Central Track Contributor
And Down The Stretch They Come!
The weekend — your time to finally let loose — is once again upon us.
And make no mistake: You really should let loose these next few days. Americans are notorious for letting their lives get consumed by work — and moreso than most other countries, really.
Take the French, for example: That just made it illegal to answer work emails after 6 p.m.. Meanwhile, there are places in Sweden that are giving the whole 30-hour work week thing a go.
So shut down your computers and/or smart phones. Well, after you read the rest of this post, of course, so you can really make the most of what's left of your limited downtime.
Friday
Reckless Kelly at Granada Theater
Since its origins in an old farmhouse-turned-music studio 15 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. — Stephen Young
TEAM* at Trees
Last we heard from homegrown indie-rockers TEAM* was back in December when they were in town opening a string of dates for Third Eye Blind. That show also marked the release of the band's debut EP, which finds the former members of mall-punk outfits Forever the Sickest Kids and Boys Like Girls creating sounds just grown up enough to start attracting some new, slightly older fans — and while, at the same time, not necessarily alienating too many fans of their other projects in the process. The Orange, St. Karla and Page 9 open. — Cory Graves
Power Trip, Impalers, Modern Pain, Nekrofilth and Vulgar Display at Dada
At this one, Parade of Flesh is putting on another amalgamation of break-your-neck speed metal that's hard to ignore. Headbanging is not only encouraged, but damn near mandatory. Oh, and before fans of the hometown headliners think about sleeping on this show, just keep this in mind: Power Trip frontman Riley Gale will be moving to Chicago in the not too distant future. The band will soldier on, but this is likely the last show Gale plays before becoming this local band's not-so-local vocalist. — Porttia Portis
A Taste of Herb at Twilite Lounge
These guys are kind of a throwback version of what you typically see from the Denton music scene. As such, this Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass tribute act can normally be found reviving the sound of the '60s around the Square — and, in the process, attracting everyone from silver foxes, college kids with beards and everything in between. Tonight, they'll bring their surprisingly faithful act to Dallas. — Porttia Portis
FGI Career Day at World Trade Center
This self-proclaimed “Ultimate Fashion Experience” is the longest and largest running fashion career event of its kind in the nation. This year, it takes place at the Dallas' World Trade Center. The event includes a full list of expert guest speakers, panel discussions and seminars that all pertain to working in the at-times fickle fashion industry. In other words? This informative experience is the perfect thing for industry hopefuls. — Porschia Paxton
Daniel Markham at AllGood Cafe
As great as Markham's latest LP is, he really shines when all the fuzz and electrified brooding of his full band is stripped away in favor of a solo acoustic offering. It's also when the influence of early-period REM that so permeates his catalog is most apparent. — CG
Sky Blu at Plush
For just $20 you can watch one half of LMFAO perform a DJ set tonight. Without his better half by his side, though, how interested in you in watching Sky Blu pick out records? Wouldn't that be akin to buying tickets to see Oates without Hall? Meg without Jack? Garfunkel without Simon? Andrew Ridgeley without George Michaels? For the record: It's perfectly fine if you didn't catch that last reference; we're not sure even George Michaels could have named the other guy from Wham! had he not just looked it up on Wikipedia, either. — CG
Warbeast at The Rail Club
For its sophomore LP, Destroy, Warbeast let go of all restraints and somehow achieved an even meaner and heavier sound. The album showcases a sense of freedom for the band, with songs that go away from traditional and predictable writing patterns for a fully destructive metal sound. Exploder, Interment, Violence Arise and Electric Vengeance open. — Porttia Portis
Caked Up at Lizard Lounge
In the sea of trap music producers and mixes, Caked Up's musical prowess helps add something different to the mix. The duo made up of Oscar Wylde and Vegas Banger knows just when to add some of its own songs and remixes to a blend of songs guaranteed to shake a dance floor. — Porttia Portis
Metal Alliance Tour at House of Blues
The fourth annual Metal Alliance tour brings Polish extreme metal band Behemoth to the States for the first time since it released its tenth studio album, The Satanist, back in February. Keeping with the band's carefully crafted occult image, it'll play no fewer than four different Houses of Blues venues on this tour. Louisiana swamp-metal legends Goatwhore plays main support, and 1349, Inquisition and Black Crown Initiate open. — CG
Dallas Arts Fair at Fashion Industry Gallery
All weekend long, some 90 prominent national and international art dealers and galleries will exhibit works that cover an array of mediums — from photography and painting to video, sculpture and so, so, so much more. The fair's tangential events will take place in and around the Fashion Industry Gallery and various other high art hotspots. Check out the full schedule of events here. — Porttia Portis
The Electronic Experiment II at J&J's Pizza
For the second time, Spiderweb Salon hosts a night of local electronic and noise artists to showcase new projects, as well as poetry, comedy and more. Come at 8 p.m. for pizza and beer, and then stay for the show that'll start at 9 p.m. The $5 suggested donation is in place to help make sure that more showcases, events, art galleries, print zines and other things that make creative nights happen definitely do so in the future. — Porttia Portis
Sasha at It'll Do
Welsh electronic icon Sasha has been in the game for years now, but that doesn't mean the dude isn't up on his shit. His most recent LP featured collaborations with The xx, Foals and Little Dragon, just to name a few. Sure, this is his third time at the It'll Do in recent memory, but, whatever. If it works, right? — Pete Freedman
Dark Rooms and Def Rain at The Crown & Harp
Two of North Texas' finest acts come together for this show being thrown by Monique Roberts, who you may know as “that girl who got on stage and danced with Le1f that one time.” It's her birthday. Cover is $5. — PF
Saturday
Reverend Horton Heat at Gas Monkey Bar & Grill
Expect to hear a bunch of new material from the local stalwarts as, to the best of our knowledge, this is the Rev's first hometown performance since it released its eleventh studio LP back in January. Per a recent interview with Rolling Stone, frontman Jim Heath says this new batch of tunes recalls the harder-rocking psychobilly sound that the band's best known for. To that end, the release even includes a re-working of a 1986 demo from the band called “Longest Gone Man” — a song that Johnny Rotten once called his favorite of the Rev's tunes. — CG
Snow tha Product at Trees
Earlier this week, supporters of the Dallas hip-hop scene packed The Angelika to the gills for the premiere screening of We From Dallas, an optimistic documentary chronicling 20 years of Dallas' hip-hop history. At that screening, homegrown legend The DOC addressed the crowd, saying, “The life that I lived, although tragic in so many ways, is bigger than me. It's a beautiful thing to be from Dallas. I'm grateful for that. We ain't got it yet. But we're gonna get it.” One of North Texas' brightest young stars at the moment, and perhaps the biggest indicator that The DOC's prophecy might happen sooner than later, is Fort Worth transplant Snow tha Product. Not only was the emcee recently given the chance to appear alongside names like Big Boi, Wale, Common and Daddy Yankee on HBO's Game of Thrones-themed mixtape, she outshined most of those acts in the process. — CG
Beauty Live at Galleria Dallas
This annual two-day event will be filled with makeup, free samples, gifts with purchases, continuous demonstrations, makeovers and opportunities to talk with beauty experts. During this weekend, Dallas is the center of the beauty industry. OK, maybe not. But it still sounds like a great event to attend nevertheless. —Porschia Paxton
Ken Paves at Neiman Marcus
Celebrity stylist Ken Paves will be making a personal appearance at the Neiman Marcus at the The Shops at Willow Bend to promote his book, You Are Beautiful. The beauty expert and Jessica Simpson BFF will meet with fans and sign autographs in the beauty department of the mall. — Porschia Paxton
Bad Sports, The Longshots, Drug Animal and Street Arabs in Dallas at Double Wide
Though Bad Sports has long established itself a force on the national garage rock scene, its members are probably best known for their other projects at the moment. To that end, this show might have earned even more attention were it billed as the namesake of OBN III's fronting various members of Radioactivity. Speaking of OBN III's: That group has a new EP due out next month, which means it might be a bit of a wait before Bad Sports plays in town again. More reason why this one's worth seeing: The rather stacked all-local bill also features the fast-rising Fort Worthians The Longshots, along with Dallas acts Drug Animal and Street Arabs. — CG
BlessTheFall and Silverstein at The Prophet Bar
The post-hardcore, metalcore scene is treating BlessTheFall pretty well. The band's last album, Hollow Bodies, is earning the group its most sales to date. Support act Silverstein, meanwhile, is on its seventh album, thus proving to parents everywhere once and for all that this sound is not just a phase, but a way of life. The Amity Affliction, Secrets and Heartist open. —Porttia Portis
Cykochik Pop-Up Shop at WAAS Gallery
What's a vegan handbag? Is it more or less edible than handbags made from meat? Tough to say, but Dallas handbag designer Cykochik has been making her vegan handbags for 10 years now, which will be celebrated at this event. — CG
Brewery Tour at Grapevine Brewery
These guys recently decided to throw their hats into the increasingly crowded North Texas craft beer scene, and despite renovations not being done at their Main Street location in Grapevine, the people of GCB are still hard at work at their Farmers Branch location. Join them for their first-ever tour of that brewery and see what all of the buzz has been about. — PP
The Starck Club at Texas Theatre
Here's a Dallas fun fact for you: Dallas seminary student Michael Clegg is credited with coining the term “Ecstasy” for the popular club drug MDMA. By 1984, he was selling over 500,000 doses of the drug per year, using advertising and a 1-800 number to place orders. The drug's popularity with Dallas clubgoers led to local discotheque The Starck Club becoming known as ground zero for the drug's popularization in the '80s. That'll just be one subject broached in this Starck Club documentary, which is being screened in conjunction with this year's Dallas International Film Festival. — CG
Black Taffy, Hat Hair, Savage n Big Beat and Danny Diamonds at Dan's Silverleaf
In which Daniel Folmer's Danny Rush persona is put to bed and Danny Diamonds rises anew. Among other local music things. — CG
The Slack at Twilite
What better way, if you're Chris Holt, to celebrate your birthday than by getting your old band back together for a special one-off performance on Twilte Lounge's outdoor patio? None that we can think of. Speaking of birthdays, somebody buy that man a beer already. — CG
Goddamn Gallows at Three Links
If ever there was an occasion to mix Adderall and booze, it's a show like this one. From hobocore headliners Goddamn Gallows, whose biggest hit is “Y'all Motherfuckers Need Jesus,” to Arlington's Convoy & The Cattlemen, who churn out old fashioned Texas swing at breakneck speeds, every damn band on this bill combines country and punk in one way or another. The Blue Flames and John Chaos Sideshow open. — CG
Big Spring Crawfish Boil at City Tavern
Performing at the Downtown tavern's seventh annual crawfish boil will be Gus Samuelson & Swampadelic, Amber Farris and Wade Cofer of Somebody's Darling, Greg Schroeder, Matthew Bridgeman, and The Troubaderos. The mudbugs will be ready by 1 p.m., and those heads ain't going to suck themselves. — CG
Main Street Arts Fest in Downtown Fort Worth
As arts fests go, this Fort Worth one ain't much better than that Deep Ellum one we've long been over. Alas, it's happening, and here's our blurb announcing as much. The festival kicked off on Thursday and goes through Sunday, but Saturday's far and away the tops as music goes. Unfortunately, all the best stuff is happening at the same time as, right at 9 p.m., alt-country favorites The Mavericks, Austin icon Bob Schneider and Dallas soul revivalist Larry g(EE) will each kick off their respective night-closing sets on three separate stages. — PF
Gary Allan at Lone Star Park
Spring thoroughbred season kicked off this past Thursday at this Grand Prairie pony track, and, to celebrate taking all of your money thanks to your ill-advised bets, the park's kicking off its annual music series this weekend, too. This one's the best of the early bunch (apologies to the Josh Abbott Band, who opens the series on Friday night), as Allan's tear-in-beer and drinking songs boast a certain undeniable authenticity. — PF
Sunday
Jeff Bridges at Granada Theater
With an IMDb roster as long as his, it's probably safe to say that you've seen Jeff Bridges in at least one movie. But on top of an acting career that's spanned his entire lifetime — really, his first role was when he was a baby — he has a pretty strong country music following, too. If he ever wanted to let go of the acting world, we're the music industry would welcome him with welcome arms. Lucky for us, he chooses to do both. And, as both an Academy Award winner for his role in Crazy Heart and the man who warmed our hearts as Jeffrey Lebowski, he sure does seem to have a pretty good grasp on things. — Porttia Portis
Salute to King Creole Crawfish Festival at Chicken Scratch
Chicken Scratch and The Foundry are putting on a celebration this month for all things Creole at their first annual Salute to King Creole Crawfish Festival. Guests can enjoy all-you-can-eat Creole tastings and drinks provided by Stoli Vodka and Peticolas Brewing Company. You can also get tattooed by John Arseneau of Elm Street Tattoo while enjoying live entertainment from Fort Worth's Zydeco Stingrays. The event takes place from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. — Porttia Portis
Mad Men Watching Party at Twilite
The upcoming seventh season of Mad Men marks the beginning of the end for the series. That said, you'll probably want to pore over this Rolling Stone primer on the series as a refresher course before heading to Deep Ellum to catch the season 7 premiere. Unlike the myriad other Mad Men watching parties going on all over town tonight, this one will be followed up by Ricki Derek, who'll croon on all those Mad Men-era Rat Pack hits. — CG
Broken Gold at Double Wide
If Austin-based punk band Broken Gold comes off as a more obscure version of the Riverboat Gamblers, it's because two-thirds of its members come from that other group. — Porttia Portis
Chevelle at House of Blues
Fresh off of the release of its seventh album, La Gargola, Chevelle tours with the comfort of knowing that the disc has already cracked the top five on the Billboard 200 chart. It just goes to show: When you find a sound that works for you, you should probably just stick to it. — Porttia Portis
Pup Crawl at Lower Greenville
Dallas Pets Alive and Community Beer Co. co-host the very first Pup Crawl with the help of Dallas Beer Kitchen, The Truck Yard, Crown & Harp and The Libertine. The idea? To help promote dog adoption, with proceeds going to medical and behavioral care of the pets up for adoption. Also, beer. The event starts at 2 p.m. — Porttia Portis
To find out what else is going on today, this week and beyond, check out our events page.
