Concerts

From the 7th Annual Polyphonic Spree Holiday Extravaganza, last Sunday night at the Lakewood Theater. A dozen other options, from the John Lennon original to U2’s take, available here. –Robert Wilonsky…

Willy Braun’s other gig: Reckless Kelly. (Katie Garcia Photography)9th Annual Songwriter’s Showcase December 19, 2007 House of Blues Better than: Being at a BAR Association mixer. Last night, country hunk Roger Creager hosted the 9th Annual Songwriter’s Showcase at the House of Blues. Despite the Mavs/Suns game going on concurrently,…

One of the lovely Dirkx brothers was kind enough to provide DC-9 with this great video from Gerard Dirkx first solo show last week at Opening Bell. Here, he plays the classic Telefones tune “The Ballad of Jerry Godzilla.” Watch, enjoy, love. — Chelsea Ide…

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream: Drunk and naked. (Krissi Reeves)Spune Records Xmas Dance Party Featuring: Gil Mantera’s Party Dream Dec. 16, 2007 Hailey’s in Denton Better Than: Putting on your party dress and watching Skinemax …on weed! If you are into M-anty Parades, wild M-antics and excellent synth-pop music, then Gil…

DeMarcus Wade works it at the Anonymous Runway Exhibit. (Erica Hoff)It was too damn cold this weekend. We know we shouldn’t bitch, it could be colder (or so our moms remind us). On the upside, there were a couple seriously awesome shindigs this weekend. Scope our favorites below. Anonymous Runway…

OK, we’ll say it: You missed it. Last night’s Iron & Wine show at the Palladium had an organic, ethereal feel to it. We danced, we sang and, of course, we took pictures. For those who opted to spend their Monday night watching crap TV, we suggest you check the…

Art Conspiracy III just ended at the former Gypsy Tea Room. I spent way too much and had way too much fun bidding, but it’s for the kiddos, right? Plus, I love my two pieces by Guy Reynolds and Ryann Rathbone. From auctioneers (who were incredibly savvy at suggestive selling,…

Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Devildriver and Soilwork December 8, 2007 Nokia Theatre Better than: Watching the Children of Bodom DVD Chaos Ridden Years with your friends. Download: Check our slideshow or take a look at our videos: Killswitch Engage performing “Breathe Life,” Lamb of God playing “Laid to Rest”…

Ben Lee with Kate Voegele December 5, 2007 House of Blues Better than: Watching Love Actually for the eighth time in a feeble attempt to get laid. Ben Lee, Kate Voegele and Cary Brothers jam “all-star style” at Wednesday’s show. (Darren Burgfeld) Video: YouTube vid of a show a few…

There were tons of people at the Billy Joel show. Unfortunately, we sat behind them all. (Merritt Martin)Billy Joel December 4, 2007 American Airlines Center Better Than: Seeing Movin’ Out. My best friend has loved Billy Joel since approximately the age of 3. She even has a small bust of…

Fiction Plane November 22, 2007 House of Blues Better Than: Thanksgiving Postprandial Exhaustion So. Fiction Plane played last night in the Cambridge Room at the House of Blues. Fiction who, you ask? Fiction Plane. A more appropriate spelling would be p-l-a-I-n. As in vanilla. Or very dry turkey with extra…

Lollipop Shoppe Nov. 17, 2007 Sloppyworld I thought I was going to get Ziggy Stardusted at last night’s Lollipop Shoppe party but the makeup table wasn’t too discernible from any of the other tables with empty beer bottles and plastic cups on it. Either that or the glare from all…

It’s after noon on Sunday and I’m still in sugar shock from NovemberFest at Rubber Gloves in Denton last night. Not only were the bands and the sound guy in sweet form, but the NF bake sale was incredible. And I mean incredible. Nouns Group produced some of the best…

The first (inebriated) recount of Chelsea Callahan’s birthday shindig at the Double Wide last night, compliments of our own Andrea Grimes, who emceed the event: “Chelsea Callahan lap-danced a chair at my insistence. The crowd didn’t give a shit about my jokes. They wanted rock and roll. And Dove Hunter/Big…

The Hold Steady with Art Brut and 1990s Nov. 14, 2007 The Palladium Ballroom Better than: Watching the Project Runway premiere. Big time. Download: Watch our video of The Hold Steady from last night’s show at the end of the review. Or just check out the slideshow. Review: As a…

Regina Spektor House of Blues November 8, 2007 Better than: Watching an indie rock band perform on a college campus. Review: The first Tori Amos album I listened to was Boys for Pele and it was transitory. The first time an adolescent girl hears a woman bleeding and screaming over…

IAMX/The Hourly Radio November 6, 2007 Club Dada Better Than: Watching election results filter in. While Dallas was going to hell in a hand basket last night, the stars were aligned for the IAMX/Hourly Radio show at Club Dada. On a Tuesday night, the club exemplified what Deep Ellum could…

Ben Harper at the Majestic Theater? It’s an incredible venue for the Nutcracker, but what would it be like for a crowd accustomed to rocking out at general admission shows and festivals? As it turned out, the inability to move freely was indeed a pain in the ass during rockin’…

M.I.A November 4th, 2007 House of Blues Better than: Staying at home to watch the Cowboys Vs. Eagles (HoB was decorated with flat screens flashing the game. Fat beats and football, booya!) Review: Last night, when I partied down to the Cool Kids and M.I.A. at House of Blues, I…

Maybe it was the (finally) crisp autumn air or the fact that Faces of DEF was held at the Double Wide (decked in full Halloween splendor), but something in the atmosphere let me know that this show was worth coming out. At 10 p.m. it was still quiet as hip…

The indie popsters in Hot Hot Heat took over the Granada Theater stage Wednesday night. We were thoroughly impressed by the Canadian quartet and openers Bedouin Soundclash and De Novo Dahl. Our photographer Travis Awalt snapped pictures so you can feel like you were there. — Chelsea Ide…

Despite having an intermission during his SMU performance, we still love Ryan Adams. (Matthew Blake) We walked into the Ryan Adams concert at McFarlin Auditorium an hour late last night. It was like walking in on the middle of a film people were having trouble following, and two clumsy girls…