So we're going to try doing things a little differently for the next month or so. Since some people have actually emailed us (I know dude, its totally NOT you, right?) to tell us that they would like a little more advance notice on shows, etc, we're going to start doing lists for the entire weekend on either Thursday night or Friday afternoon. It just seems easier. Of course, we'll post last minute concerts and stuff over the weekend, so feel free to check in with us on the weekends too. However, the big list comes now:

FRIDAY

1. Metrognome Collective Pop Festival ($5)
This is another big huge gigantic local music bash going on this weekend, with more of a focus on some of the better local Elephant 6 influenced and indie pop bands (organized by the Metrognome gang and Fishboy). I bet people will have some dumb things to say about this fest AND Strategies tomorrow, but I think there are some good bands playing at both. Our favorites at the Pop fest tonight are clearly: Teenage Symphony, The Shapes, and the Happy Bullets, and we sort of have a soft spot for the humor of Fishboy. Oh, and the whole night will be MCd by our friend Frank. The line up:

The Beatdown-8:00

American Werewolf Academy-8:30

Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go-9:00

Tha Bracelets-9:30

Maya Bond-10:00

The Shapes-10:30

Ballroom Dancing-11:00

Teenage Symphony-11:30

Man Factory-12:00

Fishboy-12:30

Happy Bullets-1:00am

Some of these bands are good, some are ok, and few are downright annoying, but this could be one of the most well attended events in the history of Metrognome, so it will likely be a show worth seeing. You'll at least like two or three of the bands there, right?

2. DJ Nature | Select (Monkey Bar)
Yeah, I know. It broke your little indie heart when Expo closed down. You had so many wonderful memories of bad service and bad attitudes that it just killed you to see the place go. Actually, I really liked Expo a lot, but this new place isn't all that different when you think about it. Sure, there are some tikis and crap lying around, but the outside is still cool, and the seating is way better. Not that its going to matter, because The Party will be there tonight, and you should be too if you like dancing and getting trashed without having to put up with all the dumb people that usually go hand in hand with that sort of thing. Smart, sharp crowd, baile funk, hip hop, reggae, and everything else you act like you know about in order to seem cool. Should be a great night with some of the best djs in town.

Also, you can stop by Club One between 9-11 for a few pre party drinks. You'll hear Stephen R, one of the more cutting edge electro promoters and party organizers in Dallas, spinning new wave, industrial and goth.

3. Theater Fire is at Dan's Silverleaf in Denton, and I listened to some Peter and the Wolf stuff today (members of which make up Red Hunter, who is playing with Theater Fire tonight), and it seems Ok I suppose, pretty trad indie folk pop.

4. Chris from GVB will be playing music upstairs at the Cavern tonight, while Sound Team will be downstairs. I'm not going to hate on sound team really, but I'm just not that impressed with their record, although they are a pretty good live band. Sue me.

SATURDAY:

1. Strategies of Beauty (Rubber Gloves $5)
This is the last mention of this fest that you'll see here until our comprehensive 86 page review on Sunday. Go HERE for the line up. Are all these bands the most earth shattering and brilliant you'll ever see? No. But there is some fantastic stuff on this bill that if you don't end up loving, you'll at least find interesting considering that DFWd was able to get something like this together in the first place. Something Defensive Listening said the other day really seems true to me: Dallas and the surrounding area seems to have a fixation with happy go lucky indie pop for some reason. Some of it I like, and a lot of it I don't, but the point is that this festival is a great way to showcase the simple fact that there are a lot of people that aren't completely satisfied with the local music business-as-usual status quo, and that they are ready to do something about it. Like have fun. The wonderful atmospheric noisefolk of Shiny Around the Edges, Chris Garver's outsider influenced country/folk, Stumptone's melodic and aggressive psychedelic, Eat Avery's Bones progpunk on meth, and the noise exploration of Notes from Underground, iDi* Amin and You Are the Universe should be just some of the highlights.

Even if you don't dig some of these bands, haven't heard some of these bands, or think noise rock is crap, I would suggest that this could be one of THE events in local music in 2006, and you should at least shell out the whole five bucks and head up to Rubber Gloves to drink with some drunkards and perhaps meet some like minded musicians, artists, etc. Because if this thing works out for everyone's benefit, whats not to say that more of these will start popping up around the area with different bands, new ideas, and something a bit different from rockabilly and the other typical Dallas shit that has bored us all to tears for years now. I'm sure stuff like Strategies has happened in the past, and thats fine, but I don't really care about the past... and considering the state of local music at large these days, none of us can afford to. Go see a preview of what Dallas and Denton could become in the foreseeable future.

2. Those that can't make it up to Denton should check out Pleasant Grove and Jack with One Eye @ The Cavern. Pleasant Grove might be the only remaining member of the Dallas "old guard" music scene that I like. I saw them end a show with a glorious 20 minute noise marathon a couple months ago, and I thought it was insanely brilliant. Their songs are delicate and blurry and mostly really good.

"someone should tell jamo and the other earl not everyone is hemmed in by mondo jovial shitcrap."

puppy dogs and ice cream cones
for everyone. you jack ass!!!
that comment was obviously
sarcastic. but thanks for letting
me know you're not hemmed in by
"mondo jovial shitcrap." you're
so indie. i'm jealous. really.

Thanks a LOT to everybody who came out on Friday for popfest. We all had a great time, and I sincerely appreciate all of the bands donating their time and playing for free. It almost covered our July rent, and got us some great dallas press. We will be working on planning more lineups like this, we had more people than we have ever had for a single event, and it really helped encourage us to keep going. (I wish I could have made it to Strategies, but after running sound for seven hours friday, I was still too exhausted saturday night to go to another show.)

PopFest was a blast!

I thought the Shapes were easily one of the best bands of the night.
I had never seen them before but always wanted to and I was very pleased with what I heard.

All the bands were great (even if I did get a little bored with Ballroom Dancing), and some of the performances were the best I've heard from some of the bands playing that night.

Don't waste the only free press copy on me! Someone bought one for me. Thank you, though.

Defensive Listening, you get the only free press copy. If yr listening.

tanx jamo. B.C.E. is lo-fi to no-fi fer sure, but sweet siddartha the packaging does rule. Um, we have a small handful of the first run left, contact us via MySpace if you want one fer cheap.

Positivity is for dorkjerks.

someone should tell jamo and the other earl not everyone is hemmed in by mondo jovial shitcrap.

IDI ruled

and bce is one of the best debuts I have ever heard.

seriously.

watch it anon 10:11. this is now
a positive music blog only site.
you can't say someone was boring
and/or lame. we're now supposed to
act the equivalent of the battered
housewife and pretend it never ever
happened. put a little makeup on
the bruises, a band-aid on the
wound, and talk only about the good of the night. you wouldn't
wanna ruin anyones good image or
the good memories others shared.

cue was a little boring for me. Had a definite Austin (explosions) guitar sound.

I had a blast at Strategies. Got there early and stayed late. Enjoyed everything I saw and heard. very diverse line up.

Well how bout some high points: Notes are getting better and better with more power through restraint. Too bad a lot of people had left by then. They really missed the boat on DFW's best band by far (imho). WSJR: NOTES FEATURE PLEASE!!

URTU's new(ish) lineup was HUGE
Stumptone was fuzz-errifically tasty
Hotel, Hotel was beautifully atmospheric
Shiny was really fun with Forbes & Plavidal guesting
Cue, with their sudden gear changes and potent volume swells, was really really intense
Eat Avery's Bones were retarded in an awesome way

Paul Baker's projections really did work out well for URTU and Hotel (and Stumptone? can't remember) ... particularly synched well with what hotel, hotel was doing

I could go on but won't for now ...

A little press for the Popfest! Good work you guys!

http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-popfest_0702gl.ART.State.Edition1.2499198.html

i have to agree. it was such a fun night that talking high and low points almost ruins it.

why do we always have to talk about low points and high points? I'm sure that everyone at pop fest was great in their own way. and I definitely didn't notice any low points at strategies last night with the exception of all the assholes talking while chris garver played, its like one guy with a guitar and his voice just isn't enough for most people to keep attentive to. that was definitely my low point, because chris was amazing, he deserved more respect than that.

Sorry Jon, we're pals and all, but
are you retarded? the Shapes were
great. They don't need to hang from
the rafters and throw stuffed
animals at the crowd to be so.
And I also agree that Click Five,
I mean Ballroom Dancing, were
without a doubt the lowpoint.
They are talented musicians and
energetic, but one back flip away
from opening for Yellowcard and
Fall Out Boy. Not as lame given
some of the ragtime-ish add-ins,
but close. More gimmicks than late
night infomercials. The Happy B's
we're also great.

And we would be honored to play
next year Fishboy, assuming that
we find a drummer by then.

yeah, Notes rocked.

i always thought the shapes have good energy when they play live, but then again i think leonard cohen at 80 years old rocks out.

Strategies: still hung over, more tomorrow ... NOTESNOTESNOTESNOTESNOTESNOTES

I appreciated that The Shapes just went up and rocked that shit out. When you have 11 bands on a bill you shouldn't have to wait 30 minutes for a band to set up a whole damn intricate facade of crap to prove their weirdness factor. It was a good night all around, ran a long time though.

yeah, sorry we were boring live. we couldn't get the big rockets and fireworks and marionettes and costumes together in time to play the 20 minute set and we were practicing synchronized kicks and head bobs but it was too hot to do that shit. come winter maybe we'll have more energy for ya!
(sometimes its about the music and not the frills in my opinion, but whatever we had fun)

I'd have to disagree that Ballroom Dancing was a lowpoint of the show. I thought they stole the show in my opinion. The lowpoint to me had to be The Shapes. They were so boring live. I wish their live show could have the same energy their recordings have. One of the best bands all night though were Tha Bracelets.

long live sweatpants!

Thanks to everyone who played and made popfest such a sucess, to everyone who stuck around for eight hours of music, and to James and Aaron for making everything run smoothly. At final count there was between 150 to 200 people on friday who were mostly new to the place from what I gathered. Hopefully, this will boost the regular traffic.

For the record, Washing Machine and Vootcha Idex were two of the first bands asked. Both had missing members (cause theres a million of them!) and decided not to play. Plus you gotta save some bands for next year right?

Popfest was like a huge party. My highlights were American Werewolf Academy, Teenage Symphony, Happy Bullets, and Fishboy. Metrognome was the ideal place for this thing. What a cool place.

Agreed on the Plesant Grove comment - great band

oh my fucking god, notes from underground..

The Metrognome show was fun. A lot
of bands and fans supporting good
cause. Highlights were the Happy Bullets along with the Shapes.
Having not seeing Teenage Symphony
live as of yet, I must say they
were pretty disappointing. Ballroom
Dancing had to be the absolute
lowpoint of the show. Would've really liked to have seen Washing
Machine and Voot Cha Index play.

How is it that, when it comes to non-profit/DIY/experimental venues and bands, Fort Worth has got their shit together, and we can't even keep a decent BEER selling indie music joint going here? How is it Tarrant County's got Popfests, Walls of Sound, Bosque Brown, Man Factory, Theater Fire, Tame..Tame and Quiet, and we've got the Deep Ellum Music Festival, Deathray Davies, Daryl, and Sorta. Even Denton's got Strategies of Beauty and a Secret Headquarters, and we can't even keep our venues from catching aflame.

we had a ton of fun playing metrognome last night. one of my favorite shows i've attended in recent memory, even if it lasted til an exahusting 3:30 am. it was fantastic seeing so many people there, meeting more local bands, seeing so much talent compacted into one place. a good time all around. if you missed it, well, that's really sad.

the pAper chAse
Tonight (Sat)
Hailey's (Denton)

(How could you miss this?)

this is the most positive feedback that any local show has ever got on here. Seriously.

Ditto on Popfest. The Metrognome folks did a great job.

Popfest was great! Thanks to Eric for a great lineup and to Frank for hosting. There really was a sense of kinship and support. The Metrognome is a perfect venue run by nice people. I hope it's around for a long time.

The Metrognome was great last night. There were so many people, and they all stayed until after 3 in the morning. Quite a party I must say.

the cavern is where I'll be.
that's such a killer line-up.
go to this show!
but please don't forget about notes from the underground!
lmc

did you know I meant to say shoes instead of shows?

we are going out of our way to make sure the whole show stinks! we have been collecting garbage for two weeks, and every band plans on airing out their shows in the bar area!

and adub, the salmon fillet trick is a nice touch!

I'll be playing pedal steel with Shiny Around the Edges and to make sure I stink, I'LL BE CARRYING SALMON FILLETS IN MY ARMPITS ALL NIGHT!

Metrognome was fantastic. There was just a great feeling of kinship in the air and a great turnout. I hope for continued success for those guys.

Yeah, Rose County Fair.

Tonight.

Barley.

Free.

rose county fair is bringing their big starry-eyed rock to barley house tonight (friday). pegasus now is no longer on the bill, and it looks like no one else was added.

i third that... i don't even see that the letters are changed at all... i'm like, yeah guided vy boices.... they rock

Marcus (Pleasant Grove) is a cool mutherfucker, and they have a really nice aesthetic, if occasionally dry live. I bet he would be at Strategies if he wasn't playing that night.

yeah, me too actually.

aha! me too!

every single time I see GVB i go "guided by voices???"

As usual, thanks for the support Stonedranger! Any champion of The Shapes is a champion in my book! This will be my first excursion to the legendary Metrognome and I can't wait to hear some new bands I haven't heard and see some familiar faces. Good cause! Let's keep the DIY scene alive!