Well, Belmor Corp., Trees is all yours again. After going two months without paying rent for the building at 2709 Elm St., the Entertainment Collaborative lost its lease, which puts the keys to Trees back in landlord Belmor Corp.’s hands with no tenant for the time being. In fact, only…
The only time I wear a suit is to attend a wedding or funeral. I suppose, then, my arrival at the Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday, December 28, didn’t bode well for the Entertainment Collaborative, the then-owners of Trees; the federal court has a dress code, and there I…
On Wednesday, December 21, a longtime Deep Ellum music venue was officially closed to the public. The biggest surprise, though, was that the club in question wasn’t Trees. Multiple signs posted on Club Dada’s windows at 2720 Elm St. on Wednesday read as follows: “This property has been seized for…
New Year’s Eve without the Old 97’s? Well, it’s a day early this time around, so let’s hope Rhett and Murry made the right plane reservations. Expect the same 97’s set as every year before–solid, fun and loud, even if predictable–but there’s a big difference this year, as Shibboleth is…
The area’s full list of New Year’s Eve concerts starts on page 3 of our New Year’s Eve Guide; my top pick is the Barley House’s Drams and Sorta bill, as Brent Best has eons of New Year’s concert experience from his years in Slobberbone. Thing is, I’ll arrive at…
You, in the back–yeah, you, with the Xbox controller in one hand and Billy Bong Thornton in the other. Talkin’ to you, so pipe the fuck down. C’mere, lemme tell you a story about something that happened before you were born, about 10 years ago. Listen up, ‘cuz my stories…
After months of attempting to reach an agreement, the Entertainment Collaborative, owner of Trees and Gypsy Tea Room, has finally and officially lost its lease to Trees’ building. On Wednesday, December 28, U.S. District Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale ruled that Trees’ landlord, Belmor Corp., can reclaim the building on Elm…
Editor’s note: Is Trees closing for good at the outset of 2006? As of press time, it has not been confirmed, though the answer could come even before this story reaches racks–check www.dallasobserver.com for updates through the week. Still, a barren December concert calendar, relocated January concerts, thousands of dollars…
I haven’t stepped foot in Trees in several years–last time, I suspect, was when X’s original line-up tore up the place, reducing it to splinters like it was 1979. I hadn’t been in the joint in a long time, and returning on those rare occasions was like visiting your old…
Will 2005 be remembered as the year music giant Sony BMG began to fall? New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer got ’em in a July exposé on illegal radio payola practices, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott handed them a lawsuit in November over the company’s computer-damaging copy protection on…
Sad to say but 2005’s biggest stories in local music were hardly local. Tyler’s Eisley finally took off on a mainstream jet with the release of the ultra-gorgeous Room Sounds, but the teens were overshadowed by a mainstream year of makeup-coated emo boys. Texarkana’s Pilotdrift, with the support of Tim…
2005 was a year of exploration and expansion in urban music. Against a Matrix-like background of corporate-controlled radio and TV, iPod-enabled consumers demanded more musical choices and were rewarded by indie labels and an alternative to mainstream mediocrity. For every lackluster commercial effort (like 50 Cent’s The Massacre), 10 superior…
In 2005, pop music was rock music. Between Kelly Clarkson’s tarted-up “Since U Been Gone,” Ashlee Simpson’s raspy, Courtney-Love-after-a-bender vocals and Hilary Duff’s collabs with her Good Charlotte boy-toy Joel Madden, even the biggest top-40 starlets liked their guitars cranked up to a sassy 11. Elsewhere, rockers in eyeliner (word…
As far as music goes, I am not a tribal person. I am not prodded by Pitchfork Media nor narcotized by Relix, nor are my spirits lifted by No Depression. Not to say that those media sources are entirely flawed–indeed, each has its virtues. But each of these influential outlets…
Noah W. Bailey: 1. Phosphorescent, Aw Come Aw Wry 2. Iron and Wine/Calexico, In the Reins 3. Andrew Bird, Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs 4. Okkervil River, Black Sheep Boy 5. Bosque Brown, Plays Mara Lee Miller 6. M. Ward, Transistor Radio 7. Magnolia Electric Co., What…
Sure, it’s easy for us at AAT headquarters to sit in our bedrooms, rifle through hundreds of albums and pick our favorites for the year. But what about the musicians in town who are much braver than us and actually get on stages? What albums moved them this year? Here…
1. Cirez D, “Rematch (Original Mix)” (Mouseville): The track of the year. Cirez D delivers an instant club classic. 2. Pryda, “Aftermath” (Pryda Recordings : Eric Prydz astonishes with the sheer quality of his production work, and his ability to shift gears from release to release puts him in a…
Unfortunately, Dallas music was better known for its losses than its gains this year. A few great bands faltered in 2005–Day of the Double Agent’s decline was public and ugly. Denton’s Skin Trade fell victim to an unexpected hiatus only a month after their first-ever write-up in the Dallas Observer…
Another year, another rich haul of Christmas CDs. But instead of coming up with another essay about the latest in holiday music, we decided to help out the ailing economy–not to mention frazzled holiday shoppers–and do a Christmas CD buying guide. Don’t waste your time at the local listening station…
On February 22, founding Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch announced his departure from the band, claiming the band’s music and lifestyle conflicted with his recent rededication to Christianity. However, we recently uncovered a prayer journal that suggests moral objections weren’t the only motive for his exodus. February 22, 2005: God,…
Spoiled brats, we’re already jealous of that new, video-ready iPod your rich daddy bought you for Christmas. But we still want to help you max out your new gizmo, so while waiting for Santa to deliver 60 gigs of holiday cheer, forget about tiny episodes of Lost; instead, download music…
Let us now discuss the labyrinthine, in-your-face, introspective, esoteric, head-bobbing, fist-pumping, booty-shaking, genre-defying mélange of the Rock Critic Cliché milieu. Like any other, this profession suffers from ridiculous, impenetrable jargon. I am certainly not immune to this disease, but perhaps I can diagnose specific viruses and prescribe medicine for lousy…
