The Weekender 2/2/07-2/4/07

(Contributions from SR and DL on this one.)

FRIDAY

The Vietniks (Secret Headquarters): The Vietniks consist of three Texas filmmakers who play music along with projected images that they produce themselves. The music sounds like dirty minimal blues slop from the sixties, a decade they obviously draw heavily from. (SR- I would say that bands like Vietnam and Pink Mountaintops are good contemporary reference points based on what I've heard, which of course means Velvet Undergound by default. Doesn't everything?)

Kettle Art: Dallas Video Fest Classics: The Kettle Art Gallery in Deep Ellum has partnered with the Dallas Video Festival to present some of the best selections from the DVF archives. And it actually looks awesome. Here's the 80's-centric lineup:

From 1987:

MTV "Art Breaks"

"Buzzbox" with Pee Wee Herman


From 1988:

Selections from the Dallas Show where Dallas artists interpret the assassination of JFK, including:

Blessing by Rev. Bob

’63 by James Chefchis

The Single Gun Theory by The Church of the Subgenius

Taste the Legend with Jackie Matrix by Mark Ridlin

Selection from Dallas at the Crossroads (with Walter Cronkite)

Selection from "Dick Talk" by X

"Free Society: The Way Things Go" by Paul Garrin

From 1989:

Selections from The Texas Show, including:

Rev. Bob heals the Videotape by Farley Scott

Susanville: The Epic – Part I by Susan Magilow and Susan Teegardin

Exoskeleton by Dave Hynds

and Selections from DEVO: A Retrospective

SATURDAY

The Angelus/The Frenz/The Great Tyrant (Double Wide): Epic show. The Frenz is Wanz Dover with some "friends" helping him out, including members of Ghostcar, Jack With One Eye, and Paul Baker of the late Sub Oslo, who will be providing projected images for your visual stimulation. The Angelus continues the cinematic atmospherics but does it through their music as opposed to having a visual aid. The Great Tyrant blew everyone away at our Art Prostitute show back in December by not only overcoming the notorious sound problems in that room but also coming close to blowing the audience through the front windows with sheer force. They also recorded a song for a Magma tribute, which is one of the coolest things a local band has ever done.


Sparklehorse/Jesse Sykes And The Sweet Hereafter (Gypsy Tea Room): Mark Linkous' greatest musical achievement might his production on Daniel Johnston's Fear Yourself. The fact that this man is even alive is also quite an accomplishment. So go see a real survivor at Gypsy Tea Room, which for better or worse, is not quite the survivor that Linkous is.


Eat Avery's Bones/Nouns Group (Secret Headquarters): Eat Avery's Bones will look especially bizarre in whatever costumes they're wearing under the eerie blue glow of the SHQ space. I have never seen this band play with anything except unabashed and contagious enthusiasm, and a lot of sour rock stars should take a page from their book. Nouns Group doesn't have a Myspace profile.


The Paper Chase/Dove Hunter/Tre Orsi (Rubber Gloves): Tre Orsi is the Texas supergroup that has members of South San Gabriel, Okkervil River, and Little Grizzly. I've heard that the band is a good rough-edged live experience and pretty much steers clear of any sad-bastard country rock posturing. The Paper Chase end their trio of Texas shows with this one and will be back on the road later this month to play a rare (for any band) Alaska stop with Cursive before starting another ultra-ambitious tour in March. Dove Hunter has members of 54 40" or Fight band Mandarin, but they are a lot more country than calculus.

SUNDAY

The Frenz/Night Game Cult/Chief Death Rage (Rubber Gloves): The Frenz stay busy with their second show in the same weekend and are spoiled with another solid lineup. Chief Death Rage will make sure that nobody is left standing and I'm convinced that Night Game Cult rule more than ever after their triumphant performance at SHQ, no matter what the fucking Observer says.