Friday, March 28
The Deep Ellum Big Folkin Festival (Various venues throughout Deep Ellum, including Prophet Bar and a an outdoor stage): I did a quick search and found the word “folk” was used 20 times in the event invite for this two-day festival. That pretty much summarized it for me, and I hope that works for you too. Rania Khoury, Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, and Hares on the Mountain are among the bands scheduled to perform.
The House Harkonen/Spacebeach/Duell/Distort (RBC): The House Harkonen usually appears at Curtain Club, so I’m a little confused as to the necessity of having them at RBC, which is currently trying to reestablish itself as a punk hub. Spacebeach is a much more fitting “heavy” act, as they have more obvious connections to the punk and hardcore community, either through philosophy or inspiration.
Egyptian Lover/DJ Sober/Cygnus/Tape Mastah Steph (The Crown and Harp): I told you about this show early this week, and let me endorse it again. I missed Egyptian Lover’s last Dallas performance at Minc years ago, and I still regret it. With each passing year, I only hear more records that are clearly indebted to his original pacesetting, not fewer.
Troller/Pinkish Black/Marie Davidson/Knifight (Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios): Troller’s imagery and name are somewhat misleading as they seem not entirely unlike a successfully communicative metal band. That’s not the case, however, as they actually fit in a lot more with Austin’s vast synth scene, though it’s tempered with far more drama than the quirkiness emanating from that community. I’ve been told that the artist behind Public Health will be DJing, so don’t rush off to the bar just yet in between sets. Actually, I was just at Rubber Gloves last night and they pipe the music in to the bar now. So, have at it.
Saturday, March 29
The Internet (Trees): For more info, go here.
Complete/The Hymens/Gay C*m Daddies/Cropdust/Load-in (Andy’s Bar): I caught Complete last year and though they’ve somewhat improved from their accepted status as the supposed worst band of all time or some other nonsense, they still provide an undetectable thrill that comes from their strange take on traditional rock music. The other bands in the lineup really know how to test my patience regarding taste in music (which some of them clearly have) vs taste in naming their band (which almost nobody here possesses, save for Complete).
Tolar/Orgullo Primitivo/Hellwar (Taqueria Chichen-Itza): How good is Orgullo Primitivo’s Stefan Gonzalez? Well, he can keep the attention of two little kids for over an hour with just an analog drum kit, something that seems a near impossibility in our times.
Martyn/Wanz Dover/Left/Right/DragonLazer/Luis Reyes & Daniel Zapata/Donny Young/J Who (Sandaga 813): As I said on Monday, Dallas is one of very few tour stops for the internationally recognized Martyn. More information is available here.
