Xrin Arms | Genesis Climber Geistheistler | Redfaced Laughter (Dwelling of Doom)

Akkolyte was originally on this line-up then dropped out last minute, bummer.

Crucified|Losing Grip |End Times| Now (1919 Hemphill)

Bandanaroo Bret Michaels Fuel Cowboy Mouth (American Airlines)

I would just like to say that this is the greatest name for a festival I have ever heard. -FP

Dallas Observer Music Awards Ceremony (Granada)

(We've been having some weird problems with our software today, so here is one of the two posts we wrote, hopefully the other will be up soon. As of now comments aren't working either but feel free to try them)


SR's TAKE...

It seems like every year, around the time of the Dallas Observer Music Awards, we produce a post making fun of the list of nominees or the "theme" of the show or whatever else might be totally lame about a particular year's set up (mash ups?). And this year's awards seem to have no shortage of things to poke fun at-- Mt Righteous playing with gallerycat? No thanks. The shocking revelation that Pete Freedman heard about Bad Sports 3 years too late? It's not that hard to catch up, bro. Who the fuck is AIR REVIEW? Who cares? Is the Observer required by law to cover every move John Pedigo makes? I'm not even sure if he's in the one of the bands performing tonight, but I bet he is.

All of these things are totally dumb for sure, but I suppose the larger question is--why is this worth talking about at all? A few years ago, I think we used to feel the need to cover anything remotely related to "indie rock" and "local music," so awards shows such as this were required conversation pieces simply by default-- a large corporation invests a bunch of money into a "celebration" of local music curated by people who claim to have "taste" (oh my god u guyz sorry 4 bn a music snob but i totez heart spooky folk) so that's an event worth covering in and of itself, right? By any objective standard, its one of the bigger evenings for the local music establishment and there's no denying it (I mean which other night of the year do shit clubs in Deep Ellum get propped up as cultural institutions?).

But I've realized in recent months, as we've been more pressed for time in new cities with changing priorities, that this shit just has literally nothing to do with what I'm interested in or passionate about, and I'm really not certain that I know what to say about things like the Dallas Observer music awards anymore. Does the vast majority of the music suck? With the exceptions of Dust Congress, Bad Sports, and Shiny Around the Edges, of course it does. But what do I care? Dallas can have its fun, and I bet if I attended a local music awards ceremony (I never have), I would just get drunk and live with it and try to have a decent time. But looking at these awards shows from afar, in a new place that I happen to like much better than Dallas, it sort of just makes me feel bad for spending time discussing this garbage. We're going to continue to cover local music and make fun of things for as long as this blog exists, but the readers of this site don't need me to tell them that this kind of stuff is garbage, and if award ceremonies such as this truly represent who's "made it' in Dallas' music community, then deciding whether Ishi is cuter than Alan Palomo just doesn't seem like its worth any of our time, does it? (SR)

Frank's take...

I would just like to start out by stating that I have no interest in any of the categories and/or who wins at the DOMA because I feel the idea of artists being pitted against each other in a popularity contest - under the guise of a competition of artistic merit - is pretty ridiculous. But isn't this what wsjr does on a daily basis? Yes, but it is obvious that the recommendations handed out here, sometimes more generously than others, are rooted in one critics' perspectives and are not meant to be deemed the "best of" whatever. That being said, I know it is one of those things that has to be done, and it does offer exposure for bands that might not otherwise receive.

Having said that, I am going to be fucking pissed when www.weshotjr.com doesn't win for best blog. Not pissed because I or anyone else here gives a shit about winning trophies, but because I personally feel like we deserve it. I attended the "Summit on Truth and Identity and How it Relates to the North Texas Music Scene" or whatever it was called during the NX35 festival. This meeting of the minds was set up the hard hitting issues facing the North Texas music blogging community. It was there, after being berated and spat upon for an hour, that I came to grasp the importance of this website within the community.

The conference I would say was concerned 80% of the time with how big of assholes the people at www.weshotjr.com are and how they (we) are a destructive force within the community, hiding behind their (our) anonymity while sabotaging those around us (our peers) who we do not deem cool or hip enough. The panel of Bloggers - which I obviously was not apart of - consisted of some pros and some amateurs, but all who write under their given name, which is great because it works for them. One of the key components of this site is the freedom that the writers have to openly criticize artists that come from a small community like ours, which is not an easy thing to do. By remaining anonymous, we the writers are able to openly share our feelings without you the readers worrying about our allegiances to friends, artist or whoever else might try to pay us under the table. I have openly criticized artist who are friends of mine on here, and not out of malice or spite, but because it was what I felt needed to be said at the time. And contrary to popular belief, you can be friends with someone and still not like the music they make.

I can understand that the comments section almost always becomes the face for which we here are judged. Admittedly, I often cringe at some of the things that are said on here, but that stuff is out of our control, and I think that censoring it (unless of course threats or deliberate legal slander) would not serve any purpose. What I see this site as, along with other non-comment readers I have encountered, is easy to access to daily listing with sporadic commentary. I say this not coming from a contributor but as someone who was an avid reader of the site way before I became involved. I think the utilitarian benefits of the website would be enough reason to keep it going, but the relationship that develops between the writers and the readers here has always been a unique and interesting one. Before coming on board I would often wince and roll my eyes at the recommendations and condemnations made by writers, but I always came back because I wanted to know what they would think of this or that because they thought this about that and so forth.

Beyond the "bias free" defense, the anonymity here is important and elevates us above our competition because I know that I nor anyone else on this staff have any intentions of being Blog Primadonnas, (which were on display that afternoon at the conference) strutting around town with opinions displayed on our sleeves. Back before blogging became the cultural wasteland that it is now, it used to be exciting to read articles and opinion pieces by the Mr. and Ms. X's across the world. These were people who felt like they didn't have a platform otherwise and could speak their minds with the intention of spreading ideas and not building egos. Unfortunately, blogging, just like everything else the human race gets it’s hands on, has become a platform where easy filler can be passed off as content, thereby garnering praise for said filler provider. It seems to me there are a lot of area blogs that seem more interested in plastering their logo on a show flier or fluffing their friends than actually contributing to any kind of debate.

Back to the conference. After an hour of sitting quietly taking notes as Bloggers defended themselves and their relevancy, I felt a bit defeated. It’s like being called a faggot when you can’t throw the ball far enough in gym class, but instead of whispers falling behind your back, the criticism is being broadcast over a PA and toasted to by your contemporaries. But just as I began to order that sixth martini at the tail end of the Q&A section, two musicians, well respected by myself and the community at large, stood up to our defense, making the proclamation that www.weshotjr.com and The Observer are really the only two games in town, which I believe to be the honest truth. We have our spats back and forth with the Observer, but they do take an active role in covering local acts. Just hearing from two members of the community, two people that have been written about on here and in numerous other outlets, let me know that my view of this sites' relevancy wasn’t just some narcissistic figment of my imagination, but was actually shared by others. The two musicians also brought up that this whole thing is not a competition and none of these media outlets should approach it as such. We all serve our part. That being said I still think we deserve the win.

So why bring this up now? Why I am defending myself against our inevitable loss, a desperate attempt to soothe our collective ego? I think it is pretty obvious that we could give a shit one way or another, but I thought this would be as a good as time as any to extended a hi-five to the staff here and especially to our readers who come back day after day and support this unique and beautiful music scene that we have here.

I’ll admit there is a certain level of narcissism that goes along with pontificating your opinion to thousands of anonymous people on a daily basis, but the reason all of us do this is because we love music and we are doing out part to present an honest, constructive and fearless perspective of the North Texas music scene. As for the anonymous comments, I have no defense for them.

test

that frank phosphate and sr wrote this.. not me.. cliff notes.

i came.

Looks like we almost got it, but part of my post is still missing.... hold on...

And sorry we had to erase the last comments, but for the sake of full disclosure, one person called us "denton hipsters" and another said we sounded like "butt hurt whinging babies." So there ya go!

u guyz r the ballz! keep it up!

you spelled faggot wrong, dipshit.

Edits are coming now, think we got it.

ugh finally, everything fixed.

people bitch. people whine. people moan. and then the next day the open up their bookmarks and come back for more.

jippity jippity..

how bout you get your own little showcase together and show us who makes the real decent tunes there, bro. make sure your band headlines too.sorry you didnt win the popularity contest.

DL letting you guys get your hands dirty?

why the observer awards fails to nominate my band menstrual madness i will never know.......... signed, butt hurt insert sad emoticon here..... in my hurt asshole!

o.k. quick fuck marry kill charles bronson, clint eastwood , lee marvin.... go go go speed round big prizes at stake!

frank you are still a fucking idiot.your argument makes no sense what so ever.your anonymity allows you to criticize bands that are your friends.why? because you say you do?people are supposed to believe that you don't "take anything under the table" as you put it because your screen name protects you?that is the most moronic argument i have ever seen made.you hide behind fake names because you are scared little people.you want to shake hands when people are around, and stab them in the back when they aren't. nothing new or inventive about you.oh and shiny around the edges sucks. period.

an honest perspective, yes. constructive, maybe. criticism is entirely subjective on the receiving end. one can choose to take what is said and utilize it...or not. the wild notion that one may exhibit an opinion free of self-censoring and verbal edits is scary and far too personal for some. i think many valid points were made in this, and for the first time im fully impressed (as opposed to partially, of course). im sure there are plenty of other entries i could have appreciated, but wsjr reputation and the 'cringe-worthy' statements can mask a potentially legitimate interpretation. as far as anonymity goes, i think a name can add validity to your statements but what the fuck ever man, its a blog! without the anonymity, wsjr could just fade into the other masses/messes of 'music blogs.' maybe im too passive. maybe i took 'live and let live' too seriously. maybe i didn't listen to enough Throwdown or Terror or Madball to feel comfortable with antagonizing and bullying. im just impressed that you arent afraid to not kiss ass. what i read on this site parallels with conversations i'd have with friends as we just fucking listen to and comment on music. and they lived happily ever after, listening to peopleodian.

What a buncha bitches.

And the one "blogger/douchebag" who accepted that panel actually tried to defend you, while showing his opinion on how you operate. Do you even recognize that? No. You're all so busy being pissy about someone daring to call you out for this bs, yet you have allowed this site's commenters to trash him none stop.The first question on that panel was as loaded as any question could be, immediately attacking this site and catching most of the panel members off guard. Yes, you were called out by a few members , but you neglect to accept that some there were upset by the way it was taken and some ignored those questions, but that does not ignore your sad attempt to position yourself as a martyr.Listen Chad, if you're so damn concerned with how it went why didn't you stand the fuck up and say something? Why wait so damn long and still carry a pointless grudge against those who made a point to be apart of that panel? You don't have freedom writing under a made up name, you have cowardice.Yes you may be one of the "only games in town" but it does not belie the fact, that you are a fucking coward who refuses to stand behind your statement. We all know who you are and we all think less of you for your constant "holier then thou" perspective.Simply stated, you are are a coward and this is yet another exhibit of our cowardice.

preach

I felt that now enough time I has passed that names did not need to be mentioned but yes I will say - and should have in my original post - that Daniel Roderigue (I'm not sure if that is who you are referring to or not) is a super professional guy and we see eye to eye on these things, or at least have a middle point we can meet at. We talked at length after the conference and still do when we happen to be at the same place. But the again I don't consider Daniel a Blogger, I consider him a journalist. One of the positive things that I did take away from the whole talk was a new out look on the way the writers at the Observer music staff have to battle against that 'blog is in!' mentality that forces their writers to work on pieces that do not cater to their strengths as journalist. I think that has been shown in Daniel's work he being doing since his new position where he is actually able to write instead of meet a 40 blog post a day quota. I really didn't intend on writing anything today and just shat this out as a last minute thought. Why? Because things can get a little down in the dumps here at HQ and get a little verklempt when thinking about if it is all worth it. This was something that had been resting on my mind awhile and I just thought I would like to share to boost team moral. What a better time than the only time we will be nominated for something. I never approached the issue (the conference) before because there was no way of writing it with a constructive output, it would just be bitching. As far as what other people think of me I could honestly give two fucks. I'm going to keep going to shows and having good times with my friends.

fuck you

salad tossers

for every six or seven good sr posts, there's a whiny bitch post like this. its like the fucking weather.

This was an 'I just saw what other blogs we were up against and realized we weren't the best' attempt at sandbagging. Way to go guys. You knew you weren't the best or the fan favorite and you called it. Great job. If it's any consolation, you guys suck less than Dumbing of America who foolishly do believe they are the best blog around.

had a friend come over last night and he saw this site up on my screen. this site is the new "uh i wasnt watching porn, i swear". had to make up a story about how i was "doing research". seriously guys, people really hate you. and i don't blame them.

Hey second place isn't that bad. You could have come in last like those subversive douchers.

you could have ass cancer

nobody cares who jamie paul falcon is or any observer writer or who a music writer is in general. the fact that people STILL come on this site trying to call out the writer's names only makes the accusers look stupid and shows them to give a shit which is hilarious. oh, and 12:09 if you're not a coward, then what's your name?

to the kid that lied to his friend about the site he was looking at: you're a real pussy, kid. seriously. fucking grow up and tell your friends to fuck off if they care what you're looking at. you are obviously someone that cares if people hate you, so your point only really applies to your weak little life.

to the kid who posts anonymously with life advice on a local music blog comment section: uh. seriously.

To the person who says people hate us, I say thanks. I mean honestly, when you look at the kind of people that hate us, its the best compliment we could ever receive. I've taken pride in it since day one. And as for us going up against other blogs in the awards, I'm honestly not sure who we were up against this year in the first place-- Gorilla vs Bear? Weekly Tape Deck? Some others? Other than the aforementioned two, I don't really read local blogs, so I don't know whether they're "better" or "worse" than we are. My failure to read isn't out of disrespect or anything like that at all, I just simply don't have time to read everything I want to. And as for the two blogs I mentioned earlier, we've had a great relationship with GVSB since the very beginning, and we get along with the Weekly Tape Deck people too, although we don't know them quite as well. I would never even attempt to compare this blog to those because, well, they're so different that it really wouldn't make any sense, and we certainly don't view them as competition of any kind.

i find that 12:09 posted anonymously.. a little funny.. a little...

I have to say, NOT being recognized by the same organization that thinks the Granada is the "best venue in town" for however the fuck many years running is a pretty goddamn great achievement. Wear it with pride.

shit is bought and paid for man, the granada is one of the observer's biggest ad buyers.

that's brutal that akkolite couldnt' make it

I was at that panel and I seem to remember everyone minus JPF agreeing wsjr consistantly featured the best writing in town. It was by no means the trashfest you recall. But I guess since you attended anonymously we'll just have to take your word that you were there.

gayme paul foulcum is a douche, who does he think is better pete freedman?

Yeah you are incorrect subex, if you would like I can fax you over my notes with specific quotes from each panel member.

shows are fun!

nice frank.. i didn't even take notes in university..

DOMA is cynical marketing. It's what facebook does. Sell out the interests of your primary demographic. The Observer knows that the handful of nominees will willingly do all the work for them, relentlessly using their social networking contacts and mailing lists to spread the Observer name. Do the nominees get paid for basically street-teaming for the Observer? Do the winners get paid? Do the performers get paid? No. Does the Observer get paid? Yes.From the Observer:"2010 Sponsorshop OpportunitiesThe 22nd annual DOMA Showcase and Ceremony provide the perfect opportunity to entice potential customers to try your product/service.Participating sponsors will benefit from a comprehensive and multi-tiered marketing campaign. The Dallas Observer Events Team can develop sponsorship packages designed to fulfill your company's goals and enhance your experience."Over the course of several weeks, the Observer promises a lot of eyes on the sponsor's logo, a lot of clicks on their web banner, a lot of eyes on the banners at the showcase and ceremony. Nobody at the Observer is talking about music today. They're talking about metrics, page views, and accounts. They're talking about finding new opportunities to exploit the music scene in order to make more money in 2011. Then Salim Nourallah makes a speech and the community wins.

is absolutely dead on. bravo.

The performers do get paid. And do the winners of any award get paid? Did Sean Penn get a check for winning best actor? Look it up on your fax machine guys.

Ppl like ishi, telecrap canyon, and Sarah crappy are what's wrong with the scene, not a pretentious awards ceremony that gives exposure to ppl like Akkolyte who normally don't get it. I agree wsjr does a lot of good for the scene and is often spot on with their criticism, but you have to admit they do just as much bad as good.

what BAD?

1035's statement is pretty accurate I think. The performers getting paid is the LEAST important part of it.

Isn't presenting a show doing this same thing but at a much much smaller scale? Bands will of course promote the show and there your name is on the poster.

^^ agreed.

10:57 ... i see no correlation.. you could say.. hey don't you guys throw award shows also.. and in fact weshotjr.com has.. except there are no presenters, tons of bands play, free beer, cops chase the party around town to try to shut it down, and sometimes the bands get paid.. i didn't walk 5 feet to the domas last night.. so i'm simply guessing it was nothing like weshotjr.com awards shows... frankly i'm very proud of the shows put on by weshotjr..

that would be a good counter, except it didn't address his comment at all...

wsjr never does wrong, nobody else ever does right. Nobody else is as smart or cool as you guys. You're all the real winners.

Seriously, I might not agree with y'all 100% of the time, but for 4 years this has been the blog to read. Anyone bothered by this blog is a fucking WIMP and can't take criticism. Maybe if all the readers weren't coddled suburban children you guys wouldn't have to be on the defensive so often. KUDOS to honesty. Love ya guys.

lol

The public doesn't vote for Sean Penn's Academy Award. His peers do. Foreign critics vote for Golden Globes. If the Academy Awards were run like DOMA, then the cast of Twilight would win everything. Which says it all. When Sean Penn wins an Oscar, the result is measurable in financial and career rewards. A DOMA winner gets exposure to the same audience that voted for them. Little else. They are not being rewarded for the quality of their work. They are being rewarded for the quantity of their votes. When you decide to promote your DOMA nomination, your band is a tool of the Observer marketing department and your desire to "win" at local music is getting someone a bonus. Because someone has created a risk-free way to generate a lot of money with very little internal effort, a strategy that preys on the ambitions of struggling artists who truly believe that winning a DOMA will help their career. Inviting your fans to a show at a house or a venue is not the same as inviting them to generate sales for a corporation who is promising sales to another corporation.

Ya fuck corporations and fuck governments too, neither ever do anything positive. Anonymous blogging is where the real difference is made. I believe the bloggers are our future. Treat them well. Let them lead you.

Say Dallas Observer is irrelevant and talk about how you "don't care."Then dedicate two writers and a bunch of space discussing the Dallas Observer Music Awards.Hmmmm.

Again, no one is saying that local music blogging makes a big difference in the world, but that doesn't take away from the accuracy of the statements concerning the Observer awards being a profit driven marketing tactic. That doesn't mean they are evil per se, but thats what they are, and any analysis of said awards should take said facts into account.

And 1136 (aka Dallas Observer marketing department): two people did write ups without knowledge of the other, and we published both. I was actually trying to start a discussion concerning whether or not the kind of music the observer promotes is really of any interest to most of our readers.

It's not.

What's so wrong with suburbia?

Stonedranger, I would say that the Observer occasionally promotes musicians that are of interest to most of your readers. Yet the kind of musicians who promote the Observer are of little interest to your readers.

I think 11:58 you are correct.

I bet it killed you Frank to sit there and listen to all that trashing and not being able to defend yourself for fear of exposing your true identity. Oh the trappings of not owning balls.

there were only a few bands on the doma list that i found interesting. that being said long live corporate exploitation!

ya know what's funny? if you actually went up to frank and said something to him, i'm sure he would be more than glad to politely talk to you about whatever you please. but please, anonymous, carry on, you with your big balls and all.

"Oh my God, fuk da system y'all. Anarky n shit. Cool is uncool or the pursuit of uncool or wait, fuck we forgot. We don't know anymore. We can't contradict ourselves and say we don't like APALOMO anymore now that he's pitchfork's bitch but we don't like that he is in fact pitchfork's bitch. We'll give him a passive aggressive 'psssh'. " -wsjrCan't wait til next year when Bad Sports is playing Warped Tour 35 between 3oh3 and Andrew W.K so you guys can say you were right ALL ALONG!!!!!

We'd love to speak to you in person, if only you could figure out who we are...

1:02.. you are correct.. i've only met frank once.. but he was very friendly.. also everyone of the other contributors is a nice n friendly gentleman/woman in real life face to face situations, and will truthfully discuss how they feel on any subject (though like me.. some hate talking about music). This being said. If you don't bring your 'A' game, and you wish to debate a matter you will very quickly, but very politely have your ass handed to you.

Now some of you may be sad to know that around weshotjr.com headquarters(which has moved from la vista to gchat...).. Conversations/Debates have zero to do with the readers of this blog, local celebs, the observer, or music.. Most conversations/debates just fall into 2 categories.. Food, and basketball.

I am the king of run-on sentences.

you guys also talk a lot about cock sucking technique

Bop yo mama

So what does everyone think of this LeBron James kid??

hack!

DEAR FRANK,I know you try to sound smart and all, BUT THE PLURAL OF ARTIST is ARTISTS. This does not fly in the face of the normal logic for pluralizing nouns, namely, to add a fucking "s" on the end.So why is it so hard for you to understand?

wow, check out the editor-in-chief over here... amazing catch, sir.

that picture of bret michaels keeps changing. it's frrrreaaaaakking me out, mannnn!

Not so amazing, considering that he did it over, and over and over and over again..I want to write for this blog. What is the application process? I'm pretty good at certain things..

I think it was BS that G V Bear won... when was the last time they did ANYTHING for the local music scene? You guys definitely should have taken this one... even if i disagree with you half the time at least you guys are in it with the local scene.That's funny you mentioned Shiny Around the Edges - because they were by far the worst performance of the night at the DOMAs. They were sloppy, pitchy, and came across like a high-school talent show band. If this is the kind of BS you think is good than your opinion is questionable. It's no surprise that you guys don't like Air Review... they aren't indie enough for you. But there are a hell of a lot local musicians in Dallas and Denton alike that really respect these guys as they've got some hard core musical chops and they know how to write a song. Their album (although nothing ground breaking) is pretty damn impressive for a first album and their are some really impressive songs for a "local act". Check the song Jura.

1) be willing to work for free 2) send an email to weshotjr@gmail.com and tell us why you're cool 3) prove that u know how to write

for the record i'm not into Air Review either... I'm just saying they're really talented.