Welcome back. The first order of business is that I should point you to FrontRow’s massive year-end coverage concerning the calendar year we buried mere days ago. I would start with Peter Simek’s sort of anti-list, which is a very sober take on the trends and events of this past year in Dallas art. Simek bounces back from there with some predictions for 2015, which sounds a little more optimistic in attitude toward this as-yet uncharted cultural territory. We’ll see how it goes.
Meanwhile, photographer Andi Harman did a terrific job compiling her thorough documentation of Dallas art and music from the past year. It was a reminder of just how rich the activity has been in Dallas and beyond over the past year.
Next up, we asked the musicians how they felt about another year in the arts. They were very generous with their time and words, and you can read that here.
We then spoke to the artists, mostly from the visual arts community, but also to a comedian.
Then we went to the community at large, to gauge the climate from the perspective of the people who run the show and let the world know what’s going on in Dallas: Booking people, social media butterflies, journalists, and radio personalities.
One of the most talked-about events in just about every list we ran was “Outward Bound Mixtape Sessions.” That’s the weekly experimental music show at Crown and Harp on Mondays that covers everything from dance music to free jazz to just plain noisy rock and roll. I don’t think there was another event that was mentioned on more “best of” lists and if you’ve ever been, you know that’s for good reason. That kicks off at 10 tonight.
Finally, I’ve never wished there was more going on tonight than I do right now. I will be making a personal appearance at one of the best new bars of 2014: Off the Record in Deep Ellum this evening, in a panel on the “state of Dallas music.” Jeff Gage of the Dallas Observer and Pete Freedman of Central Track will also be there. This is part of the continuing lecture series that the bar calls “High Fidelity.” That begins at 8 pm, and I can not vouch for the quality of this discussion other than to say I will not have a sip of anything until it’s over.
For more things to do, go here.
