This is the most I have thought about and written about such a large amount of mainstream music in one sitting.  I feel like I’m going to lapse into a sugar coma.

FRIDAY

Black Tie Dynasty/Rabbit’s Got The Gun/Quaker City Nighthawks (8.0)

Hunter Hendrickson/Jitterbug Vipers/Southbound Lane (The Kessler): Show is Canceled.

Binary Sunrise/George Quartz/Sir Name (Doublewide): Show has been canceled.

Ishi/Cocky Americans/Redsean (The Cavern): This marks Ishi’s last ever show at The Cavern, which is pretty significant considering that the group’s John Mudd has done so much to make The Cavern the most consistently played small venue in Dallas for many acts.  The Cavern hasn’t always pleased everyone, indeed both artists and patrons have complained about the sound, the size, and the logistics since the days when Spune was running the show.  Though I have found myself agreeing with some of these points to varying degrees, well, now I wonder what will take its place.   All I’ve heard is the somewhat dubious proposition that it will be replaced by a hybrid English/Irish Pub that features so few performances that it’s not worth mentioning.  You know, I have been thinking that more Fish and Chips is exactly what Lower Greenville needs.

Perhaps there just is no longer a need for a venue of that size on lower Greenville.  Granada has the big and mid-sized shows; Good Records often works in some good to great in-stores.  The Lower Greenville crowd just hasn’t always been exactly sympathetic to the acts unloading their equipment onto the crowded sidewalk.  And heaven help the accidental greek-lifer that stumbles into the wrong experimental show.

In fact, the one and only time I saw an Deflowered Electric Flesh Bride set (featuring a made-up and chanting Aaron Gonzalez wearing some choice lady’s undergarments), two wildly plaid-shirted men followed me as I stepped out of The Cavern’s downstairs area to compose a really important text message.  One of the men shouted at me and several smoking friends, that it was the “worst set of music that they had ever heard” and also that we “should all be ashamed” of ourselves for “being seen there.”  To which I replied, “And you should be ashamed of yourself for being seen in that shirt!” inspiring a round of loud laughter.  I don’t know what got into me, and it was at that moment that I realized a couple of things.  Mostly that I shouldn’t have insulted a stranger, since this rather athletic young man could have easily handled me.  And also that perhaps this section of Greenville just won’t ever be ready for some styles of performance.

And yet, even after all the bad things you could say about The Cavern, it will probably be missed.  It served a purpose.

But back to Ishi, the band has come a long way since their early Cavern days, and the likely packed performance will be the exclamation point on all of those tired opinions anyone ever had about the place.  Fitting.

Baths/Braids/Starslinger (Club Dada)

LMFAO/Far East Movement (The Palladium): I’ve been wondering how to admit this to you all, but I like the LMFAO track “Shots.”  It features Lil Jon, who undoubtedly makes the whole thing successful, particularly the genius chorus: “SHOTS. SHOTS. SHOTS,SHOTS. SHOTS, SHOTS. SHOTS. SHOTS,SHOTS.”  You get the idea.  I just find it to be a completely effective crowd-rouser at Mavs games, okay?

Native/Innards/Two Knights/PJ Bond/End Times (1919 Hemphill)

Prince/Erykah Badu (Hotel InterContinental): Event is back on with a changed ticket price.

Drake/Play-N-Skillz (Escapade 2009)

Cee-Lo Green (PM Lounge): Counting his work in both Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo Green has pretty much never had a bad single.  There are very few artists in that category, off the top of my head I can only think of maybe The Fall or Kelis.

SATURDAY

Willie Nelson (The Palladium): Obviously one of those artists everyone should see once, but be warned: Willie’s live performance usually centers around the archaic practice of putting on the show as one long medley.  Anyone who has ever sprung for an old live record from any number of “vocal artists” knows what I’m talking about.  Fans of “Whiskey River” will be pleased by the snaking reappearance of the song in and out of the set.  Tickets are $200 as a benefit for the SPCA.

Diddy’s Fantasy Party featuring DJ Irie/Clinton Sparks/Jamal Smallz (Fair Park): Ah, Diddy.  One of the easiest targets in show business.  But before you roll your eyes, ask yourself: Have I produced two of the greatest rap albums of all time?  If I had a business, would it be an internationally recognized clothing label that would one day see me rubbing shoulders with Donald Trump?  Or would I instead be at a SXSW social media seminar learning how to market embroidered band t-shirts on my Etsy shop?  What’s so wrong with being a great businessman?  Geez.

Rick Ross/Nicki Minaj (Gilley’s): It’s difficult to tell whether Nicki Minaj is a pop sensation because of or in spite of her rather dramatic rapping style.  Maybe it’s just shocking that there are teeny bop magazines dedicated to someone who is actually pretty impressive.  She steals the show in any guest appearance, making brief portions entirely listenable of otherwise awful tracks by lesser artists.  Her eyebrow raising, gender-switching appropriation of the classic Notorious BIG song “Warning” was what convinced me that there more going on here than your average video star.  Note: This show has been moved to Gilley’s which is most likely an improvement.

Darwin Deez/Friends/Datahowler (Hailey’s): I would rather watch Diddy remotely host a vodka promotion via satellite at a brand new Tiki bar in Uptown than sit through even a second of Darwin Deez.  Singing about “star maps?”  Seriously?  Hasn’t that topic died as lyrical fodder yet?  We get it.  Los Angeles is so shallow and you’re just so genuine, and you’re totally going to “tell it like it is.”  Sure you are.

Wild Nothing/Abe Vigoda/Soft Environmental Collapse (Sons Of Hermann Hall): After reading several instances of Cocteau Twins comparisons, I decided to give Wild Nothing a chance.  Instead of hearing or seeing anything that approached those lofty sonic heights, I found some pretty average bedroom pop made by an average guy that strikes a bored pose in a laundromat as a press photo.  Let’s go easy on that hyperbole next time around, all you aspiring CMJ writers.

Abe Vigoda is one of the most interesting acts to come out of the Los Angeles-area scene that revolves around the oft-dropped DIY venue The Smell, and the twists and turns in their music has made them a far more worthy act than say, the thin pop rock made by overhyped acts like their peers, No Age.  It is asking quite a bit, however, to expect the public to pay all that much attention to the fact that they have suddenly incorporated dance elements into their music in the past year.  That’s quite a crowded ship already and I’m sure a lot of music journalists are pretty bored of having to type that whole story again.  That point aside, they still possess a mystique that a lot of similar groups don’t have, such as the aforementioned Wild Nothing.

The Pretenders/Faith Hill (Verizon Theater): Another perversely mismatched bill featuring one of the best singers in popular music with one of the most grating, however, I have no doubt that there are some radio listeners that don’t mind either act.  You know, the kind of people that just turn the dial and don’t shriek at the station for not catering to every nuance of their surely exotic taste.  The Pretenders are so good that I would even sit through Deana Carter, Gretchen Wilson, and a setlist of late-period subpar numbers just to hear an encore of hits.  Note: Show is sold out.

The Baker Family/freshmillions (Double Wide)

Nelly/Ke$ha/Pitbull (Aloft Downtown)

The Crystal Method (Lizard Lounge): The best thing about Super Bowl Weekend is that you can see any variety of “name” acts from the past fifty years, since the objective is to appeal to as broad a demographic as possible.  This show for instance conjures up thoughts of the amusing prospect that a couple of aging party-goers turned executives stumble upon this bill and are flooded with a wave of nostalgia for a simpler time in the late 90′s.  Crystal Method at The Lizard Lounge.  It’s a no-brainer.

Seryn/Monahans/The Cush (Club Dada)

Special Guest/Strong City/ Occult Detective Club/Those Damn Kids (1919 Hemphill): So often in local music the story is about how this or that act is likely to “break out” this year, even though the artist or group usually just plays the same four or five places around town and consumes their collective weight in free drinks and dinners. As much that has changed in the music industry over the past fifteen or so years, one thing that hasn’t changed: touring still matters. Those that get out more still have a better chance of making an impact.

Artists that are actually slugging it out every night for weeks, across the US (and even beyond), are much more likely to make a lasting connection with individuals than those stick around for the hometown hero treatment.  Many of these groups don’t ever achieve the same amount of local notoriety as some of their less active peers, but what does it matter as long as they know your name in Sumter or Eugene?  Even in a time where personal interaction seems to be more undervalued than ever, the importance of an artist handing their fans the record themselves and looking them in the eye while doing so still can’t be overestimated.

So needless to say, Denton’s Occult Detective Club is a melodic punk act that will have many chances between February and April to personally connect with their audience, since they’ll be playing possibly forty-two (!) almost consecutive back-to-back dates. I think I counted four measly days off in a tour that will see the group go as far south as Brownsville and as far north as Rochester, New York.

It comes as little surprise since the group has connections to other hardworking DIY acts such as Irving’s A.N.S, Fort Worth’s Koji Kondo, and Plano’s Secret Bangs.

The group’s extensive tour comes ten days after the release of their second record, entitled Crimes, which will be available February 15th on the Alive Records imprint.  Considering that Alive was the label that ingeniously reissued Iggy Pop & James Williamson’s Kill City last year, the Crimes is already in excellent company, catalog-wise.

Occult Detective Club’s tour will begin with a record release show on February 25th at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio in Denton.  Tonight’s show is celebrating Fort Worth punk duo Special Guest’s release of their brand new cassette, the hilariously-titled Casual Dad.

SUNDAY

P. Diddy Live Grand Finale (Palladium)

Nelly/Ludacris/DJ Jermaine Dupri (Beamers Club)

Lil Wayne/Drake/Play-N-Skillz (Escapade 2009)

Photo: Occult Detective Club: (From left) Tyler Shults, Andrew Messer, Chris Reeves, D.A. Anguiano. (Photo By Kyle Lavalley. Courtesy of Pavement PR.)