Last Night: Grizzly Bear at the Granada Theater

Grizzly Bear, Here We Go MagicGranada TheaterJune 15, 2009 Better than: pretending I wanted room to dance anyway… There’s nothing like a false start to a song to gauge an audience’s mood at a concert. Take what happened seven songs into Grizzly Bear’s set at the Granada Theater last night, for instance. …

Blogaroo 3: Preaching To The Converted at Bonnaroo

Music aside, one big part of the fun at Bonnaroo is just experiencing the interaction of strangers who would never have anything to do with each other outside of such a frenzied environment. This is true everywhere, from the open-air drug markets along “Shakedown Street” to the campgrounds to the…

Last Night: David Byrne at the Majestic Theatre

David ByrneJune 14, 2009Majestic TheaterBetter than: just about anything else happening on a Sunday night. Dressed in all white, like some kind of angelic delivery boy, legendary indie rock icon David Byrne thrilled a packed house at the Majestic Theatre with two hours of angular pop/funk that was downright inflammable…

Blogaroo No. 2: St. Vincent at That Tent

Friday, 3 p.m.”Yeah! Brooklyn!” someone yelled during a lull after “The Party” during St. Vincent’s Friday afternoon set. Now, I’m not the kind of guy who needs to shout his affirmations of civic pride, but I was tempted to clarify where St. Vincent got her start by offering a counter-shout…

Blogaroo ’09: At Least The Comics Are Keeping Things Light…

As of Friday at noonish, nothing at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has happened the way I’ve expected it to. Or the way I’ve thought it should’ve gone. Or the way Triumph the Insult Comic Dog thought it would either, for that matter.No surprise that there are lines…

Last Night: Regional Air Guitar Championship at The Loft

Air Guitar Regional ChampionshipJune 11, 2009The LoftBetter than: sitting at home praying it doesn’t rain anymore. Plenty more photos in our slideshow.Though it was brutally long at nearly five hours, last night’s Regional Air Guitar Championship was nonetheless a fascinating sociological experiment. The evening at The Loft started off inauspiciously…

Over The Weekend: Bonnie “Prince” Billy at the Granada Theater

Bonnie “Prince” BillyGranada TheaterJune 6, 2009Better Than: The George Strait concert at Cowboys Stadium, or pretty much anything else any of you suckers were doing on Saturday night. Opening with a ramshackle version of the Stanley Brothers classic “Nobody’s Darling on Earth,” it was readily apparent that Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s…

Over The Weekend: The Helio Sequence at The Loft

The Helio Sequence,The LoftJune 5, 2009Better Than: Being in the registration line at SMU, which is the only other place I’ve seen this many undergrads. The best concerts aren’t always the ones that you’ve been excited about for months–you know, the ones where you repeatedly refresh your browser on the…

Last Night: New York Dolls at the Pontiac Garage

New York DollsHouse of Blues’ Pontiac GarageJune 3, 20009Better than: When I caught the Dolls last year and I fell down backstage, drunk, while looking for an autograph. The New York Dolls came to town last night, undoubtedly bringing greatness in tow. Expecting anything less, of course, would be futile…

Last Night: Passion Pit at the Granada Theater

Passion PitGranada TheaterJune 2, 2009 Better than: Staying home and watching a cartoon or puppet show with a character whose voice sounds like Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos’ vocals.  In today’s fast-moving indie music climate, hype so often outdoes form, disappointment has seemingly become act after act’s cliched finish. This is, for…

Over The Weekend: Bob Log III At Club Dada

Bob Log III, Willem Maker, El Paso Hot ButtonClub DadaMay 29, 2009 Better Than: Jumping 12 school buses on a Harley XR-750 only to find out you missed the thirteenth one. The crowd at Club Dada slowly trickled in after the late sunset on Friday. Tattoos swirled from arm to arm,…