things, spread the word and keep the better half of the local scene active, talkative and primed, in spite of forces conspiring against it. -SM |