Friday
CMT is hosting an event in conjunction with the College Football Playoff event this weekend called the Ultimate Kickoff Party, and it all depends largely on your opinion of big-name country acts like Toby Keith as to whether you feel like attending. Keith has toned his overtly patriotic rhetoric down over the years, but still remains a divisive figure. He’ll be joined by other radio country stars such as Lady Antebellum, Brett Eldredge, and Big & Rich. The tickets are very reasonably priced for such star country peformers.
Once a crucial part of the Dallas Video Fest, the experimental art programming now has its own multi-month event: Dallas Medianale. It’s spread out over multiple venues through the end of February, and sites include the McKinney Avenue Contemporary’s Black Box Theater, the Texas Theatre, and CentralTrak. Artists include a wealth of talent including Julie McKendrick, Lillian Schwartz, and John Whitney. The festival opener is at 7 pm at the Black Box Theater in Uptown: Cybernetic Cinema Revisited: Early Computer Films, which is followed by Now You See: Intermedia Performances at 8:15 pm. This evening was curated by local artist Michael A. Morris. Further curating during this event will be provided by Charles Dee Mitchell, FrontRow contributor Danielle Avram Morgan, and Carolyn Sortor. While we’re on the subject Sortor also has a show at Reading Room opening next week. For more information, see Peter Simek’s guide to this weekend’s opening art openings.
Saturday
As part of the programming for the aforementioned Dallas Medianale, a special workshop will be held at Oil and Cotton to demonstrate techniques in manipulating old analog equipment such as those bulky old televisions that might be rotting away in your garage. This hardware hacking class is recommended for adults, as tinkering with soldering irons can be a bit of a safety issue. Class begins at 1 pm.
Elsewhere in this weekend’s art events, Circuit 12 in the Design District has a show with over 30 artists that is billed simply as Prty Ppl. The gallery is perhaps showing a bit of self-awareness here, as once upon a time it was hard to tell where the party ended and the art began. Since that era, the space has retained a much more dignified approach to its programming, but never comes off as stuffy. For more than you’d ever want to know about the Design District, see the January issue of D Magazine.
Sunday
The DSO features some wildly diverse programming this weekend; everything from a DJ to a reverent take on the work of both Rachmaninoff and a tribute to Eduardo Mata. The latter will be performed on Sunday afternoon, as composer Conrad Tao performs Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
Finally, the long running youth-oriented production company Junior Players presents In the Heights, which will be at Dallas City Performance Hall through Sunday. Nearly a dozen regional high schools have students in the 23-deep cast. The final curtain is at 2:30 pm this afternoon.
For more things to do, go here.
