Central Track Staff
It’s A Perfect Night For A Funeral Party.
Today is National Coffee Day. Finally, one of these made up holidays we can get behind. It means that some spots will be giving out free cups of the life juice. Other folks will just use it as an excuse to drink more cups of the stuff than they normally would.
It couldn’t have come at a better time. You’ll need lots of glorious caffeine to power through this busier-than-usual Thursday. — Cory Graves
Blue, the Misfit’s Album Release After-Party at Vetted Well
Already one of the DFW hip-hop scene’s favorite sons, Blue, the Misfit calls his forthcoming Perfect Night For a Funeral LP his biggest achievement to date, dabbling in more rock influences than ever before. Following a special friends-and-family listening party, an after-party will go down at the Alamo Drafthouse bar/venue. — CG
Oh, Snap! Variety Show at The Whippersnapper
Our monthly drunk and sloppy variety show is back again. This time we’re throwing comedians Justin James and Mike Williams, DJ set by Goody, live power hour band 60 Minutes in Heaven, art peddling by Clay Stinnett and a few other random acts of entertainment up against the wall to see what sticks. — CG
Band of Skulls at Trees
From the same school of well-put-together-but-not-all-that-groundbreaking, blues-heavy garage rock as contemporaries Black Keys, The Kills, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, etc. is British trio Band of Skulls. Working well in the latter’s favor, at least, is the fact that the band’s catalog hasn’t been utterly worn out by unimaginative music supervisors. To their credit they do boast a slightly wider set of influences and a rather memorable batch of tunes under their belts than some of those other acts, too. Mothers opens. — CG
Reimagine Crowdus
The penultimate programming at the pop-up park includes a double-feature of Dazed and Confused and Bottle Rocket, as well as some live improv courtesy of Dallas Comedy House. — CG
Thirsty Thursday at The Wild Detectives
It’s three short plays and a drinking game, but with a couple of twists. The actors are drunk, and the cues for the audience to drink are kept secret from them. Drink! — CG
Doug Ybarra at Hyena’s (Dallas)
The Bedford-raised Ted 2/We Bought a Zoo actor continues his weekend-long run of stand-up sets in Dallas. — CG
Always Something at Dallas Comedy House
Katy Evans respects comedy as an art, and from the start of her stand-up career, she’s put serious effort into developing as a performer. Her dedication and skill have netted her some awesome opportunities too, including appearances in the Dallas Comedy Festival and the chance to open for Saturday Night Live cast member Michael Che at his most recent show at Club Dada. Her writing is unapologetically smart, and she’s hugely adept at revealing what’s so funny about some of the more uncomfortable details of her life. She hosts this stand-up show that features fellow lady comedians Lily Callway, Amy McGiffin, Sandra Balan, Michele Benson and DDT. — Alex Gaskin
State of the Arts: “Data is the new Paint” at Dallas Museum of Art
A panel discussion featuring scientific experts like Rusth West, Maximilian Schich and Ira Greenburg, who use technology as their primary artistic medium. — CG
Coco Montoya at Cambridge Room
Former Bluesbreakers guitarist Montoya picks the blues solo over at the ol’ HOB. — CG
Devin Townsend, Between the Buried and Me at Gas Monkey Live
BTTBAM’s most recent record, a concept album about a guy in a coma journeying through his past lives, is its first in over a decade not to feature any songs over 10 minutes long, helping make it one of the prog metal vets’ most accessible eras yet. Devin Townsend co-headlines. — CG
Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds at Dada
Soul music. So hot right now. This Brooklyn outfit is known for its punchy horn section, one that’s only outshined by its harmonica virtuoso. He’s been known to bring nearly 50 different mouth harps along with him to gigs. — CG
Tour of Gymnastics Champions at American Airlines Center
Was there a bigger superstar to emerge from the Rio Olympics than Simone Biles? She gets back on the pommel horse, bringing along a number of fellow medal winners, like Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, to name a few. McKayla remains unimpressed. — CG
Leo Kottke at Kessler Theater
Such a vigorous finger-picker, acoustic wiz Leo Kottke had to develop new styles and tune is guitar increasingly lower in recent decades to deal with injuries brought on by his aggressive style. But he’s still at it, picking and grinning through the pain, holding down this stage all night with no openers. — CG
Master of the Mic at Lola’s Saloon
Several Funky Town emcees will verbally duke it out in order to prove their mic supremacy and earn a chance to continue on to the next round of this ongoing competition. — CG
Off the Top: Freestyle Competition at Crown and Harp
This battle starts and ends tonight. Each rhymesmith will have 45 seconds per round to battle it out, and someone will walk away from here with a cash prize. — CG
Slapshot, The Casualties, Lower Class Brats, Potato Pirates at Three Links
Perhaps with all that money the members of The Casualties spend on hairspray and dye to keep their locks all colored and spikey, the ’90s punk quartet could have saved its way into some decent living, but instead chased their dreams and into the most punk bar Dallas has to offer. At least it gives us something fun to do tonight. — Evan Henry
Bloody Knives at Double Wide
Austin’s dark and heavy shoegaze/industrial act Bloody Knives tops a lineup that also features Little Beards and Psychic Killers, none of which, to our knowledge, are supporters of Nazism. — CG
Charlie Robison at Magnolia Motor Lounge
Because Houston honky-tonkers Charlie Robison and his brother Bruce both perform in town pretty regularly, let us get something straight up front: Bruce is the one that wrote “Travelin’ Soldier” for the Dixie Chicks, and Charlie’s the one that dueted with Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines on “The Wedding Song.” — CG
Totally ’80s Sing-Along at Alamo Drafthouse (Richardson)
The important thing to remember with any of these decade-themed parties is not the words to every Madonna song, no, those will pop up right there on the screen for you, rather it’s that the apostrophe goes before the numbers and not between the zero and the “s.” Grammar is awesome. — CG
Beavis and Butthead Do America at Texas Theatre
Critics gave this one two thumbs up… your butt. Hehe. Hehe. — CG