If you're going to just go in to drink at the bar, there's no cover.. you'll only pay cover if you want to go into the next room, where the bands are actually playing. (with the exception of larger shows, where the crowd will most likely be too large for just the show room).
I'm not sure where I stand on it, but I like that they're thinking about new ways to serve their patrons. And it's always nice to be able to just pop in to say hello to friends w/out having to pay a cover for a band you're not particularly interested in, so there's that.
Oh, and in similar news, Strawberry Fields - denton's own independent music/movie store - has officially opened in their new location, the Rubber Gloves building at 411 E. Sycamore. It's a big week just east of Bell Ave., methinks.
Tonight would be a good night to check it all out - in lieu of a band RGRS will be featuring "Rock Band", a chance for patrons to rock out w/the popular video game.
And tonight - no cover at all.
I'm in the midst of planning a tour myself, so maybe I'm just painfully more aware of it right now, but recent discussions with my peers have left me believing there's just no way around it.
To a community of musicians that has advocated bicycling, carpooling, and shorter commutes to the day-job for environmental (and health reasons) the actual price of gas is normally a secondary factor at best.
I'm planning to follow a couple of tours this summer, just because this sort of thing interests me. I'll probably even share it with you, even if you're not interested in it. I mean hey, at least I'm writing again, right?
]]>
Our brethren at Quick have posted a link to footage shot for WFAA's Gordon Keith show of Record Hop doing what they do best - rocking out in an awkward environment.
I say WFAA should dump the talk show format all together & just fill those nifty Victory Park studios with rock bands.
]]>Floating through the week on Tuesday's high, I can't help but relate the characteristics of everything I like to those of a certain presumptive Democratic nominee. My family physician, with her lanky hands and calm, listening eyes, gave me an update on her two young children -- one is a boy -- and I thought of the smiling Obama sisters. Choice sandwiches-on-the-run have tasted classic but fresh, hearty with straightforward whole wheat and hopeful, crisp spinach.
Though it'd be less of a stretch to introduce deep Snapper on such terms, I'll spare you. It's no good to assume the members' political leanings, and We Shot JR already called the band's style "sophisticated."
Into the Ugly is the second release proper by a few persistent dudes who use their supple brains to raise fists. I'll admit it up front: I'm partial to jazz-informed cerebral rock; I rolled down the windows and pumped the quotable, blistering sermons of Red Animal War's Black Phantom Crusades as a mode of social evangelism in the gated neighborhoods of my youth.
Deep Snapper's latest is not quite as face-melting as the aforementioned album, but its as thoughtful and more palatable. "Splitting the Differents (Sic)" represents Into the Ugly's overall cleverness. It's catchy, with dissonant punches in just the right spots and a sunny reference to west-coast punk.
Throughout, grown-up rants about "urban sprawl" with "competing dry cleaners across from each other" make this an album of record by musician dad-types turned scene regulars turned band to watch. Mixing courtesy of Tre Orsi's Matthew Barnhart treats deep Snapper as the articulate rhythm section and guitar machine that it is, and an introduction to Dallas jazzman Dave Willingham's work is just another of this record's gifts.
Luckily. dS plays out often. Check here for an old-fashioned Web site calendar; no June Denton dates are up yet. And yeah, don't forget this.
In the meantime, I have NO idea what tonight's show at Rubber Gloves is all about, but just look at this flier. LOOK AT IT. There's some cows... that's pretty awesome.
Tonight's lineup (Rubber Gloves, 411 E. Sycamore, $5 over $7 under, doors at 9)
Strawberry Fields presents Denton Deluxe 1 with:
Nouns Group, Fight Bite,
J. Gray, Florene,
Verulf, Violent Squid,
Peach Street Gang, RTB2
Saturday Night's lineup (may start earlier than 9, I'm assuming same cover)
Strawberry Fields presents Denton Deluxe 2 with:
Kaboom!, Street Hassle,
Deep Snapper, Eat Avery's Bones,
Delphi, Zanzibar Snails,
The International
Not a lot else going on that I'm aware of tonight, unless you really like the Allman Brothers, then you can check out the Allmost Brothers - a pretty adept Allman Brothers cover band. Allthough I don't normally condone cover bands outside of the Halloween season, mind you.
]]>Kurt Cobain once joked that the Seattle music scene formed from "dinner clubs", they would gather to make a meal and playing music was just something for them to do while they waited for the food to cook.
It seems like Denton has it's own little Texas-style version of that.
I'll be wandering around tasting the chili for most of the day.
Sometimes I really love living in this town.
In the meantime, check out the new digs for our little music blog...
I'm a little lost in the new posting process, but we'll work it out.
New stuff coming this week. Stay tuned.
]]>Comment with your favorite parts. I like the tidbit about the sleepy highway dotted with peanut farms leading into town.
]]>
Apparently due to the development going on around that end of Oak the building they're currently in will no longer be available after the end of the month.
The store will re-locate to the former office space of Rubber Gloves (411 E. Sycamore), but this means the end of DIY shows for the guys at Strawberry Fields (once they've actually moved, I would expect a blowout show or two before they leave their current location.)
It's the kind of thing you really hate to see, but from my own experiences in hosting DIY shows I've learned this sort of thing goes in cycles. The Argo was at the top of the pack and then completely gone in a year's time. The mighty Rubber Gloves was once an abandoned office for a concrete plant, the first shows were held in a room full of unused electrical boxes w/little more than a floor & a microphone. And though they moved on to be a full bar with rehearsal spaces and an international reputation in the touring scene they could have just as easily ended up with a new face and a new name in Dallas, just like Art Prostitute/Public Trust. Secret Headquarters fought the good fight for a couple of years only to end up as a pile of paperwork and broken mic stands in my own garage.
So here's to hoping the guys at Strawberry Fields make a go of their new location, I have nothing but respect for them for turning a bad situation into a new chapter.
And the new spot for an ill-fated and well meaning storefront DIY venue?
Anybody's guess.
Maybe it's your turn. I suggest finding a place within walking distance from the square, and don't forget to get all the right permits.
Once you're to that point give me a call, I'm in.
Record Hop
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
Nouns Group
The Brewers
Record Hop has been riding a well-deserved wave of attention since the release of their latest self-titled album, but the real story here is the wall-to-wall lineup of awesome.
Without falling into the trap of comparing a two-piece band to a more famous two-piece band (but here I go anyway) The Brewers are about as close as it comes to Local H, one of my all time favorites. Not only that, but they sound like Local H steeped in a little early nineties Seattle grunge, which only makes it better.
Nouns Group is a quartet of pure bass, drums, anger, and screeching treble that hardly gets the attention they deserve. 10 years from now they'll be listed among the influences of the best of the underground rock scene.
Then take Nouns Group, clone them, then set the two halves against each other just to watch the carnage and you pretty much have When The Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth.
I don't know much about their lineup, but something tells me they share the same tangled roots as Nouns Group and Daniel Francis Doyle.
There's other stuff going on tonight, too.. just gathering details now.
UPDATE: apparently The Brewers can't make it tonight.
I'd be bummed, but I can't make it either. So I would have missed them either way.
The pick for tonight is Mariachi Inolvidable, rounding out a pretty big lineup for J&J's on a Thursday night. This show was put together by David Virden (aka Admiral David V.), who just woke up one day and decided he's going to start booking awesome shows all over town with a weird mix of bands. Most of these shows have happened on a night that coincides with a particular lunar event (new moon, pink moon, etc...), but some are put together in observation of a national "day", like Earth Day or International Workers Day (as is the case today). The show is usually free, but donations are collected for a related charity.
Another notable in this lineup is Mauve X, featuring Mauve Oed, originally one half of a then-duo act with Corn Mo.
___________________________________________________________________
Andy's
Mount Righteous Talent Show hosted by Joey Kendall.
There's something a little hipster-ironic about Grapevine's Mount Righteous, but if you've seen them live you can't deny they're a lot of fun. I can't imagine what a talent show hosted by a band would be like, but good for Andy's for hosting what is most likely a not-very-normal show. The website didn't list a cost, but you can contact Andy's Bar at the link above if you would like to find out more.
___________________________________________________________________
Rubber Gloves
Thu May 1 (Doors open at 9pm; $6)
Gazelles
Western Civilization
Broadcast Sea
Western Legend
I haven't really made up my mind about Gazelles yet. This is one of those cases where a band is really talented but I'm just not particularly interested in them for a live setting. I could see them as a soundtrack to an indie movie that's a little less trendy than Garden State but maybe a little less cool than Waiting. I'm not even sure what that means.
Regardless it would hardly be fair for me to not mention them just because I prefer to see live shows that have more sweat than sweaters.. they're a good band, and who am I to tell you what you should enjoy?
1) Record Hop - Record Hop
Stumptone - Gravity Suddenly Released LP (& CD)
2) Brave Combo - Kick Ass Polkas
Midlake - Bamnan and Silvercork
Oso Closo - Rest
Record Hop - Pareidolia
Shearwater - Theives
Snarky Puppy - World is Getting Smaller
Teenage Cool Kids - Remember Me 7"
Just in this week:
Delmore Pilcrow - Worn to the Weft
The Orange - "Lalaland"
Mistress/Calavera split cassette
Good to see Record Hop is still up there at the top. I also recommend the Stumptone album.
You can pick up most local CDs at Recycled Books (on the square) or Strawberry Fields (at Oak & Bonnie Brae).