As I told you yesterday (read below -- I don't feel like linking to my own blog), I talked to Ryan Short about his departure from The Hourly Radio, a band he founded in late 2004. Here's the story that appeared in today's paper. The most shocking thing to me about the interview is Short's statement about not planning to pursue music seriously again. That's not something you hear very often when somebody leaves a band. He's a great guitar player, so I hope he'll change his mind down the road ...
This Melodica Festival thing is pretty exciting. Looks like Expo Park lovahs are aiming to cement its status as a major local-music destination. As someone who lives right around the corner from it, I couldn't be happier. Although, in my opinion, Sloppyworld could benefit from more bathrooms and maybe an Ionic Breeze.
Ivan was a little more verbose than most DJs I talk to. (But no worries Ivan, I loved it.) He wrote 500 words for the "genre" question, which I had to edit down. But the rest of his answers are what he submitted:
Genre: I have been DJing for more than 10 years. When I started DJing the most popular music was booty music, freestyle, house music and breaks in the early 90's. I started collecting those songs on vinyl... Man, I miss those days spending all afternoon at Bill's or Spin Masters with Hooman or at Oak Lawn Records.
So, that was my style in the early 90's, then in the late 90's hip hop started blowing up in the south and every club started playing more hip hop. I then had to start playing more hip hop, I always loved hip hop, but never for the clubs. I guess it was more for the cook out party's in the park, for the scratch sessions at my house and the low rider shows.
Last night I went to the grand-opening bash of BlackFriar Pub, the new bar that took the place of Tecole Taco House on McKinney. Got there at 9 and didn’t think twice about parking in the lot at the corner of McKinney and Boll — it’s a strip center with a sushi place, a dry cleaner, a tanning salon. I saw towing signs, but all the businesses were closed. I didn’t think to READ the towing signs.
When I Ieft at 11 p.m., my car was gone. They'd towed me! The Latino guys who were busy towing an SUV — the last car in the entire lot, mind you, they had towed all the others — told me it went to West Dallas. Some place on Pluto Street. Now I finally looked at the signs: “Towing enforced at ALL TIMES.”
Stupid Dallas. This city never tows anyone. Except in this spot, I guess.
Pluto Street ended up being off of Westmoreland and Singleton. It seriously looked like Pluto — dark, deserted, the road missing gutters and curbs. With all the mottled gray clouds in the sky, and the icy breeze, I felt like I was in The Road or something.
Towing set me back $175, including cab fare. Let this be a lesson to you and do not park there, ever. Unless you're going to DarqueTan.
As a sidenote, BlackFriar was neat. The black wooden paneling inside is from Pete Townsend's former castle in England. Maudite, a dark, gingerbready beer from Quebec, was among the beers on special.
I was shocked to read in an e-mail earlier this week that guitarist and founding member Ryan Short is leaving Dallas' The Hourly Radio.
I talked to Ryan today for a story that'll appear in Quick tomorrow. Here's a little preview:
“We toured so much over the last two years that I kind of realized that it isn’t my ideal lifestyle,” he said.
Short insists his split from the band’s other three members is amicable, and that they weren’t surprised by his decision to leave them behind.
“Nobody was too shocked. They were understanding. We are still really close friends.”
If you want to find out what's in Ryan's future, pick up the paper tomorrow.
His departure hits home with me because he was the first Dallas musician I interviewed when I started getting into local music in early 2005. He'd just started the band and recorded an EP at the time. Of course, now THR is one of the most successful young acts to come from this area, with mentions in national mags, airplay on MTVU and that endless touring schedule Ryan spoke of. Sad to see him go. His guitar parts were a big part of the band's sound.
In case you're searching for a romantic spot for you and your sweetie to have drinks on V-Day, here are a few places I like. Personally, ringing in the holiday with drinks and apps is sounding better and better to me, because the holiday prices at some of these restaurants around town are crazy. And you can't order off the regular menu. You have to order the Valentine's Menu, which includes several courses, and then you leave feeling bloated.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, here's my list:
Wine Therapist — Dim lighting, plump chairs and the intoxicating, juicy smell of red wine in a glass. Mmmm. Bodega Bar works too, if you can get a seat in back. The tables near the entrance aren’t so private.
Belmont Bar — The patio has views of the Dallas skyline, and they’ve got great cocktails and small bites. You can snuggle up on a couch together and no one will pay you any mind. Pretend you’re tourists.
The Cavern — Speaking of snuggling up on a couch, this place has the best make-out room in town. Drinks are cheap and you don’t have to worry about dressing up. Downside: It’s a bit smoky.
The Grape — The bar is small (that's a picture of it on the restaurant's homepage) but it's French-inspired and romantic. Go and have lots of wine and stare into your S.O.’s eyes.
Absinthe Lounge -- This is the basement bar underneath the South Side on Lamar Lofts. They have live music every night, and it can get a bit loud in here. But the music is generally pretty interesting. It might be a conversation stimulator.
I was going to add Cosmo Rouge in the Bishop Arts to this list, but just realized the restaurant closed.
Did I miss anything? Where do you like to snuggle with your special person? Let me know.
Central Booking just posted a new Prince Klassen remix of Ghosthustler's "Busy Busy Busy." Go download it, it's awesome. Blog says Klassen wanted to make it more DJ/dance friendly... although I can totally see bumping this in the car, too.
Original version of the song here. Klassen, if you didn't see, was recently profiled in Texas Monthly.
Minc has been open for six years already, a length of time that seems crazy to me. It only feels like maybe three years ago, tops, that I went there for the first time and marveled over how there was a bed in a nightclub. Still regret not going to see Louie Vega there last year.
Owner Julie Campbell has spent the past month-or-so making some renovations -- moving the DJ booth to the wall in the center of the room, landscaping the patio. The newly spruced-up spot will be unveiled this Friday, with Willie Trimmer and Mike Roos on the decks. The place is also now offering bottle service. Party starts at 10.
Just got an email from John Reardon, the former owner of the Walrus. He's putting the finishing touches on Joyce, a new champagne bar and lounge at Pearl and San Jacinto downtown.
Why Joyce? He just liked the way the name sounded, he says. Hmmm. "Suzanne and Joyce" -- or better yet, "Somers & DeWitt" -- might have been cooler. Kind of law-firm sounding. And then he could have had old Three's Company episodes playing on flat screen TVs. Or maybe that would be too much.
The guest-list for opening night is text-message-only, which is new for Dallas. To get on it -- and to find out exactly what day the opening celebration is -- text Joyce to 38714. Feel free to throw in Three's Company joke if you want.
Joyce makes the second champagne lounge in the city. The first one, Brut, is a retail shop too.
"Honey," the first single off her new album, got leaked to YouTube for about two seconds on Friday. Then it was quickly taken down. Yahoo Music has it today, officially, in all its glory. Let me know what you think!
It's a good weekend for going out, I can feel it. The weather is supposed to get better tomorrow. And there's quite a few things going on -- no big names, just a lot of solid local stuff. Here's what we got:
For house-heads, 12 Inch Pimps have moved their Friday night party to Thoth. Maybe this means people will actually GO to Thoth now. Went there about a month ago and it was empty... at midnight on a Saturday. Does not bode well for them.
Hot Flash One-Year Anniversary Party at Fallout Lounge. Schwa, Killtronix, Keith P. Go and get a free mixtape! After that, check out The Bangers Club late-night dance party at Sloppy World. Select, Sober, Wanz and Robert Taylor. Shake your thang from 1 a.m. to 4.
I've gotten a few emails from people wondering if Cosmo's is still open. The awning has been gone since last weekend, and the place looked like it closed.
Turns out they're changing out the awning. The bar is still open. Yay! If only I had time to stop by this weekend, and drunkenly sing Earth Wind & Fire...
--Good Records gets all VH1-ish at 7 p.m. when singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles stops in on a promotional tour. Her song is used in that Rhapsody commercial where the unhealthily thin guy dances in front of his TV in only a towel.
But what about the locals, you ask? Plenty of choices:
-- Paul Slocum invited electronic experimental collective Loop 12 to play at And/Or Gallery. It should be interesting. From what I understand, the musicians improv all of their compositions, and use an egg timer to make sure the songs don't go on all night. Definitely the most intriguing local music show of the weekend.
--I'm heading to Austin this evening, but my heart will be in Fort Worth, as Record Hop opens for the Sword at new music venue Lola's. Damn, why'd I schedule a weekend away?
--Double damn! Deadman (above) is at Barley House. What was I thinking? Deadman is just Steven Collins and some dudes now. Sherilyn's out of the picture. I like the new stuff, though.
--I've gotten approximately 428 press releases about the Scott McCurry and Jonathan Tyler & Northern Lights show at the Cavern. But that's OK. At least they reach out to print press, which is more than I can say for 95 percent of local acts.
[Stepping off soapbox.]
SATURDAY
--Rubber Gloves has got it goin' on with Tree Wave (above), Koji Kondo and more.
--Somebody's Darling and the Felons are at the Cavern. I've never seen the Felons, but member Fred Holston's dad Bill is a nice guy. Finally met him at last weekend's Doug Burr show after moderating many of his blog comments through the months. (BTW, that Doug Burr show was excellent, but the crowd at AllGood was creepily quiet. For a minute, I thought about going around and putting mirrors under their noses.)
--The local rockers in Space Cadet celebrate the release of their new CD (which I haven't heard -- shame on them) at Double Wide.
I know -- not part of the weekend. But you're gonna need to go ahead and plan to be at Barley House for band-in-residence the King Bucks. Chad Stockslager, Keith Killoren, Danny Balis and others dust off the old country gems to the delight of Grand Ol' Opry addicts like me, plus a few scattered SMU students who just enjoy drunken two-steppin'. My favorite song they played the other night was the Louvin Brothers' "My Baby's Gone." See you there next week -- maybe we'll hear this one.
Genre: Known for Old School Hip-Hop but... I spin Hip-Hop, Soul, Deep House, Top 40, Old School Funk/R&B/Hip Hop
Where you've seen him:Nine7Two on Sundays, Obar on Wednesdays, 1st Friday - Brown Sugar at Zubar, guest spots @ Foundation Room (HOB), Carson's Live, Manhattan of Addison, Opus Lounge
Most requested track, if you take requests: Whatever the "Top 40" hit of the moment is......
Memorable DJ booth moment: Most of my gigs are memorable but, when people find "creative" ways to let you know your selection is good, those moments really stick out!
Dream gig: Just DJing in general! It's my relaxation job. Better locations/venues are a bonus!
Complete this sentence -- Dallas DJs are... Forced to play too much Top 40!!!
An astute reader pointed out that today's Up All Night column on Lakewood Bar & Grill doesn't mention Holy Diver, the band that played after the Journey cover band on the night I visited. In the pic above, which ran with the story, these guys are grooving to Holy Diver, not Journey.
Plenty of folks were dancing to Journey when I was there. But due to the my and the photographer's crazy schedules, sometimes we have to show up at different times.
Just wanted to clear it up for the hardcore Holy Diver fans out there! And for those of you who don't know who they are, go listen to Foxey Lady Live on their MySpace.
Saw on Frontburner that Josh Venable is nominated for a Plug independent music award for his defunct radio show The Adventure Club. That'd be sweet revenge if he won, seeing as how KDGE-FM deemed the longtime Sunday night show unnecessary in the face of budget problems. Also nominated for Plugs -- which are second only to the Shortlist in credibility for indie and underground music -- are St. Vincent for her "Jesus Saves, I Spend" video, and Gorilla vs. Bear in the music-blog category. Vote here for our local nominees.
This post on Perez Hilton quotes a Paris Hilton blog entry about her night in Dallas. The local band with "six hot boys" that she met and loved is Forever the Sickest Kids, a group made up of former members of The Flipside. Just thought you'd want the update.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I now see that commenter Paul broke the news below. Dur.
Real simple, people. You go to Barley House around 10:30ish and see The King Bucks do some killer old-country covers. Then you zip down to the Cavern at 11 p.m. to check out Dustin Morris' full-band show. You won't have to pay a cent for admission to either.
That there's my plan, but here are some other options.
If you are in Fort Worth or have time to drive to Fort Worth, you can be at new venue Lola's for its inaugural night of local music, featuring Tejas Brothers and Ten High Trio.
I have never heard of a band called Six Hot Boys, but stranger things have happened in Dallas. If you are this mystery band Paris loves, PLEASE CONTACT US. We have many, many questions for you. Nice wrap-up!
It's kind of an ungodly hour right now -- Paris is definitely still sleeping -- but I wanted to share last night with you first thing. Unfortunately my camera's being stubborn and has decided not to let me upload photos. So we'll go with the commentary until I try to get again this afternoon.
I do have one photo from my friend Jesse Sanchez, a national reporter with MLB.com. He got hooked up into her private VIP group last night, and said she was very nice.
If any of ya'll have pics you want to share, send 'em on!
Visited Kinki on Saturday for a new segment I’m doing with Channel 8 on local nightlife. I hadn’t been in awhile and was very surprised to find that the place was PACKED. Diverse crowd, good music, lots of pretty women wearing sequins and too much makeup.
I would actually have felt really good about the place, if not for catching a glimpse of the Pony Man.
As Ian and Brandon reported today in Orientations, Lower Greenville has a new gay bar. It’s called Crush, and it shares a building with Lucky’s Roadhouse. That’s on the lower end near Ross.
From the column:
Cris Wilkins' friends were tired of Oak Lawn's famed gay and lesbian bars. Wilkins, once a bartender in Dallas' gay neighborhood, agreed.
"We needed something new," she said. "It just kind of fell in my lap, so I took off with it."
(snip)
The way part-owner Wilkins sees it, there's no reason a new gay bar had to be opened in Oak Lawn.
"Times change, and venues need to change," she said.
This is really interesting, because it speaks to a changing dynamic all around the country. Gay neighborhoods that used to be close-knit and vibrant are splitting apart and becoming more mainstream... it's already been well-documented in San Francisco. Here in Dallas, bringing gay nightlife to Lower Greenville makes a lot of sense, because it's the busiest entertainment district in the city. (Besides the strip clubs, heh.)
If you want to check it out, Crush has a killer drink special this week: 25-cent wells and draft beers Wednesday through Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m.
As you know, 19-year-old Landon Austin is a finalist in a competition to win a record deal and a starring role in a Doritos'-sponsored Super Bowl commercial. Voting ends on the 27th. So even if we couldn't will the Cowboys to the big show, we can still help out this local singer. Here's his latest video come-on:
The nightlife world is going CRAZY over the fact that Paris Hilton is coming to Ghostbar tomorrow night. (Well, one section of the nightlife world. I'm sure people who go to Ships couldn't care less.)
Anyway, yours truly will be there to find out all the juicy details, ie, how much makeup she's wearing, if her jawline looks that harsh in person, just how blonde is her hair, etc. I may even be able to ask her a question. We'll see. They're still deciding if she's doing "society press." That means quick breezy little sound bites, while she's surrounded by her handlers. Right now my one question is what the hell I'm going to wear.
The party's free and open to the public, so if you've got ganas, as we say in Spanish, it's all you. (Tener ganas roughly means "to feel like.")
She's here to promote her new movie, by the way. It's called The Hottie and The Nottie. Photo from the movie above.
Current favorite track: hmm hard question, right now would be Foals Hummer
Most requested track, if you take requests: "Do you have that song that goes, like, bump bump doo daa laa laa and then its like dance dance, ya know?"
Memorable DJ booth moment: Anytime people ask me for my autograph....
Dream gig: First person to play in outerspace
Complete this sentence -- Dallas DJs are... Good influences for people who don't have the desire or time to be introduced to new music. We make you move on the dance floor so I will see you guys out!!!
Tecole Taco House has only been closed for a few weeks -- maybe a month tops -- but there's already a new bar in its place. Yay for people who love beer!
Black Friar Pub is owned by the same folks who ran Tecole (they also own The Idle Rich and Dubliner), and it's got the same type of English-pub feel as the other bars. Word is they want it to be more relaxed. The Idle can get kinda chi-chi on weekends.
They've got the usual upscale suspects on tap -- Maredsous, Kronenbourg, etc. -- and lots of bottled imports from Belgium, Germany and England. The menu looks enticing, too. Particularly the chicken and sweet leek pie, and the chipotle-avocado burger. YUM.
It opened last Thursday.... just in time for the Hard Rock Cafe building to get demolished next door. Such a shame. It was originally the McKinney Avenue Baptist Church, built in 1913.
Convinced hubby last Thursday to check out La Cubanita, the new Cuban restaurant on McKinney near Knox. The place had an hour wait around 8 p.m. (!!) so we just got cocktails: Him, a Toña beer, and me a Hemingway Daiquiri.
I hardly ever order fruity stuff like that, because it ends up being too sweet for my taste. I was really, really hoping it wouldn’t be this white frozen slushy. And it wasn’t: It was red and served in a chilled glass, like a Cosmo. It was FANTASTIC.
Fresh grapefruit juice mingled with rum and the tart, sweet taste of maraschino cherries. I was so wowed I bought a grapefruit and Central Market on Friday and tried to make my own version. Too bad there’s apparently a maraschino cherry shortage going on right now in Dallas. All the liquor stores are out of them. So I settled for a vodka/grapefruit cocktail.
Anyway: La Cubanita would be a great place for a girls' night. Besides daiquiris, they've also got mojitos, wine, caiparinhas, sangria, rum punch and more. Yum.
Starting around 3:30 p.m. a bunch of groups will give their time and music to help Bar of Soap get back on its feet. RTB2 and the Backsliders play later tonight.
I might have to miss some of the later acts, though, because I'll be headin' over to AllGood around 8:30 to see Sarah Jaffe and Doug Burr. If a local show's ever been worth a $10 cover, this is the one.
He ain't local, but Will Hoge has a wonderfully soulful voice and puts on a great show. And he's at the Granada, so you can't go wrong there.
American Werewolf Academy might feel a lot more at home on the Double Wide stage than they did at last weekend's free House of Blues show. It's darker, drinks are cheap and people actually stand within six feet of the stage.
Fort Worth rootsy band Catfish Whiskey celebrates the release of its new CD at the Green Elephant. I'd tell you how it sounds, but I'm still waitin' on my copy to arrive in the mail...
And Florene is playing some sort of house party at 3114 Swiss Ave. with Austin's Peel.
I'll be back tomorrow with some picks, but here's a hint about where my ass will be.
I wrote a big package on bottle service for the print Quick today, basically talking about how it’s officially everywhere in Dallas now and why people enjoy it. Main question: What inspires someone to spend $1,000 in alcohol in a night? Is it status? Convenience?
I couldn’t get everything in print, so here are a few tidbits that got left out. (Wrote this in a FAQ format, by the way — these aren’t real questions from readers.)
Can the people who buy it actually afford it? How many of them are $30,000 millionaires?
No one knows for sure. Club owners say it’s a mix of all incomes, from the person who’s just doing it for their birthday, to the person who does it every weekend. Only one person I talked to said bottle-service is definitely being debt-financed by a portion of customers, but they didn’t have any evidence to back it up. The handful of customers I talked to said they could definitely afford it. I don’t have access to their bank statements, so I have to take them at their word.
I haven’t gone to one of the DMA’s late-night events before, but this Friday’s looks particularly cool.
They’ve got a Define-A-Thon vocabulary contest with Steve Kleinedler — a hip, young lexicographer according to the New York Times — at 7 and 9:30. To see Kleinedler’s Top 100 Words that every high school graduate should know, go here.
Ziggurat… really?
Christina Rees of Road Agent leads a talk on Phil Collins' "The World Won't Listen" exhibit at 9, and, inspired by that, there’s karaoke with DJ Mr. Rid at 10:30. (If anyone picks Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles,” I’m going to be really sad.)
Brave Combo performs from 8 to 9, and there's open-mic poetry event and lots more stuff.
I'm just warning everybody: I'm going to kick ass on the Define-A-Thon. Going to study that list of 100 words as we speak.
Dust Congress (left) and Zanzibar Snails open for San Francisco's Six Organs of Admittance at the Cavern tonight. Gotta admit, I don't know much about Six Organs, but I have been impressed recently by the opening acts (both from Denton).
Zanzibar Snails' material ranges from droning to seemingly nonmusical, working more with a freeform mentality. Think sudden bursts of percussion, horns and strings, sometimes coordinated, sometimes random. It's pretty interesting -- I'll talk to those guys at some point for better insight.
Dust Congress is much more accessible for first-timers, with a loose, primal folk sound best heard live. I saw the band last weekend at the We Shot JR-Sloppyworld show and was blown away by lead singer Nick Foreman's voice. It has a Rufus Wainwright quality -- strong, clear and intense.
This should be a dynamite show. If you are like me, you might consider getting familiar with Six Organs at a in-store preview performance at Good Records. Starts at 6.
1. Doug Burr, On Promenade
2. Max Stalling, Topaz City
3. The Crash That Took Me, Orchestrated Kaleidoscopes
Pick up tomorrow's Quick for a piece on Doug Burr ...
From Good Records on Greenville Avenue:
1. Mom, Little Brite
2. Bridges & Blinking Lights, Standing On the Same Stick
3. St. Vincent, Paris is Burning
Good to see Bridges & Blinking Lights moving on up. I was blasting "Lazy Susan" on the way into work today.
From Recycled Books in Denton:
1. Mom, Little Brite
2. Brave Combo, Let’s Kiss
3. Fishboy, Albatross ...
If you'd asked me what I thought the best-selling local title of the year would be, I don't think I would have thought of Mom. But this is one of those cases where I'm glad to be surprised.
From Strawberry Fields in Denton:
1. Denton Deluxe Vol. 3
2. New Science Projects, Storm Drain
3. Street Hassle, Get Off Your Knees
I still ain't grabbed a copy of Vol. 3, but one is supposedly in the mail. More on it later.
Speaking of compilations, there are two online that you should download today:
The DMN has a story today about Mayor Tom Leppert’s desire to expand Dallas’ smoking ordinance. Right now — unlike in NYC and LA — you can smoke in Dallas bars, tobacco shops, pool halls and patios. You can’t smoke in restaurants and other public buildings.
Leppert says he wants to have a regional discussion about what other cities are doing, so that everyone can be on a “level playing field.” Addison still lets people smoke in restaurants, for instance. (And this is supposed to make people want to drive to Addison?)
Everything's still in the talking stages right now, and it's unclear from the story whether Dallas’ smoking ordinance will actually change. Six Dallas council members said they’d “maybe” or “probably” support expanding it. Two, Dwaine Cara
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Dust Congress (left) and Zanzibar Snails open for San Francisco's