I’m going to keep this brief since there has been such an overwhelming amount of activity lately, it would be best to let you get to your slight wealth of options this weekend.
First of all, if you are into Pearl Jam, you’ve already decided what you’re doing tonight. It’s remarkable that they’re still able to play the American Airlines Center at this point in their career, and I believe they played Moody Coliseum when the Bomb Factory was still around. So nobody, not even the age appropriate 90s rock fan, gets to have any unwarranted nostalgia for that imagined pairing, the way others are daydreaming about going back to a venue they never attended. Pearl Jam could play Cowboys Stadium, but they’ll likely never make a record like In Utero. That really doesn’t need to be said, but I did anyway. North Texas act in flux, Midlake, opens and you can read Richie Sullivan’s nuanced take here.
I highly recommend bouncing between a couple of venues on Friday night: Blackstone Rangers at Club Dada and Berlin at Trees. If that was one giant mega-bill, the entirety of the lineup would be a comfortable aesthetic fit. Vulgar Fashion and Berlin seem like natural stage-mates.
On Saturday, there is the often-unifying Art Con event on Singleton Boulevard, and it should be the usual enjoyable mix of artists, musicians, friends, and rivals pulling together for an altruistic cause.
Finally, I’m curious to see how the first, possibly annual Oaktopia event turns out, since there are some good to great hip hop acts on the lineup, and not every festival in Denton is heavy on that particular genre.
Update: You should do your best to always try to catch The Silver Saint Army, along with Unconscious Collective at Double Wide this evening. This wild show features what seems like half of the respectable musicians in Dallas all playing guitars behind Wanz Dover, who will be conducting the amplified orchestra in the style of New York Loft-noise composers such as Rhys Chatham and of course, Glenn Branca. Recommended.
For all of our Fun Fun Fun Fest coverage, go here, here, and here.
The Weekend’s events—
FRIDAY
Heavy Baby Sea Slugs/Problem Dogg/China Porche (Rubber Gloves)
Berlin/Zhora/George Quartz (Trees)
Blackstone Rangers/Hex Cult/Vulgar Fashion (Club Dada)
Pearl Jam/Midlake (American Airlines Center)
Kurtis Blow/Chaotic Resemblance (The Boiler Room)
John Vanderslice/Bent Shapes (Three Links)
Errors of Metabolism/Vozz de Pueblo/Nabeel Z (Hailey’s Club)
SATURDAY
Oaktopia featuring Del the Funky Homosapien/Brain Gang/-topic/Boombachs/Biographies (100 North Locust in Denton)
Zhora/New Fumes/Sarah Jafee (DJ Set)/Deb Doing Dallas (500 Singleton)
Polica/Marijuana Deathsquads (Trees)
The Breakfast Machine/Lil Brave/Jessie Frye (Club Dada)
“Vinyl Fantasy” (The Crown and Harp)
Photo: Midlake performing at NX35, 2010. Credit: Andi Harman.
