Dallas Music Blog

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Over the last decade or so, a prominent trend in gig poster design has been the retro-modern, minimalist approach, as seen attached to a lot of indie-rock and post-alternative groups. Classified by modernist tendencies and a focus on basic forms versus details, I'll admit, as much as I love that style, the trend was getting a bit threadbare.

But then you have examples like this week's above selection, which takes influence from a popular trend (if not the original style itself) and takes it in a direction that feels fresh and sincere. Designed by Gavin Mulloy (check out more of his impressive poster work at nocargarage.com), this fine display of design is one of those that raises the bar for local gig posters.

First off, the neutral gray monotone cast of the piece demands attention when viewed against other posters. Secondly, the calmness of the carefully worn pair of "All-Stars" bearing the hand-scrawled names of the bands sits comfortably and almost defiant of its flawless surroundings. You've got to love that quiet subversive juxtaposition.

The "All-Star" logotype tab anchored up top provides just enough visual balance for the Project House's clever homage to Chuck Taylor and show details below. This poster is tops; any band should be proud to be a part of this piece. Truly All-Star material.

Lastly, a reminder: Keep sending your poster submissions to gigposters@dallasobserver.com! Please don't forget to include the artist/designer's name and info for proper credit, and please try to send it in at least a week in advance. (And if you are so inclined to send in actual printed pieces, here's our address; you know who to send them to.) See you next week!

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¡OLÉ!

Esta cartel es muy magnifico... er, sorry, I mean, this poster is very magnificent!

It's Chelsea Callahan's birthday, and with it comes another fabuloso poster for "Cha-Cha's 6th Annual Rock-n-Roll For Charity Gala." Designed for the second year in a row by John Vineyard (of the band El Gato, who now lives in San Diego), this poster deserves to be plastered all over town with a fresh batch of home-made wheat paste, true to the classic street-bill adhesion method this style references so well.

The strong iconic matador image encased in chunky blocks of type makes for easy viewing from a distance. This visual technique is key for such event posters announcing such action-packed events where giant beasts (or in this case, brisket tacos) are battled to the death by a lone vato in a fancy outfit. A simple three-color palette (you can't go wrong with red, black and yellow, nature's most "dangerous" hues) makes us know without a doubt that there will indeed be "¡MUCHO FIESTA!" tonight at the Double Wide.

Continue sending your submissions to gigposters@dallasobserver.com! Don't forget to include the artist/designer's name and info for proper credit, and please try to send it in at least a week in advance. Until next week.... ¡Salud!

As far as sheer design deliciousness goes, this poster is truly above and beyond...

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Beautifully designed by "the menchildren" Conor and Matt of Magnificent Beard, this poster begs to be framed and hung in any jet-setting rocket-scientist's den.

The extra tall orientation provides the vast expanse that a heavenly cross-section can hang in display. It's a great visual element juxtaposition, too, using the wood grain as the flesh of a lonely planet. And it's good to see that our solemn satellite remains intact, faithfully orbiting above, as well. Meanwhile, the phenomenal type handling of a retroactive serif font respectfully labels the piece without being a nuisance.

I really love this one folks. A poster like this done with such mastery and care ought to indicate the same sensibility in the performers it heralds.

And to be fair, I know the above link to the mysterious Magnificent Beard leads to something of a dead-end disappointment (in that, uh, there's just a splash page there and nothing more), but I was able to find this Flickr set of beardly magnificence, complete with a set of other gig posters.

Great stuff all around.

But that's not all this week. After the jump, some other honorable mentions...

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I must say, this is pretty impressive.

Reminiscent of what some refer to the golden age of rock posters (i.e, Bill Graham's Fillmore days, et al) with labor-intensive hand-drawn illustrations that comprise the entire content of the poster and integrating the text with the image itself, this poster may not be as reactive under the a black light like those of the past, but it does pull from that classic era.

I will admit, critically speaking, that for a piece that is borrowing such nostalgic aesthetic equity, it ought to be tighter in its composition. Nevertheless, the rough-around-the-edges quality (almost rustic in nature and style) allows the looseness to live on, from the organic line-work of the border to the broad curls of the lady in the dress sewn of cactus flowers. What a great image. Kudos to designer/artist David Perry's work.

After the jump, an introduction from me, your new Poster of the Week judge, and a few other posters worth honorable mentions this week...

​For a year-and-a-half now, our clubs editor, Jesse Hughey, has dutifully handled that task of selecting the winners and writing the accompanying blurbs for our Poster of the Week items. (Check the archives--there are some real gems in there.)

Starting tomorrow, though, Jesse's stepping aside from that post. And stepping in to take over the poster-judging gig? The Observer's esteemed, award-winning art director, Alex Flores.

Meaning what, exactly? For one, more detailed critiques of each week's winning design's themes and whatnot.

But, beyond that, well, it means he needs your help. Jesse and I will continue passing along any posters we come across to Alex for weekly judging. But seeing that Alex doesn't specifically cover local music for the Observer, he could use a little help in seeing as many of the area's flier creations as possible. Which is why he's set up a new email address for people to submit their nominees for our Poster of the Week honors: gigposters@dallasobserver.com.

So far, Alex has already received a few submissions--but he could always stand to look at more. So, please, whether you're a poster's designer, one of the band's being promoted, the show promoter who commissioned it, or just a fan of the event being promoted or the art being utilized, be sure to pass along your suggestions each week for his perusal. Thanks!

​Round Rock artist Todd Slater designed this week's featured poster, which promotes tonight's bill of Built To Spill, Dinosaur Jr. and Lou Barlow and the Missingmen at The Granada.

Look closely and you'll see that the ants crawling all over the woman's face; the design was inspired by the lyric to BTS's "Aisle 13," which includes the lines "One day I'll come home to find you covered with ants 'cause you're so sweet." I'd thought that was a really dark verse, implying the narrator feared he'd find his girlfriend dead, but the pretty young woman's lively eyes show Slater has a more optimistic take on the song. Check out more of his excellent work at Gig Posters.

Also, Poster of the Week has some great changes in store: Dallas Observer art director Alex Flores offered to take over the feature, beginning next week. So from now on, please send submissions to him at this special posters-only email address.

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Brent Frishman of Gutterth Productions created this week's featured poster, which promotes Daniel Folmer's Dead End CD release Saturday at J&J's in Denton. Should be an excellent show, with Dust Congress, Glen Farris and Sabra Laval also on the bill.

I like the strapped-down figure, the crumpled background and the typewriter font--and that it's not too cluttered. It's nice when a promoter is able to resist slapping an enormous logo on a poster; I had to look twice to even see the Gutterth moth at all. Even though it's a cool logo, a little restraint is appreciated.

As always, thanks to all who sent posters my way this week.

​Regular Parade of Flesh designer Von Dada created this week's featured poster, which promotes Saturday's lineup of A Place To Bury Strangers, Darker My Love and All The Saints at The Lounge On Elm Street.

I don't know exactly what's going on here. Is she the survivor of some kind of Rock Apocalypse? Is she breathing through the amp somehow, using it as a loudspeaker, or both? Or is she trying to find someone to plug something into that empty input jack? So many possibilities, so much awesome.

Thanks to all who sent in other great posters this week. Keep up the submissions by email or snail mail. After the jump are a few other posters I really like.

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Magnificent Beard

​What a great week for posters this is turning out to be! Choosing which one to feature turned out to be a difficult decision indeed. But this poster, advertising Saturday's Amsterdam Bar bill of Little Birds and Matthew Gray, Delves... is my favorite of the pieces I've seen. The designers are Matt Brinker and Connor Hill of Magnificent Beard.

I always appreciate it when a poster manages to incorporate band names without coming off as a corny visual pun, and this one is quite successful at doing so by arranging dozens of little birds into the shape of one large one.

After the jump are a few other posters I've really enjoyed this week.

​Not a lot of great posters to choose from this week, but this one from Represent Austin caught my eye.

The flyer promotes tomorrow night's Lounge On Elm Street bill with Raw Word Records artists L.A.X and DJ Orion, both from Austin. It's not especially exciting, but the blurry colored bars and triangles look very typical of the aesthetic of this type of synth-based, poppy, dance music. I didn't know a thing about L.A.X before I saw it but got a pretty good idea of what the band would sound like just from the poster, so I guess it did its job.

Don't know who designed it yet, but I'll update with the name when I hear back.

Keep the suggestions coming.

Update: Orion Garcia, a.k.a. DJ Orion, is the designer.

​This poster for The Great Tyrant, Caddis, Magnus and The Me-Thinks at Lola's Sixth Friday is another Pussyhouse Propaganda creation, courtesy Me-Thinks bassist/singer Ray Liberio.

Not much to say about it, except that I like how the boy's precarious position in the icy water conjures a sense of doom that is perfectly fitting for The Great Tyrant's ominous synth-metal.

Also, I'd like to give a late honorable mention to Christina Childress at Switch Creative Group for the posters she created for the Sabra Laval show, part of the Switch Concert Series at the agency's "Hoffice" (house office) back in August. Unfortunately, I didn't see them until after the show, but they're certainly worth pointing out anyway. Check 'em out after the jump.
 

​Jared Connor designed this week's featured poster. It promotes the Dandy Warhols and Spindrift bill at The Granada Theater Tuesday; Darryl Smyers interviewed Dandys guitarist Peter Holmstrom for the print supplement to DC9 to preview the show.

One commenter to GigPosters.com, where I found the poster, remarks that the images are from old Playmate playing cards. Somehow the partial nudity doesn't seem crass or lascivious to me. Maybe it's because the bright colors and the way the pictures are overlapped mostly obscures the nudity. Or maybe it's because the Dandy Warhols are no strangers to (NSFW link) toplessness themselves.

In an interesting sidenote, Connor also designed the Brian Jonestown Massacre poster for the band's Dallas gig back in April. Apparently he's not taking sides in the Dandys-vs.-Jonestown rivalry.

Pussyhouse Propaganda

​This week's featured poster pimps Saturday night's lineup of Red Animal War, True Widow and The Me-Thinks at Lola's Sixth. It was designed by Ray Liberio (of the Me-Thinks) and Calvin Abucejo, collectively known as Pussyhouse Propaganda.

Sure, the grenade-toting Easter Bunny might not be very timely. But the balance between cute and psychotic is nonetheless attention-grabbing, to say the least, and I like the contrast between the reds of the grenades and his gleaming in his eyes, and the muted green of the background.

Red Animal War doesn't play out much these days, but the band is playing two shows this weekend--apparently the only two RAW shows of the summer. The band has another nice poster for its Friday night show at The Prophet Bar too, incidentally, which you can see here.
 

​Captain Incredible, Hellbound Hooligans, MercyKill, Lust For Lucy, How Fiction Ends and Resonant Chamber will all rock the hell out of the Skillman Street Bar this Sunday.

Musically, the lineup varies from greasy hard-rocking punk to metal. More interesting is the contrast in lyrical themes. Captain Incredible gives a shout-out to Satan in "See You When You're Dead," and Hellbound Hooligans' name speaks for itself. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Resonant Chamber describe themselves as "Christian metal."

Intentionally or not, that contrast is echoed in the gig poster for the show, which appears to be an irreverent depiction of George and Kuato from the great 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi flick Total Recall. The fully formed George looks like a handsome, stoic man, while his mutant twin, on the other hand, is one ugly little baby-headed dude--and judging by that sign-of-the-devil, he wants to rock!

I haven't heard back yet, but I'm guessing the designer is someone from Captain Incredible, as many of the band's posters are similar in style. Will update as soon as I know.

Update: The designer is Captain Incredible rhythm guitarist Ben Piche.

Clay Hervey

​This week's featured poster spiffs the Friday Aftertraces show at the Prophet Bar with Legacy Fails, The Room Sounds, Book of Sounds and Kirk Thurmond.

Clay Hervey, drummer for Dallas indie/alt-rock band Aftertraces, designed this one. I like how the coloring of the overlapping figures blends together  and into the warm background. Even though all-caps usually bothers me, the lettering here looks good without sacrificing readability.

Despite the Aftertraces' prominence in this flyer, the Prophet Bar calendar actually lists the touring Legacy Fails as the headliner. Well, if the guys in Legacy Fails want their band name to be the biggest, then they can make their own stinking poster.

Thanks to all who submitted posters, and my apologies to anyone whose artwork I missed; I've been away from the office for a couple days, and had to schedule this post in advance. Keep the recommendations coming, though. I'll be sure to look at them all next week.

​Dallas psych-rockers The Shapes, featuring Lollipop Shopper Patricia Rodriguez on bass and vocals, have finally started playing live shows again after a two-year hiatus, and will bring their '60s-loving jangle-rock to The Cavern Saturday night.

This poster for the show, which also features DJ Mark Ridlen and the live debut of A. Square,  [who have a different poster, and a good one as well, here] seems to mine the same era as The Shapes. Maybe it's just me, but the way this photo of a forest is interspersed with images of tree rings and a woodgrain-paneled van reminds me of movie scenes shot in split-screen, a technique I associate with '60s movies like the Woodstock documentary. I also really love the bright yellow all over it, even though I've always thought of The Shapes as more of a black-and-white band.

Haven't heard back about who the designer is, but I'll update with the name as soon as I know.

Update: As speculated and confirmed in the comments section, the designer is The Shapes' Patricia Rodriguez.

Gavin Mulloy

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Created by Dallas Observer art director Alex Flores, this might be the most beautiful poster I've ever seen. Created by old-fashioned cutting and pasting (not the kind you do with a mouse, but with actual paper), his masterpiece perfectly encapsulates the DIY house-party aesthetic that we're proudly exploiting. This flyer (also available in yellow, red, blue and purple) lists the 40 Dallas Observer Music Awards nominees who will perform at the Billiard Bar, The Cavern, The Service Bar, Sofrano's, Zephyrs and Bandera beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday. Check out the full schedule here.

Congratulations, Alex!

OK, fine, you want the real poster of the week? Nothing against Alex's fine work, but after the jump is a poster in which the Dallas Observer doesn't have a financial interest.

This weekend is chock-full of great shows, which has lead to a glut of great posters. Ever since back in May, when I first saw this Sam Heimer flyer for the July 10 Parade of Flesh Lounge on Elm Street show featuring The Strange Boys, The Coathangers and Bad Sports, I knew I'd want to feature it on DC9. What I didn't know at the time was how many other cool flyers would pop up between then and now. After the jump are a few other great posters.

Right away, it struck me as a fantastic example of Heimer's distinctive surrealistic, nightmarish style. The similarities between humans and apes and monkeys can make our simian cousins appear cute or uncanny; here, the mob of spectators to this execution falls squarely in the latter category.

The version above is taken from Heimer's blog (where you can see an even higher-resolution version), and looks a bit different from another version floating around on the Web, as it has a creme-colored background rather than white.

And, by the way, if you're interested in the show, DC9 just might be able to get you in for free--which will save you a few bucks you could put toward a print of the poster. Check back with us in the morning...

OK, maybe it's just because I'm all fired up for a day off tomorrow, followed by sweet victory and fireworks on Saturday. But I've really enjoyed this clever flyer by DayBowBow art director Blaire Grady. Apparently, so did DayBowBow readers, as it was the readers choice of a few different mock-ups created by Grady. Well, mostly--the final version is a bit different, but it's a winning idea nonetheless, a slapdash merging of two iconic symbols of patriotism: the U.S. flag and the Declaration of Independence. Even the proudest 'merican could appreciate this ridiculous and tongue-in-cheek flyer.

The multi-tasking poster advertises two upcoming shows at The Cavern in Dallas. Tomorrow night, singer/songwriter/pianist Iris Leu headlines with a full band. I get a late card on writing about Leu, who dropped off her Hushaboo CD when it dropped back in February. Not all of it is up my alley, but a few songs caught my ear, particularly the slow-building opener "For Keeps." Hard to believe such a friendly, bubbly young woman is so intense on CD. Matthew Gray Delves Into Pot or whatever his side project is called, Jason Reimer (not "Remier") of History At Our Disposal and St. Philistine round out an excellent bill of quirky folk and acoustic pop.

Saturday's bill is a bit more rock-centric, despite the headlining folkies of Western Giants, as psychedelic drone-rockers Touch Tongues (the renamed Street Hassle), rootsy and soulful rockers Manned Missiles and the strangely enjoyable synthesis of jazz, twang and rock that characterizes Disco:Hate will be the supporting act.

This week's featured poster advertises a show with The Fox And The Bird tonight at the "hoffice" (house/office) of Switch Creative Group; if you've looked at a Pluckers menu recently, or seen that "Body By Pluckers" billboard with all the schlubs in tighty-whiteys, you've seen Switch's work.

This poster, too, is a Switch design, by graphic designer Jamie Wilson. It's a funny, punny take on the band's name, if not exactly true to the Aesop fable from which the group takes its moniker. I like how the simplistic gore inside the bird's lower half is the only red on the otherwise cool blue and green design. Somehow the simple design and soothing colors make what is actually going on in the picture not seem so horrible. Writes Wilson, "I hope this kind of technology becomes a reality someday."

It's so charming, in fact, that I'm willing to overlook a couple of omissions--the start time (7 p.m.) and the address of the venue (2705 Guillot St.). The show is the first, I believe, in the Switch Concert Series, which will benefit Voice of Hope. As for the band, it's a new co-ed Richardson mandolin-spiked folk outfit that played last week's Bee's Fifth show in Denton.

Thanks to Wilson for sending it to me. Keep the recommendations coming, by e-mail or snail mail to: 2501 Oak Lawn Ave., Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75219.

Gorilla Vs. Bear contributor David Bartholow created this poster using an image from Land of Nicholas Copernicus by Michal Rusinek and featuring photos by Magdalena Rusinek-Kwilecka.

"I typically gather a few images that I believe are appropriate for the particular show, apply the type treatments, and subsequently present them to site founder and editor-in-chief, Chris Cantalini, who then selects a final from that batch," he explains in an e-mail. "Rather simply, we liked the image and thought it was fitting."

It's a very beautiful photograph indeed, and the type is blended into it tastefully in a way that doesn't distract from the eerie emptiness of the street. You have to look pretty closely to discern that it isn't actually a photo of a building called The Granada Theater with the date written on it.

The poster advertises tonight's Granada Theater show featuring Philadelphia's Pattern Is Movement and a singer-songwriter about whom we haven't written nearly enough lately.

This flyer by Michael Musselwhite promotes Seryn, This Old House, Western Giants, Younger Sons and Baruch The Scribe at The Treehouse in Denton. Should be a wonderful, mellow evening of acoustic Americana and folk, and this intricately detailed flyer really captures the vibe of these bands. 

It's a great poster, easily my favorite of the week--original or otherwise. In fact, if I'd seen it before last night, I could have avoided a slightly embarrasing PoW faux pas.

North Of The Dial seems to have mixed feelings about the idea of a band as rowdy and raucous as Brutal Juice doing something as conventional as reunion shows. But there's no question in my mind about the poster for tomorrow night's show (with The Boom Boom Box, Saboteur, Chameleon Chamber Group and late addition Blixaboy) at Club Dada: it's bad-ass.

I love how the lettering has a distinctively Texan look, which contrasts with the tentacles and eerie guy in the suit. I'm still waiting to find out who designed it, but will update when I find out.

Update: As pointed out by commenters, the artwork is from Ben Templesmith's comic book series Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. And, according to his Twitter, it was used without permission, which he is not very happy about.

"It's called theft. I have less of a problem with pirating my work than ripping off images for ppl's business events without asking," he tweeted.

Unfortunately, I was not familiar with Templesmith's work and didn't recognize it. I sent a message to promoter Scott Beggs asking who created the poster, but haven't heard back yet.

Update 2: Just heard back from Beggs: "It was Russell Turns using stolen art. It kicked ass though, huh?" Also, Templesmith asked that we provide links to his website and the gallery from which the stolen image originated. They're already posted in the comments, but in case there's anyone who didn't catch them, here they are: Ben Templesmith. The original image.

This week's featured poster was designed by Rick Hill, lead singer of The Atoms, which will headline Club Dada Saturday night; opening the show are The Drams.

I loved the cartoon bird with its jug of moonshine, which looks like it stumbled right out of some Prohibition-era cartoon ... until Pete pointed out why it was so familiar-looking. It's Drinky Crow, from the Adult Swim cartoon of the same name and Tony Millionaire's long-running cartoon strip The Maakies. I've got to say, I was much more impressed before I realized it was a lifted image. Nonetheless, it's an eye-catching promotion for what promises to be a drinky show.

Thanks to Atoms drummer Rob Lewis for sending it my way. Anyone who wants to recommend a poster, email me a link or JPG. Or better yet, mail a copy to 2501 Oak Lawn Ave., Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75219.

Von Dada designed this poster for Sunday night's Club Dada bill of riff-metal masters Zoroaster, the sludgy build-up stoner rock of Mouth of the Architect and local twin-guitar experimental act H...N.

I like how the poster mixes creative and original psychedelic touches (like the black splotches in the background and the lettering) with lowbrow appeal (like the ... do I really need to point them out?). Likewise, each in its own way, the three bands combine cerebral, intricate musicianship with visceral loud guitars.

Once again, John Iskander commissioned a fantastic poster for one of his great lineups. Speaking of which, the Sam Heimer poster for tonight's True Widow, Ponytail and Fight Bite PoF show deserves a PoW mention too.  

Whenever someone uses the term "happy pill," I normally think of antidepressants or narcotic painkillers. But the designer of this poster, proud Americain Robert Lee, seems to have taken the term literally. The poster promotes tonight's Club Dada bill of Les Americains; The Push (featuring Polyphonic Spree guitarist Ryan Fitzgerald); and Heart, Eyes, Open. That is a three-band lineup, by the way; Heart, Eyes, Open is a single band with a name that just might be the most pointlessly over-comma'd moniker since Surfer, Dude. But the pretty shoegaze pop of Eric Martin's post-Hi Fi Drowning project more than makes up for the awkward typesetting.

This was a tough choice, as it was a good week for posters. The RedHeaded Stranglers Friday gig at AllGood Cafe, the Metal Rouge show at the Metrognome's Firehouse Gallery Friday and the Lash Outs show at July Alley Saturday all had great flyers, too. But something about the cool blues and clean font on this one put me in a happy place. Or maybe it's just the pills.