Metal and Hardcore Lexicon

Every Time I Die will bring its metalcore style to the House of Blues this Wednesday. Between last week and the rest of this one, it feels like we’re in metal heaven here in Dallas. Everyone from Napalm Death to Every Time I Die to Through the Eyes of the…

Blitzen Trapper In-Store on Tuesday

These guys trap reindeer? I would never, ever attempt to trap a Blitzen or any of his reindeer friends, but I would want to spread the word that tomorrow at 3 p.m., Good Records is hosting a free in-store with Blitzen Trapper. So you may want to tell the in-coming…

Record Hop Still Unsure About Album Release

Does Record Hop look concerned? (Tony Wann) With South by Southwest right around the corner, area bands heading to Austin for the festival are scrambling to finalize their preparations. And at least one local act, Denton’s Record Hop, still has a fairly major unknown surrounding its impending trip southward: Will…

Jenna Bush And I Like The Same Bands

Our lists are frighteningly similar. And I don’t know how I feel about it. John Norris, meanwhile, seems giddy about her choices. I don’t know how I feel about that either. I definitely know, however, that this a perfect example of why MTV News has become a huge waste of…

The Van Halen Culprit: Eddie’s Sick

Eddie’s under the weather. Looks like the guitar god has fallen a bit ill. Per the press release we just got from Live Nation, the reason for all the Van Halen cancellations is a suspicious mystery medical ailment of Eddie’s: “According to Eddie Van Halen’s physician, he is undergoing a…

Local Musicians Give Democracy The Finger

Neeki Bey rocks the vote. With musical accompaniment from country-folk singer Annie Benjamin and CityChurch of Dallas music minister Neeki Bey, local playwright David Marquis will perform his new monologue, “The Purple Finger,” about the importance of hands-on democracy, at 7:30 tonight at CityGallery. (The term “purple finger” refers to…

Van Halen: Definitely Postponed

Can’t we all just get along? In case you haven’t been over to Unfair Park yet today, Wilonsky spilled the beans on the fact that tonight’s Van Halen show has gone the way of the two before it on this tour, just as we’d feared. Everyone’s got the story by…

Last Night: Dan Dyer at Bend Studio

If only we could grow beards like that. (Dan Dyer) Dan Dyer February 29, 2008 Bend Studio Better than: … going to the same venue for yoga and discovering you’re about as limber as week-old garlic bread. Dan Dyer hit the stage at a packed Bend Studio and within seconds…

Good Friday: Pleasant Grove, Airline, Marilyn Manson, Record Hop

Airline’s got two shows this weekend (Jason Upshaw) It’s Friday already? Really? That’s a pleasant surprise. Guess it’s time to plan the weekend, then… Here are our top choices for must-see music shows around the Metroplex this weekend. As always, check our music listings and print version for more options…

Leap Day, Halloween Shows This Week… Really

Sarah Jaffe is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Springtime Halloween show at Strawberry Fields. (Sarah Jaffe)What’s with all the holiday-themed shows this week? Is it just that people can’t wait for St. Patrick’s Day, and need a reason to party? I have no idea, but two shows stick out:…

Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Halifax Headline South By So What

While we here at DC-9 will be down in Austin at South by Southwest mid-March, we know not everyone is dropping the big moolah for the festival. A great in-town alternative is the “South By So What?!” fest. (They’ll be more on the SXSW overflow shows and South By So…

Reviewing Melodica’s Performances

60 or so bands played the Melodica Festival this weekend, and it would have been literally impossible to catch each and every performance during the three-night fest. Still, we ran ourselves ragged trying. The result: About 12 acts caught in full, another handful of performances seen mostly in full, and…

Genesis Concert Footage From 1977

Looks like, once upon a time in 1977, someone hoped to make a concert film out of a Genesis concert that, apparently was filmed here in Dallas. Now someone’s taken the liberty of posting the unreleased footage of the film, apparently called Seconds Out, onto YouTube. And we, in turn,…

Last Night: Maceo Parker at House of Blues

Maceo Parker with Grand Pianoramax February 27, 2008 House of Blues Better than: Pretty much anything, save a second performance. Self-described on his live album Life on Planet Groove as “2 percent jazz, 98 percent funky stuff,” Maceo Parker brought a funk explosion to the House of Blues Wednesday night…

Melodica Festival Self-Indulgent, But Still Positive for Dallas

At its best, this past weekend’s Melodica Festival was inspiring and, well, surprisingly engrossing. At its worst, it was inaccessible, self-indulgent and pretty boring. Now, in the days following the event, the most appropriate summary of this three-day Exposition Park/Deep Ellum affair lies somewhere in the middle of that spectrum,…

Crushed Stars Frontman Deals With Unemployment, Recognition

For an unemployed father of twin 7-year-old girls, Todd Gautreau seems relatively cheerful and calm. Maybe that’s because his band, Crushed Stars, has just released its third CD, the lovely Gossamer Days, and the Internet buzz is almost universally positive. Still, his demeanor is a bit surprising. “My wife is…

Trying to Understand Justice’s Gaspard Augé

Warning: Parts of the following interview were lost in translation. Blame any number of determining factors—wavering cell signals, a weak intercontinental phone connection, thick French-accented English and an interviewer who doesn’t speak a lick of French. Just don’t blame Gaspard Augé. Augé, who is half of the critically acclaimed French…

Gary Louris

Golden Smog and Jayhawks alum Gary Louris has a genius for crafting heartbreaking-yet-inspiring pop songs. At his best, on Jayhawks tunes such as “Save It for a Rainy Day,” “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” and “It’s Up to You”—not to mention all the incredible tracks he wrote with Mark…

On the Wrong Side of Ryan Adams’ Whiskeytown

Before Ryan Adams recorded every half-baked song idea he ever had, before he scored the model-actress girlfriends, before A.A., he was a mean, drunken son of a bitch. He was also a hell of a lot more interesting. March 4 will herald the release of a two-disc deluxe version of…

Mission Giant’s Golden Triangle Evokes Synth-Pop and Joysticks

It’s not clean new wave. It’s not art rock. It’s not straight experimental. Mission Giant’s latest release, Golden Triangle, takes the synthesized and oft-instrumental works of 2003’s Brotherhood of the Plug into a new genre—which I’ll go ahead and dub arcade art wave. With several release celebrations on the calendar…