71 September 21 - 27, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Contents | shopping & serviCes | Arts & entertAinment | Food & drink | sports & reCreAtion Shaq’s Bass All-Stars boasted top-tier acts such as Alison Wonderland, DJ Diesel (Shaq’s music persona), Kai Wachi, Sullivan King and Crankdat. Next time you see Shaq, be sure to tell him that we’re grateful he’s bringing such baller bass gods to Texas. Best Facebook Group Texas Cannabis Collective Texas Cannabis Collective is a Facebook group run by and for people looking to know the latest on everything cannabis in the state. Whether you’re seeking some funny 4/20 memes, the latest on Texas cannabis news or just looking to connect with other cannabis enthusiasts like yourself, you’ll want to join the Texas Cannabis Collective Facebook group. The group is mainly a social place for anyone following the nonprofit Texas Cannabis Collective. Started by local activist Daryoush Zamhariri (see our interview with him on page 20), the nonprofit strives to advance cannabis laws across the Lone Star State. So, if you have a funny cannabis-related meme to share or have genuine questions about the legal landscape in Texas, join the Texas Cannabis Collective group on Facebook. Best Music Podcast The Strangest Gig with Chris J. Norwood In a sea of podcasts that focus on musicians, this one has found a fresh and unique angle. It simply asks them about the strangest gig they’ve ever played. Host Chris J. Norwood is a seasoned musician and founding member of the band Texicana who has just started a new project, Chris J. Norwood & The Knockdown Dragout. Norwood has presented a range of DFW’s favorite musicians, including Salim Nourallah, Chris Holt and Matt Hillyer, to name a few. The edits are slick and the specific nature of the topic often sparks previously untold stories from the artists. Norwood is a great host, presenting a relaxed conversational style that puts guests at ease and makes for an enjoyable listen every time. Best kids Pop-up PRISMATIC at SPARK! Kids are active, vibrant, imagination machines who run around trying to live out their most fantastical dreams, even if that means just pretending that they have an imaginary friend or believing they can fly. Don’t believe us? Sit a young person down, give them a pad and a piece of paper and tell them to draw whatever they want. So what happens when you give a bunch of imaginative teenagers a whole room to use as their canvas? The creative learning center SPARK! did exactly that for a pop-up exhibition called Prismatic, and the results were fantastic. A group of four high school students was tasked with designing one of six rooms in which they would immerse their guests, using only a single color as their theme. They produced rooms that could draw emotions from pure happiness in the bright and cheery “Sunjoy” room to sheer dread in the “CitySlime” room. One group created a monstrous, friendly creature decorated in furry orange and another used its red room to make guests feel invaded by prying eyes poking out of pixelated walls. SPARK! took a chance on them in a way that paid off big. 1409 Botham Jean Blvd. 214-421-7727, sparkdallas.org Best Latin cluB Club Vivo There are Latin clubs where you can dance salsa, and then there’s Club Vivo, a dark, warehouse-ish, large box that’s more of a meeting spot for South Americans. Whether it’s a World Cup game or a Los Auténticos Decadentes concert, Vivo provides a safe space to let your flags fly. You can count on finding empanadas for sale on Argentine cumbia night — when you can bust out soccer chants like you have Messi-specific Tourette’s. The drinks are overpriced like they’re denominated in pesos, not dollars, but the club upstairs knows the real Latin songs we want to hear, so we’re drunk enough on nostalgia. 1930 Pacific Ave. 469-898-8486, vivodallas.com Best Theater CoMpany Ochre House Great artistic experiences walk a fine line between avant-garde and laughably artsy. Ochre House has always been on point. Its theater productions are original, boundlessly creative, well-produced small wonders that leave audiences as pensive as they are delighted for a good few months after a show. Founder Matthew Posey is a courageous art conspirator who’s long enriched the cultural scene through Ochre House’s oddball characters, strikingly original plays and locally grown music and theatrical talent. The Exposition Avenue theater is a nook of uncompromising art in a vast landscape of commercialized entertainment. That alone is worth the ticket, but there’s also a “donate what you can” night. 825 Exposition Ave. 214-826-6273, ochrehousetheater.org
