The only time that I’ve spent in Denton since I’ve been here, lo, these seven years agone, has been for a high school girls’ volleyball tournament –– my wife’s niece was playing, you filthy animals. Otherwise: never been. Which is a shame. Almost every Fort Worth scenester I know loves Little D. I just never have the time or the wherewithal to go so far out of my way to see a band that is either from the 817 or that is in the 817 often. (If’n you’re unclear: I write only about bands from here. I really only care about bands from here.)
So. Will I make scene for NX35, the annual Denton-centric indie-rock festival/conferette that takes place in downtown Little D in March? Perhaps, but not only because several 817 bands are playing, including the cut*off, Drug Mountain (whose new vinyl LP is reviewed by the Weekly’s Ken Shimamoto here), Eaton Lake Tonics, Jessie Frye, The Great Tyrant, Har Herrar, Mount Righteous, and The Phuss. But also because the entire event sounds pretty neat –– there’ll also be speakers in conference settings who will discuss the nature of The Biz. Also on the bill are some national headliners about whom I could care less but whose presences represent a coup of sorts for NX35’s organizers –– ain’t every day that The Flaming Lips pop into North Texas, let alone play a small-Texas-town-regional festival. And Steve Albini, who did some production work with Nirvana and who, incidentally, produced Drug Mountain’s latest, will be the keynote speaker. The festival/conferette precedes by a couple of days that other annual music festival/conference, the one in Austin, the sprawling one.
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