Central Track Contributor
Do You Prefer Your Beats Modern or Antique?
The LGBT community has a lot to be proud of this year. The consistently decreasing social stigma of not being heterosexual, combined with the president and vice president coming out in support with gay marriage, kind of makes this year a milestone for the gay community. So, with that in mind, this year's Pride Parade should be one for the books. Come dress in rainbow colors and dance in celebration of the human condition!
Friday
Sarah Jaffe at Dallas City Performance Hall
Sarah Jaffe has the honor of opening up the brand new Dallas City Performance Hall tonight. Jaffe, who was a critical darling even before the release of The Body Wins last April, is no stranger to selling out shows, so expect this one to be packed.
KXT Triple Play at Dallas City Performance Hall
After Jaffe wraps her show up, catch another one! KXT has put together a bill of DFW performers, including Seryn, gospel and soul group The Relatives and a temporarily reunited Pleasant Grove for the opening night festivities at the new Arts District venue.
Passion Pit at UTA's College Park Center
Earlier this summer, Passion Pit, hot on the heels of releasing their sophomore LP, Gossamer, had to put their promotional plans on hold. Falsetto-adoring frontman Michael Angelakos was battling “mental health” issues, and, as such, the band canceled a string of performance dates. Students at the University of Texas at Arlington, then, should consider themselves lucky that this show, to be held at the school's new, state-of-the-art venue, is still going on as planned.
Hotel Tesseract at La Grange
The recurring Hotel Tesseract concept offered up semi-regularly at La Grange is a pretty ambitious undertaking: The venue is divided up into rooms and the performers each take one of the rooms over while asked to create their own vibe. High-concept? Definitely. Trippy? Would seem that way this week as DJ Ewi, Eyes, Wings, & Many Other Things, Diamond Age, Air Darla, Jon Meyer and others join forces at tonight's affair.
Beats Antique at Trees
Beats Antique is probably one of the more unique and interesting bands to come out in the past few years. Their combination of world music and electronic beats makes for a particularly lively record, and their live performances follow that trend. Last year's Elektraphone and 2010's Blind Threshold mark when the band truly started to come into their own as a group, and as such they shouldn't be missed.
Weld Open House Party
Dallas co-op space Weld wants you to come check out their space and their members' works, so you know what that means! (Party. It means a party.) There will be free beer, live music and a photo booth, so you and your friends can take totally unique pictures while sticking your tongues out.
Mission of Burma at Dan's Silverleaf
While you might have missed Mission of Burma in their '80s post-punk heyday, now's a good chance to “reach for [your] revolver” and make up for that with a relatively intimate show at Dan's Silverleaf.
Saturday
Deep Ellum Barkfest
Anyone who knows dogs also knows that dogs like to party. It's, like, their favorite thing to do (after chewing up slippers and chasing cyclists). Dogs everywhere can rejoice now that Deep Ellum Barkfest is back. It's an event including music, food trucks and, most importantly, dogs. The money raised will go to a good animal-related cause (Paws in the City), so bring your dog to the park and let them run free.
The Birds of Night at Prophet Bar
The Birds of Night (not to be confused with Birds of Prey, the short-lived WB series about Batman's daughter) are a Denton trio that we like a lot. Suffice to say, this show is highly recommended.
Trees' Three-Year Anniversary with Bowling for Soup, The Orange and Ten Can Riot at Trees
Trees turns three this weekend! To celebrate, they're bringing that guy who does the voice for Chuck E. Cheese Bowling for Soup and some other locals to play a show that costs just $3 to see.
Stereo on Strike 3.0 at Sundown at the Granada
Wanz Dover's bringing together a whole slew of the town's most interesting DJs for this set, which kicks off the return of his Stereo on Strike brand, albeit at its new Sundown at Granada location. Who you'll see in addition to Wanz: Shooknite, Jason Acton, Gabriel Mendoza and VJ S(eye).
Red Bull Box Car Derby
Soapbox car racing isn't just for tweens anymore! Red Bull is hosting the event, which will surely include people pushing other people who are sitting in a box with wheels on it! Exhilarating! Is there anything adults can't do?!
Shepard Fairey Exhibition at The Public Trust
You should probably “Obey” your instincts and check out the new print exhibition from Shepard Fairey, the artist whose works have become some of the most recognizable images of the 21st Century. You may recognize hisObama “Hope” poster, and, of course, Andre the Giant's face telling you to obey. You can also find his work on walls in West Dallas.
NSFW: Saturdays Featuring DJ Red Eye at It'll Do Dallas
I'm guessing that this Saturday night party is going to be pretty rad on account of the branding of “NSFW.” (Is it not really safe for work? What about the people who work at It'll Do? Burning questions.)
Sealion and Blackstone Rangers at Bryan Street Tavern
Sealion, Blackstone Rangers, Big Fiction, and Cutter make this a particularly strong local bill.
Sunday
Pride Parade at Oak Lawn
The Dallas Pride Parade always attracts a lot of colorful participants (think rainbows!), so it's pretty much guaranteed to be the best parade you'll go to all year.
DJ Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey at The Brick & Joe's
Leisha Hailey, who you might know from the TV show The L Word, will be DJing at The Brick & Joe's after the pride parade. Tickets are $20 and the proceeds go to AIDS services of Dallas and The Purple Foundation.
Swans and Xiu Xiu at Trees
Swans was one of the more influential and confrontational bands of the New York No Wave scene, what with frontman Michael Gira's gritty persona and his lyrical penchant for the aggressively religious. After forming in 1982, the band broke up in 1997, only to reform in 2010. This marks the band's second Dallas performance since that reformation.
