1) In terms of booking female songwriters and female-fronted bands, Magnolia Motor Lounge might be the leader of the pack; I don’t mean to say that MML is the only place in town where a lady can get a gig, but people who grouse that women are underrepresented on Fort Worth stages should start adding the caveat “…Well, the Motor Lounge books a lot of women” to their rants and manifestos. Like last Saturday, Friday night’s show is headlined by a woman, in this case, Van Darien, a country singer whose silky, sultry voice has quietly turned a lot of heads over the past year.
Bad Mountain, the folky Americana project of songwriter Jesse Anderson is in the middle slot, while Natural Anthem open the show with their psychedelic pop.
2) Pinkish Black headlines a heavy bill at the Grotto on Friday featuring Sabbath Assembly in the middle slot. Sabbath Assembly started as a project by drummer David Christian to perform hymns of the Process Church of the Final Judgment, a religious organization started as a Scientologist splinter group in the mid-’60s that later gained a reputation as a Satanic cult because of its eschatological belief that Christ and Satan will reconcile during the End Times in order to judge humanity. As Dana Carvey’s Church Lady might say, “Isn’t that special?” Special or no, the music is pretty moody and dynamic; it’s ambient metal that also includes a viola and female vocals. Stoneriffic (with equal emphasis on “stoner” and “riff”) doom trio FOGG will open the show. Fun fact: this Sabbath Assembly tune features guest vocals by Pinkish Black’s Daron Beck:
3) Are the stockyards really in danger of turning into the kind of retail/residential developments that comprise cities like Plano and Addison? Just in case, you should probably start spending more time there, and Saturday’s as a good a night as any; Steve Helms and Scott Copeland are playing at White Elephant Saloon, and even if you don’t think country music is your bag, both songwriters are pretty entertaining as onstage personalities—check Copeland’s Facebook page to see what’s been grinding his gears lately, because it might preview the tenor of his show. BTW, did you know Scott Copeland loves Bob Dylan? See for yourself:
4) Here’s a video from the Vans Warped Tour from 17 years ago, featuring such long-gone staples as a half-pipe (with a Rollerblader riding it!) and the old drummer (who was young then) of Blink-182:
I was going to make a joke about what to bring to the Vans Warped Tour, but that particular fruit hangs so low it might as well have grown into a tree by now. In any case, the annual touring festival, now in its 21st year, will bring some eleventy billion youth-oriented bands and accompanying merch bazaars (they practically form an entire merch village) to Gexa. I always enjoy looking for the most “veteran” Warped Tour headliners; this year’s golden oldies are H20, Senses Fail, and a Simple Plan, but Riff Raff is headlining this thing, too, along with a bunch of bands with dependent clauses for names, playing across 12 (!) stages, including stages for comedy and spoken word. Yes, a spoken word stage at the Warped Tour is apparently a thing. If you’re a parent, you can actually get a complimentary ticket with purchase of your child’s ticket, though as far as I know, there’s no Sealy- or Sleep Number-branded “shaded nap zone” stage. For other Warp Tour tips and tricks, read this helpful guide.
5)
Sunday is the Weekly’s 13th annual music awards festival. Forty-eight bands will play over the West 7th corridor, and the entire thing is free. Besides a ton of great music, the FWWMA festival is one of those things that happens every year in Fort Worth that when you see how many people showed up to it, you think, “Damn, this town is pretty great.” It’s a big, fun (and did we mention free? Oh right, we did) community get-together, in other words. If you miss it, I hope it’s because you’re out of town or have food poisoning. J/k—food poisoning is no laughing matter! Need more info? Read on, friends, and go here for set times and locations.
