Lu Mitchell, Emilie Aronson, Bill Nash, Julie McClain and Sam Swank 7 p.m., Friday, November 2. Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse (9555 North Central Expressway). $2 (25th Anniversary prices all month). The musical version of Molly Ivins, Lu Mitchell looks like someone’s crazy-ass grandma, replete with a gray bowl haircut enormous, out…
OK, if you were getting all excited about seeing Billy Corgan and Co. stage again this Saturday, we have some bad news. DC-9 just got word the Smashing Pumpkins show scheduled for Saturday, November 3, has been rescheduled. The concert has been moved to Sunday, November 18, at Nokia Theatre…
Q: What does it take to get Dallas hipsters to do the hokey-pokey? A: A large bald man with a Santa Claus beard and earrings with a string of fake diamonds cascading off his earlobes. John “Beard” Brewer, the large bald man with the beard in question, almost died a…
Hovering from an atmospheric blend of sensual goth-pop, orchestrated dance-rock, and analog keyboard noise, Baltimore band Celebration manage to blast out some unusual sounds. Fronted by spellbinding vocalist Katrina Ford, with backing keyboardist/guitarist Sean Antanaitis and drummer David Bergander, they’re quite serious about creating music with raw energy and sensuality…
Until recently, when discussing Austin’s favorite sons, Spoon, you typically came across fans who either loved them dearly or were indifferent. What you didn’t often encounter was impassioned hatred, perhaps because the band makes the kind of slinky but meticulous pop that can just as easily breeze inoffensively past the…
I’m an old-school fool who’ll steal a 45 (that’s a record, son) over a compact disc any night of the week, but when labels push lushly packaged CD compilations encompassing dope, hard-to-find original albums, I can only say, “Um, pretty please?” Such is the case with a long-overdue duo of…
Much to the dismay of metroplex hipster emos and grunge rock zealots, indie popsters The Hourly Radio may just be the next big band out of Dallas. They are making all the right moves with videos on the MTV-U channel and gracing American Eagle Outfitters’ Web site with free music…
Near the conclusion of Austin Powers (the first one), Dr. Evil taunts our hero, “There is nothing worse than an aging hipster.” Veteran femme rock icon Grace Slick has said “old people” look, uh, foolish playing rock ‘n’ roll. It is a nice trick if one can manage it—that is,…
“Tonight I Have to Leave It,” the opening track on the Shout Out Louds’ latest release, Our Ill Wills, sounds like it could have been a B-side from the Cure’s 1985 album The Head on the Door. The buoyant tune bears a striking resemblance to Robert Smith and company’s “In…
He ain’t hard. His clothes fit. He makes declarations such as “Kids, if you really want to annoy your parents, show an interest in the arts.” And his real name is Regan Farquhar. But don’t give Busdriver no guff. This Los Angeles rapper keeps an arc welder in his mouth…
While every kid in the Montreal and Toronto indie-gentsia eye-rolled their way through the extended jerk-off that les Américains had over the Arcade Fire, other (and weirder) acts from the sticky web of Canada’s music scene were being groomed to fulfill the U.S. appetite for fresh cultural offerings. Among them,…
There is no doubt that all future reviews and articles will somehow incorporate the “clever” remark “people will fall in love with Lovie.” The thing is, it’s true. This all-girl, oops, all-female band harkens to the day of the Go-Go’s and Veruca Salt, with aggressive guitars, head-bopping beats and vintage…
Two pillars—one an old stalwart, one a new roustabout—of Deep Ellum were Q&A’d on local Web sites last week. The stalwart was Frank Campagna—the feisty proprietor of Kettle Art, the rebellious art space in the heart of the neighborhood—who was featured on Pegasusnews.com, and the roustabout was Chelsea Callahan—a local…
It used to be so easy for DJs. Refine a set over a couple of years, license the necessary tracks, mix them all together and voilà! Genres were born, scenes were codified and superstar DJs were crowned. Lately, though, the mix-CD landscape has shifted radically. It’s harder than ever to…
The Old 97’s want to be your New Year’s Eve date.We’ve caught wind of a couple local music tidbits that may be of interest. 1. If you’re already sick of seeing winter holiday gear in stores, then you probably aren’t planning your New Year’s Eve yet. However, for the Old…
Poor David’s Pub just sent out word that it’s the site for the first Barack Obama Dallas fundraiser hosted by the North Texas Democrats. The only word as of now is that The Ackermans will be performing and they are hoping for a phone-in from the potential presidential candidate. So…
Very, very sad news today, as Dallas has lost one of its greatest jazzers and finest people: Marchel Ivery. His wife confirms he died this morning at Presbyterian Hospital, just one day after checking in. He’d had a fever for two days and was diagnosed with pneumonia; he died around…
DC-9 photographer Jonathan Finley hit us up about a video he shot at this year’s Dallas Observer Music Awards. It follows Black Tie Dynasty, who we recently interviewed, around the August event. Those who were happy to see the BTD piece will enjoy this vid; those who weren’t so keen…
We happen to have a pair of tickets to the Smashing Pumpkins show at Nokia on Saturday, Nov. 3. We love you guys, so we thought we’d share the wealth. I’m a Halloween nut, so we’re having a little Halloween-themed contest. Below is a picture, compliments of a DC-9 friend,…
What follows are several items we overheard whilst spending a good part of the pre-Halloween weekend trolling the streets in search of spirits, of both the goblet and goblin variety: “Dude, you know why I’m wearing this costume? Because I fucking hate emo, that’s why.” “Vietnam! Yeah! Vietnam!” “Have you…
Big ups to the big man on the Observer campus, Robert Wilonsky, for pointing out that the November issue of Spin magazine, which hits newsstand tomorrow, has a meaty little review of Midlake’s recent Chicago show. The article’s author, Josh Modell, does a fine job of describing the Denton band’s…
Before the carving…A four-story tower of jack-o-lanterns loomed over Saturday night’s Life is God Pumpkin Festival. The New England-born clothing company joined forces with Central Dallas Ministries to bring 6,000 hand-carved faces to life, lighting the city with a ghostly red blaze. Smiling, frowning, laughing and crying, the lanterns sat…
