35 Denton can't stop festing. Now they're throwing an end-of-summer party, September 1 at North Texas Fairgrounds, called The Hot Wet Mess. I'm assuming that means there will be water-related activities in addition to bands, not drunken bouts of crying. Or slime.

You can buy presale tickets here. Lineup will be announced in the coming weeks. Warning: You do see a bare ass in the video.

All photos by Daniel Rodrigue

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Name: Sarah Davenport
Style influences: The '60s and '70s music scenes.
At 35 Denton to catch: Mikal Cronin and Thee Oh Sees

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Taryn Walker

"Grandlake," Grandaddy's Jason Lytle with Midlake, filled in last minute on Sunday afternoon

It was four days facing the elements: Wind, rain, solar flares and, on Saturday night, a Slime Rave at the Lion's Den.

There was the aforementioned late-night basement dance party, close calls with golf carts, mysterious bruises, random introductions and the chance to catch music at every turn. 35 Denton feels like what SXSW probably did before it got huge, where any corner you turn might hold a surprise. There's not the isolated feel bigger festivals have, even if long lines on Friday and Saturday made some folks feel that way.

Still, with all the weather issues, there was never a feeling that the train was veering off the tracks, a testament to just how well this new group of organizers has taken ownership. Thanks for the memories, Denton, and for a great festival.

Danny Brown
Hailey's, Saturday
A few things I remembered from Danny Brown's visit to DFW last year, opening for Das Racist: His yowling Michigan accent, Tony the Tiger hoodie and reluctant but coarse personality. This time, he was clad in sweatpants, white sneakers and a sparkling camo tank top, and started his set at Hailey's with "Die Like a Rockstar." His energy quickly surged through the soggy crowd like a lightning bolt. A layer of of dancers behind Brown, on stage since Main Attrakionz's and Brain Gang's set , increasing their numbers and collective friction.

"As long as you're up on stage," one guy yelled, "you should just grind up on all these women". The set was a tidal wave of intensity with the occasional rip current of male guilt for enjoying it. Brown's set ended as the crowd roared the mnemonic chorus "blunt after blunt after blunt," probably his way of exorcising the ton of Id he unleashed on the crowd. - Shahryar Rizvi

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Stephen Masker

The Mountain Goats (goat?) at 35 Denton

​Hey, remember when it rained? Good times. The sock-soaking, ceaseless rain (not exactly complaining). No matter, 35 Denton soldiered on in cold wetness followed by much less cold wetness; Girls played the Granada; and Vanilla Ice sprayed water on people at Zouk. As he does.

Anyway, our contributing photographers Taryn Walker, Stephen Masker, Roderick Pullum and Mike Brooks were out there shooting the bulk of a music-jammed weekend in Dallas and Denton. These are our picks from the bunch. And, hey, if you snagged some good ones, you can always tweet the hell outta us @dc9atnight.

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It's about an hour-plus into Built to Spill's set of the final night of 35 Denton, which is the block the Jesus and Mary Chain were set to have before work visa issues forced them to reschedule. The reason I mention is the following from 35's site:

When we learned that Jesus and Mary Chain had to reschedule, we asked them to make a video saying, "'hello' to 35 Denton, and 'sorry' for the delay, and that they would see us on Wednesday."

This was their reply...

Awesome. And if you're planning your week: The Jesus and Mary Chain have rescheduled their gig to Wednesday, March 14 at North Texas Fairgrounds. Free. FYI, the puppets curse mildly in this video.

Taryn Walker

Up close and personal wth Bun B. More photos in the slide show

Live your life like it's one in, one out. That's a motto I've started living by this weekend. Last night especially, as the rain upon Denton reached Biblical proportions. I imagined a scenario in which Denton flooded and hundreds of drunk, high fans were washed away in the most epic fashion. But then I had a Red Bull and I was fine.

Danny Brown, though. His Hailey's set was the highlight of last night, ruffled camo shirt and all. Before him, locals -topic and Brain Gang Blue repped the current state of Dallas hip-hop with solid sets, and Main Attrakionz had a fully formed dance party bumpin' and grindin', a trend which continued later in the night in the basement of the Lion's Den, where the afterparty had turned into a in Day-Glo electro cage match, and the smell of paint fumes added to the blunted feel.

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Name (from left to right):
See also: Friday reviews.

Bonnie Rue, Chris Flemmons
Style influences:
Bonnie: "I used to have a fashion line called Model Citizen Clothing, but that project's currently on hold. When it's cold I wear dark colors."
Chris: "Family Dollar."
At 35 Denton to catch:
Bonnie: "The Baptist Generals, which I missed because I was stuck in traffic coming up from Austin."
Chris: John Vanderslice

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Stephen Masker

Chris Flemmons of The Baptist Generals

See also: 35 Denton street style.

After catching Danny Rush & the DDs at Dan's last night, I happened to walk past 35 Denton's headquarters right next door. The scene inside looked a bit tense, as word had come just a few hours earlier that the fest's Sunday night headliner, The Jesus and Mary Chain, had to reschedule their gig to Wednesday, March 14, at North Texas Fairgrounds, due to work visa issues not allowing them into the country until Monday. There was a big, white board and a few furrowed brows. I was, of course, reminded of the "war room" scene in Dr. Strangelove, but with way fewer George C. Scott pratfalls and atomic bomb scares.

But such are the pitfalls of planning and running a festival. The JAMC was 35's big "get," sure, but the bands I caught last night -- Rush, Peopleodian, Sleep Over, Daniel Francis Doyle -- reminded me that Texas deserves just as much hype.

The Baptist Generals
Main Stage 2
A couple of weeks ago, I caught up with Chris Flemmons at Lumberjack Fest 8 at Dan's. We talked about 35 Denton and he told me one reason he stepped down from Creative Director was because he wanted to spend more time working on his band, the Baptist Generals. "I'm kind of in a rebuilding process with my personal stuff," he said. "It's just my life after three years of trying to [head up operations for the festival]."

Last night reintroduced the rock of the Generals to the general population, and it was a good first step.

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See also: Reviews from last night.

Name (from left to right): Bryan Schleckman, Heather Williams
Style influences:
Bryan: "Classic '40s and '50s but with a modern spin. Vintage with an updated feel."
Heather: "What I'm doing, what I'm into, and what I'm listening to [influences my style]."
At 35 Denton to catch:
Bryan: I'm from Cleveland. I heard about the festival by word of mouth, and I'm just kind of walking into it."
Heather: The Jesus and Mary Chain

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