Central Track Staff
This Is How You Do.
I believe the children are our future. Actress/current Nylon cover girl Shailene Woodley, on the other hand, believes it's bugs. Said the actress in the April issue of the mag: “I've eaten ants and that was great. And June bugs, that was great. I think the future of food is in insects, so we'll see what happens.”
Oh, we'll see, alright.
But while bugs may, indeed, turnout to be the answer to the globe's food supply woes, it's a solution most of us probably won't turn to until quite a ways down the road. In the more immediate future, there's the matter of how we'll spend these next few days.
Here's the best of what North Texas has to offer this weekend, none of which involves bugs. — Cory Graves
Friday
The Devil Wears Prada at The Prophet Bar
It's been five years since The Devil Wears Prada released its Zombie EP, and the band is celebrating the EP's anniversary on tour. You can catch it live this Friday at The Door. The band will perform the EP in its entirety — all five songs! Interestingly, live videos of the album's songs have significantly more views for the live versions than recorded versions on YouTube. All the more reason to see them in person, we suppose. The Word Alive and Born of Osiris open. — Carly Seitz
North Mississippi Allstars at Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill
North Mississippi Allstars, with its blues meets rock and roll sound, has joined forces with Anders Osborne, who plays New Orleans soul. The two groups are currently on a collaboration tour that they call N.M.O. We aren't totally sure what the acronym stands for (maybe North Mississippi Osbourne?), but that's besides the point. It's going to be awesome, and that's all you need to know. — CS
Friday Night Drags at the Bridge at Continental Avenue Bridge
Friday night's drag race at the bridge is the first race of the #JustRideDallas 2015 Race Series. Just to be clear, this is a drag race for bicycles, not motorcycles or cars. Also, don't think just because bicycles aren't motorized that you can drink while you bike. SPiN590 Productions' promo video for it is a bit confusing considering the music for it is LMFAO's “Shots,” but we strongly advise against taking any shots before or during the race. Celebrate after! — CS
Rebel Without a Cause at Texas Theatre
Come watch '50s teenage heartthrob James Dean on the screen when Texas Theater plays Rebel Without A Cause this Friday, on the movie's 60th birthday. Also? Texas Theatre is celebraring Dallas filmmaker Kirby Warnock's birthday at this one, too. Furthermore, the night will also serve as a fundraiser for an artwork in Kiest Park that will honor the brothers Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. So much celebrating. — CS
Galaxy Quest at Inwood Theatre
The pressure is on for a group of actors known for their sci-fi adventure series Galaxy Quest, when aliens mistake the series for reality and seek the actors' help to save their race from an alien warlord. When they are transported to space by the group of aliens and not able to leave, they assume the roles of their characters to try and save the desperate aliens. They end up succeeding in killing the enemy, but only after a series of mishaps. You can watch the flick this Friday (technically Saturday, as it starts at 12:05 a.m.) at Inwood Theater. — CS
Riff Raff at Thee Theater
RiFF RAFF is a lot of things. And, in addition to the basically hundreds of aliases he's created for himself — JODY HiGHROLLER, RAP GAME JAMES FRANCO and the FREESTYLE SCiENTiST, among them — the 32-year-old rapper would maybe do best to call himself the Versace Salesman. Here's the thing: No matter your thoughts on the man born Horst Simco — as a rapper, as an artist or as a person — what's inarguable is that RiFF RAFF is flat-out fantastic at selling himself. Oh, and his shows are fun as all get out. This time he plays at that other new Deep Ellum venue opening this weekend. — Mikel Galicia
Showtek at The Bomb Factory
Formed in 2001, Dutch duo Showtek consist of brothers Wouter and Sjoerd Janssen. Their sound is switched and blended with EDM, techno and hardstyle. The pair's crazy, vibrant live offering promises to be a wholly different experience than the two homegrown acts that bookend The Bomb Factory's grand opening weekend. — Lauren Rushing
Diavolo at Dallas City Performance Hall
Diavolo is a portmanteau of Latin words roughly translating to “from point to point I fly.” Combining theatrical elements and acrobatic performances of Cirque du Soleil with the creative movement of parkour and components of contemporary dance, Diavolo's performance at the intimate DCP will make a statement about how man interacts with his environment through the performers' interaction with ever-evolving, giant set pieces. — CG
Spring Fling Burlesque Revue at Kessler Theater
La Divina Productions puts on its annual spring burlesque show. Among those set to perform are Shannon Doahand, Ruthe Ordare (who won best soloist in the 2014 Texas Burlesque Festival) and Ruby Joule Burlesque's Donna Denise. — CS
The Hope Trust (Album Release) at Dan's Silverleaf
Vaguely Americana-tinged Denton pop rockers The Hope Trust (RIYL: Neil Finn, Wilco and The Wallflowers) release the followup to 2011's Light Can't Escape at this one. Support local music and all that. Mtn. Air and Skagg Philips. open. — LR
The Wailers at Trees
Originally serving as Bob Marley's backing band — helping him to sell over 250 million albums worldwide — the Wailers kept it going following Marley's death in 1981. While Bunny Wailer and Beverley Kelso are the only surviving members of the original Wailers, neither perform in this group. Nor do former Wailers Junior Marvin and Al Anderson, who currently perform with another group of musicians calling themselves The Original Wailers. These unoriginal Wailers does include bassist Aston Barrett, about the lone member of the bunch with any ties to Marley. This bunch will be jammin' tonight nevertheless. — CG
Buddy Guy at House of Blues
Hey guys — that's what Buddy Guy fanatics are called, right? — the legendary bluesman is back in town to put on another of his famously flamboyant guitar clinics. He's a real wiz on that thing. — LR
Bronze Radio Return at Dada
The old timey Hartford rockers must have a hell of a licensing broker. To wit, the band's tunes have been used by American Idol, Hart of Dixie, Anthony Bourdain's The Layover, and ads for Hollister, American Eagle, Polo and Home Depot among others. Needless to say, you've probably heard one of their tunes somewhere or another, by choice or otherwise. Swear and Shake and Gollay open. — CG
Reckless Kelly at Granada Theater
Since its origins in an old farmhouse-turned-music studio 15 or so years ago, Reckless Kelly has been attempting to bring the old-school vibe back to country rock. Another thing that hasn't changed: The band has always tried to make its recorded output sound as live as possible. So what you hear on their albums is pretty much what you're going to get tonight. Colton O'Neill Band and Ronnie Fauss open. — Stephen Young
Symphonie Fantastique at Meyerson Symphony Center
Once in college, I was assigned the task of writing a 20-page paper exploring the symbolism strewn throughout Hector Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique. It was a task that proved far less daunting than it sounds, as the French composer's masterpiece is absolutely rich with vivid imagery. I doubt anyone before or sense has quite accomplished the mission of using sounds to painting such vibrant pictures. There's never a doubt as to what action's taking place in the symphony's narrative, especially when the protagonist is being led to the guillotine and his last thoughts fall back to the object of his affection, just before his head his lopped clean off. It's beautiful, touching and brilliant. — CG
Stef Lova con Lady Misfits Pre-Party at Epocha
Lady Misfits, the gals behind hair salon Studio 410 are hosting a party this Friday at Epocha to commemorate a visit by famed model, makeup artist and Wild 'n Out star Stef Lova. She lives in Los Angeles, and they want to show her how Dallasites get down. Help them show her how much better we are than Cali, y'all. DJ Sober will provide the tunes. — CS
Final Fridays Hip-Hop Honors DJ Whiz-T at Three Links
Earlier this year, the affable turntablist born Anthony Johnson, who has served as the official DJ for the Dallas Mavericks since 2007 and was a fixture performer at games and events for the Cowboys and the Stars, passed away. Always happy to use his position to assist up-and-comers within the scene, DJ Whiz T had developed a reputation in his almost 20 years of DJing around town as a trusted advisor, an eager mentor and a revered elder statesman within this community. Prior to linking up with the Mavericks, where he worked as the “Supervisor of Game Audio Operations,” Johnson maintained residencies at various clubs around town, among them Spy Club, Club Blue, Purgatory and Che. Before that, he served in the U.S. Army. The Bodega Brovas, Playdough & Sean P, Verbal Seed, Grey Matter, Fort Nox, Alsace Carcione, Tahiti and others will honor his memory by spinning some good hip-hop. — Pete Freedman
Texas Pinball Festival at Frisco Convention Center
Starting today and continuing on through the weekend, the Texas Pinball Festival will take place at Hilton Anatole, completely taking over the space with about 400 pinball machines, all of which are on free to play once you pay the cover. There will also be tournaments and vendors. It's actually pretty baller. — Trace McCaslin
Rockers vs Mods
With RvM events happening all weekend just keep one thing in mind: Ain't nothin' better than a vintage Triumph motorcycle. If you spot one, keep it cool. But know that you will spot one. So, please, do keep it cool. — H. Drew Blackburn
Art All Night at Greater Denton Arts Council
With various music happenings going down literally around the clock, this one will feel a lot like those lock-ins you used to go to as a kid — only instead of a church youth pastor, you've got Paul Slavens left in charge. Find the full night/morning's schedule above. — CG
Saturday
Mudbug Bash at Main Street Garden Park
You don't generally have the opportunity to get your country living on in Dallas proper, but the Mudbug Bash at Main Street Garden is here to change all that, offering up 3,500 pounds of crawfish, live music and evens some armadillo races. — HDB
Toadies at The Bomb Factory
The Toadies, Brutal Juice and Baboon at The Bomb Factory? That's an old-sounding sentence if there ever was one. According to some widely played radio spots, you've never seen a show like this, except, well, if you're above a certain age, there's a good chance you've seen a show pretty much exactly like this. We hear they've made a couple of changes to the place since the last time the Toadies played there, though, for whatever that's worth. — CG
Whiskey Myers at House of Blues
This Tyler, Texas quintet are just as likely to score with the hard-drinking red dirt crowd as they are with the Zeppelin-adoring stoner set. That is to say saddle up if taking a bunch of downers and listening to a psych-tinged Americana jam session sounds up your alley. —CG
Jokes and Jazz at Winspear Opera House
Though he's, perhaps, best known for his stint on In Living Color, Tommy Davidson's career didn't end there. More recently, he voiced the Cream Corn character in Cartoon Network's Black Dynamite, which is a bit more timely than, say, his Sugar Ray Leonard impersonation. Tonight he teams with American jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey for a night of — wait for it — jokes and jazz. — CG
MacGruber at Alamo Drafthouse
Some SNL skits translate spectacularly into feature length territory (see: Wayne's World) other's, work best in explosion-interrupted Digital Shorts. — CG
Selena Tribute at Country Burger
This month marks the 20th anniversary since the death of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, and local art collective Sour Grapes is paying tribute to the singer this Saturday with a day of celebration. The festivities will begin at Country Burger, where there will be an art show and lookalike contest from 4-7 p.m., and where Faded Deejays will be spinning. (To give you an idea of what it will be like, check out our coverage of last year's Selena tribute celebration.) Later, at Crown and Harp, there will be an after-party from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., with special guest DJ Principe CU, who is Selena's nephew. — CS
#REALSTREETJAMS at The Basement Gallery
Drinking and driving is a bad idea. But when the driving happens on a track called Luigi Raceway or Koopa Troopa Beach, well that's a different animal. It's safer, for one thing. And it's a good time, too. Because, really, nothing gets the heart rate going like trying to land that shortcut on Rainbow Road while buzzed. But this event is about more than just videogames. Sure, there'll be a Mario Kart tournie going on here — as well as similar ones for Mortal Kombat, Marvel vs Capcom, Super Smash Bros. — but there'll also be art, plus cosplay and live music. Just remember, this one's BYOC (bring your own controller). — Scott Mitchell
Netsky at Lizard Lounge
Netsky was named after a computer virus, which makes a lot of sense after listening to the Belgian drum and bass producer's popular remixes and original tracks alike. Once they kind of worm their way into your brains, they're just as hard to get rid of. — CG
Dallas Community Fest at Community Beer Co.
The Dallas Junior Chamber of Commerce (DJCC) and the Dallas Arkansas Young Professionals (DAYP) are hosting a networking event of sorts this Saturday, complete with a group bike ride, music, food trucks and beer. The bike ride will begin at noon, and live music by Ole G, The Effinays, Hares on the Mountain and Benjamin Del Shreve will start at 1 p.m. at Community Beer Co. Tickets, which are $10 in advance and $15 at the door, provide access to the bike ride and music, as well as three drink tickets. Note the hours, too, which run a while longer than Community's usual Saturday open houses. — CS
Psych Out Fort Worth at Lola's
For its third annual gathering of local space rock/psychedelic/et al. gathering, Lola's has got Slumberbuzz, War Party side project Sur Duda, Slybot, Zelfel and Black Vega all slated to play. It's $10 to get in, or $5 if you bring four buddies. — CG
The Whyte Window / Black Mirror / Black Burka Art Show at Beefhaus
Are mysterious artists Whyte Window, Black Mirror and Black Burka three separate entities, or three aspects of one performer? The trio's best work is its use of the internet, and the Facebook invite to this one-night only art show (linked above) is a work of art in itself. We're not sure exactly what they're going to do at this one, but being the ultimate trolls, we'd be willing to bet they've got something good up their collective sleeve. — CG
Cri$p at Pariah Art
Philadephia emcee, battle rapper, freestyle champ and 2012 Red Bull EmSee freestyle national champion, Mic Stew headlines this hip-hop bill. Fellow Philly emcee Bul Bey also performs, as does Tru Def, Terrence Spectacle, Buddha Stoops, Meka Jackson, Jenny Robinson and THATKIDCAM. Afterwards, the party moves over to That That, where it'll keep rolling to the wee hours of Sunday morn with sequel appearances from Mic Stew and Bul Bey, this time with Jayson Lyric & DJ Endo, -topic and Colly T. — CG
Valise, Sudie, Tony Q & Plain Jane Francis at Three Links
Dallas Indie rock band, Valise, kicks off its tour in style with an album release show that sold out in advance. Joining them on the stacked all-local bill is Sudie, Tony Q & Plain Jane Francis and Nite. — LR
Martina McBride at Billy Bob's
Often described as “the Celine Dion of country music,” Martina McBride is a well known name in the genre. While selling Garth Brooks merchandise when her husband was on his sound crew, Brooks noticed her singing along. Impressed with her talent, he offered that if she obtained a record deal, he'd have her open with him on his tour. The ploy totally worked, because in 1991 her demos were approved by RCA Records and the kick off of her career was that opening position. Since then, seven out of sixteen of her albums have gone gold, she's won seven awards, and firmly cemented her position as a big, tour-headlining performer. — Jordyn Walters
Deadly Sins Burlesque at Wit's End
Burlesque is cool enough on its own, sure, but combine it with some craziness like barbwire hooping (do they really mean hula hooping with barbwire?), a bed of nails, walking on glass and more, and shit's sure to get real. Not to mention boys will perform burlesque (or in their case, boylesque) as well, which is basically just icing on the cake. — CS
Punk Rock Karaoke at Gas Monkey Live
Unlike the local Punk Rock Karaoke that kicks around town, mostly playing happy hours at Three Links, this same-named touring version includes members of Bad Religion, Social D, Circle Jerks and The Dickies, among others. Here's your chance, anyway, to share the stage with some of your punk rock idols. — CG
Sunday
Pentatonix at Verizon Theatre
Recent Grammy winners, UTA grads and stars of the upcoming Pitch Perfect sequel will sing a whole bunch of cover songs using all of zero instruments. — CG
Sir Mix-a-Lot at Trees
The year was 1992. All eyes were on the grunge scene that was then bubbling over out in Seattle. But that, of course, only tells part of Seattle's music story from that year. Just five months after Nirvana released their masterwork Nevermind, another Seattle-based act, Sir Mix-a-Lot, would release a popular album all his own. Much like Nevermind, Mix-a-Lot's third release, Mack Daddy, would become something of a seminal album in its own right. If nothing else, that album's lead single, “Baby Got Back,” would go on to become a pop culture fixture forevermore. Though Mix-a-Lot's largely considered a one-hit wonder these days, the rapper's fourth album, 1994's Chief Boot Knocka, would reach as high as No. 69 on the Billboard 200 and receive a nomination for “Best Rap Solo Performance” at the Grammys. — CG
Kate Tempest at House of Blues
English poet/spoken word artist Kate Tempest earned plenty of critical praise and really began to put herself on the map at last week's SXSW. Said NPR's All Things Considered about one of those South By performances: “There is something about Kate that speaks to every single person in the room. … You just felt like she was talking to you. And her message was full of passion and love. One of the lines she repeated over and over to everybody as she looked around the room was 'more empathy, less greed.' Live in the moment is sort of her message. She stands of top of a monitor speaker and she says, 'I'm not preaching,' but she was preaching in the best of ways.” — CG
Selena at Texas Theatre
Billboard named Chorpus Christi artist Selena Quintanilla-Perez the top Latin artist of the '90s. The single-named singer who was murdered at the age of 23 by the president of her fan club has also been called the “Mexican Madonna.” Her double platinum posthumous album became the first Tejano album to ever reach No. 1 in America. As Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the singer's death, Texas Theatre's showing the Jennifer Lopez-starring Selena biopic this weekend. — CG
Tootsie at Alamo Drafthouse
Sorry Robin Williams, but this version of Mrs. Doubtfire was so much funnier. In our book, it doesn't get much more hysterical than Dustin Hoffman's gender-bending 1982 comedy. — CG
Magic Man at Cambridge Room
Magic Man initially formed in New England circa 2010, but it's taken influence from all around the globe. For instance: The band boasts a song inspired by the band's Texas ties, and the band's name itself is derived from the nickname of a guy they met in France. Throughout the course of its travels, the band's been largely shaped by its experiences on the road, evolving from a self-proclaimed “glorified karaoke act” to a full-on, high-energy pop rock band. And after countless national tours as openers — namely in support of indie pop rock acts New Politics, Walk the Moon and Panic! at the Disco — Magic Man is currently in the midst of its first headlining tour to promote its new album Before the Waves. For more info on this show, check out our Q&A with the band here. Great Good Fine OK opens. — Allie Williamson
Summer Mockbusters: The Fast & The Furious 1 & 6 Double Feature at Granada Theater
They might not be the shoe-in for Best Picture that that Fast 7 promises to be, but there's reason to believe this The Fast & The Furious 1 and 6 double feature will be a winner just the same. Why? There's going to be a live twitter feed shown alongside the silver screen, which is especially nice because the guys from the Dallas Comedy House are bound to drop some heckling-gold. — Chris Escarfullery
Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School at Three Links
A good old fashioned life-drawing session is a necessary staple for artists of all types. Drawing from observation is a classic technique to improve your skills and increase your technical abilites to perceive form and function. Unfortunately, that sounds totally boring and academic. The idea between these regular Dr. Sketchy's events is to come up with a more relaxed lesson in the art of life-drawing. Hey, it doesn't get much more relaxed than being held in a bar! And whereas anyone who's ever done an actual, serious life-drawing or figure-drawing session has that, “Oh, you wouldn't believe what the model looked like!” story, Dr. Sketchy's does it right, bringing burlesque performers in to hold court. These models are always in costume, and there is a theme every month. This month's model is Honey Hula La. — Jeremy Hughes
Invincible Celebration at Good Records
In what they say will be an annual thing moving forward, Good Records tips the cap at local lady music makers with this trio of female-led in store performances from Bethan, Kaela Sinclair and Madison King. In addition to the free rock show, there'll also be free booze from Dos Equis and complimentary manicures courtesy of the mobile Sally's beauty truck. — CG
Sarah Jaffe at Dan's Silverleaf
Like she does a couple times a year, Sarah Jaffe returns to the Denton club where she once worked as a bartender for a special solo acoustic performance. And, also like her last several shows at Dan's, this one will probably sell out pretty easily. So advanced ticket purchases are highly recommended. — CG
To find out what else is going on today, this week and beyond, check out our events page.
