Shiner Rising Star 2011: Night One of Round One Love & War in Texas in Plano July 28, 2011So here we are: another year, another opening night for the annual Shiner Rising Star competition. To begin the eighth 13-week season, three Dallas-area acts were brought to the stage of the Plano…
Katy Perry, Robyn Verizon Theater in Grand Praire July 28, 2011 Better than: the petroleum aftertaste of cherry chapstick. A lingering cotton candy scent filled the Verizon Theater last night as four displays beamed the beginning of the Wizard of Oz-inspired story that would thematically tie together Katy Perry’s California Dreams Tour…
Moonface, Flow Child, Nervous Curtains Dada Wednesday, July 27, 2011 Better than: the Rangers’ performance that night, by a moonshot. Moonface is essentially Spencer Krug’s solo project, the purest distillation of the twisted melodies and lyrical longing we’re likely to hear any time soon from the yelpier of Wolf Parade’s…
Jessica Lea Mayfield, Ferraby Lionheart and The Naptime ShakeDadaJuly 26, 2011Better than: the movie Lionheart. Jessica Lea Mayfield’s career has something a storybook feel to it, given that she was essentially raised on a tour bus (she started performing with her family’s One Way Rider band as an 8-year-old), started…
Cabe Booth’s name might not ring too many bells. But if you’ve ever been to the Curtain Club, you’ve seen his artwork. Creating stunning, life-like paintings of legendary bands, you might as well stare at them for hours.Booth’s birthday is coming up this week, and for his birthday party, he’s hosting…
Mission of Burma, Ume and Tre Orsi Granada Theater July 24, 2011 Better than: watching the new episode of Breaking Bad, because you can’t DVR a live concert. The Granada Theater was barely half-full for Mission of Burma’s 30-years-later return to Dallas, but the band played liked the place was…
It’s impossible to extricate the actual Preteen Zenith, a distorted-pop sextet with all of a week’s worth of full-band practice under its belt before its first gig, from the hype that was inevitable from the moment Tim DeLaughter announced that he was getting back together with latter-day Tripping Daisy guitarist…
Gorilla Vs. Bear FestivalGranada TheaterJuly 23, 2011Better than: being in a confined space where an actual gorilla and an actual bear are fighting. On Saturday night at the Granada Theater, the Dallas-based taste-making heavyweight blog Gorilla Vs. Bear held its first ever festival, and, aside from a few train-wreck moments,…
A Perfect Circle, Red Bacteria Vacuum Verizon Theatre in Grand PrairieJuly 23, 2011Better than: seeing a cover band devoted to Tool and A Perfect Circle songs. It’s one thing to throw in a couple of cover songs in a set. It’s a whole other thing to devote a majority of…
Eels, SubmarinesGranada TheaterJuly 21, 2011Better than: being mistaken for a terrorist at an airport. From frontman Mark Oliver Everett’s dramatic entrance after his band had already begun their opening number, to his exit before they had finished their last one it was clear every moment of Eels’ performance last night…
Better than: whatever you were doing on a Thursday night. These bands were way cooler than those CSI reruns. Last night’s Locals Only! show at Jack Daniel’s Saloon, put on by, well, us, showcased a couple of up-and-coming Denton bands that managed to put on an impressive show in spite…
American Idol Live Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie Wednesday, July 20, 2011 Better than: Watching paint dry. I think. I don’t remember if there was ever a talent show episode on the original Beverly Hills 90210. But if there had been, I imagine it would have looked a lot like…
Dolly PartonVerizon Theatre in Grand PrairieTuesday, July 19, 2011Better than: Reality. Dolly Parton inhabits her stardom as fully as she fills out her glittering outfits. “I buy ’em two sizes too small and take ’em in,” she joked. She owned the stage last night at the Verizon Theatre, and filled…
Welcome to My First Show, where we give bands a chance to talk about the first shows they ever attended — no matter how uncool and embarrassing those tales may be. Roger Miller sings and plays guitar for a band that might have been forgotten about years ago. Luckily, Mission…
Last time we ran into singer Hayes Carll, he put on a special little two-stepping show at the Double Wide in the midst of a small-club tour throughout Texas. On Saturday at House of Blues, photographer Roger Caldwell caught Hayes armed with new songs from KMAG YOYO (Kiss My Ass…
Iceage, Midnight SocietyRubber Gloves Rehearsal StudiosSunday, July 17, 2011Better than: Seeing punk poseurs that don’t deliver. Jesus fucking Christ! Last night the crowd at Denton’s Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios was treated to one of the most amazing personality transformations I’ve ever witnessed. The members of Iceage, and most particularly Elias…
The Coathangers, Leg Sweeper, Catching Chloe and Chicken & Whiskey Bryan Street Tavern Friday, July 15, 2011 Better than: Staying home and getting yelled at by my wife A hot and bothered collection of punks and other assorted riff raff made their way down to old East Dallas Friday night…
C.J.Ramone, HoodratTreesJuly, 15, 2011Better than: most tribute acts in which a member of the original band performs that band’s songs with a new backing band (we’re looking at you, Axl) What is it that makes an artist keep performing their band’s music, year after year, long after the original band…
The Civil Wars, Rayland Baxter Texas Theatre July 13, 2011 Better than: any other concert ever performed at the Texas Theatre. The name The Civil Wars suggests that the two members, Joy Williams and John Paul White, are at odds with each other — except the opposite is true. Williams…
Fair to Midland, The House HarkonnenCurtain ClubJuly 12, 2011Better than: your average Curtain Club show. Lest anyone was concerned that Deep Ellum has softened in recent years, that it has turned its back on its hard rock- and metal-intensive past or that the neighborhood’s heavier genres had fallen by the…
Good times last night in Lakewood, as Dallas rockers True Widow, fresh off their tour of the West Coast, were joined by their sorta labelmates in Dunes (Dunes’ Mexican Summer label is an imprint on Kemado Records, to which True Widow is signed) for an early evening garage show. Actually,…
Britney Spears, Nicki NinajAmerican Airlines CenterJuly 12, 2011Better than: most shows by folks who actually sing, dance and write their own music. Here’s the thing about Britney: She’s a mediocre singer and dancer who got very, very lucky and very, very famous by singing songs that she contributed very little,…
