21 January 9 - 15, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Luke Borchelt and Chase Huglin 8 P.M. FRIDAY, JAN. 10, THREE LINKS, 2704 ELM ST. $15+ AT PREKINDLE.COM It’s early in the year, but there’s already a con- tender for best-titled tour: “Get Back on the Damn Boat,” an evening featuring up-and-com- ing singer-songwriters Luke Borchelt and Chase Huglin. The self-taught Borchelt is a Maryland native and dropped his debut album, Every Rain, last year. Huglin is an old hand at the music trade, having begun writing tunes at the tender age of 15. His two-track release The Man Who Tried dropped last fall, the latest in a string of re- cords and singles stretching back a decade. PRESTON JONES Fatboy Slim 9 P.M. FRIDAY, JAN. 10, SILO, 1340 MANUFACTURING ST. $44.95+ AT SEETICKETS.US The man born Norman Cook has been a force in dance and electronic music for the better part of three decades now (if you’d like to reach back to the 1980s and his role in the short-lived indie rock act the Housemartins, his longevity extends even further). His influence cannot be overesti- mated; Cook shifted from jangly indie rock to sample-driven dance music at precisely the mo- ment it exploded into the pop music main- stream, dropping Better Living Through Chemistry, his debut as Fatboy Slim, in 1996. The Grammy-winning DJ and producer has a fistful of head-bobbing chart toppers in his arsenal: “The Rockafeller Skank” (the song some drunk bro near you will undoubtedly refer to as the, “Right about now, the funk soul brother” song), “Praise You” and “Weapon of Choice,” to name just three. The durability of those songs is all the more impressive considering Cook hasn’t dropped a new Fatboy Slim studio album in over 20 years. Adam Ten will open. PJ Max Diaz 8 P.M. SATURDAY, JAN. 11, CLUB DADA, 2720 ELM ST. $15+ AT SEETICKETS.US Houston singer-songwriter Max Diaz makes quite the bold pitch on his YouTube page, de- scribing himself as “a cowboy who transcends the boundaries between realism and nihilism [creating] an unpredictable soundscape with an energy that cannot be contained.” He’ll attempt to contain that energy within the walls of Club Dada, where Diaz will bring his debut headlining “Save a Horse” tou and his brand of country rock. Diaz has also shared stages with the likes of Silly Goose, Dallas-bred Slow Joy, Uncle Lus- cious and Late Night Drive Home. With Druidess and Primo Danger. PJ The Ocean Blue 8 P.M. SATURDAY, JAN. 11, GRANADA THEATER, 3524 GREENVILLE AVE. $20+ AT PREKINDLE.COM Pennsylvania indie-pop quartet The Ocean Blue (David Schelzel, Oed Ronne, Bobby Mittan and Peter Anderson) broke through in the late 1980s, signing with Sire Records as high school students and turning out a pair of acclaimed — if somewhat unfairly overlooked — records. For this trip through town, the foursome is perform- ing its first two albums — 1989’s self-titled debut and the 1991 follow-up Cerulean — in full. Of The Ocean Blue, Allmusic.com wrote that the songs deliver “on what makes all of the band’s work so appealing: simple, beautiful hooks and melo- dies.” The evening will doubtless also pull from the rest of the group’s extensive catalog, which has grown to eight full-length releases, the lat- est of which, Kings and Queens/Knaves and Thieves, dropped in 2019. With Brian Tighe of the Hang Ups. PJ There I Ruined It Live 8 P.M. SATURDAY, JAN. 11, KESSLER THEATER, 1230 W. DAVIS. $22+ AT PREKINDLE.COM Dallas musician Dustin Ballard jokes because he loves. The impetus for his YouTube project There I Ruined It was to lovingly remix and mash-up popular songs — samples include “The Apple Bottom Drummer Boy,” “Get Low (Christmas Edition)” and Kermit the Frog singing “Gin & Juice” — which caught fire online, racking up more than a billion views and amassing more than 5 million followers. Everyone from Ed Sheeran and Nicki Minaj to Lizzo and Rick Astley have weighed in on Ballard’s output. The next logical step, of course, was to take the show from online to real life. Having assembled a seven- piece band, Ballard created full-length arrange- ments of his cut-and-paste cut-ups, and is intent on bringing, as he puts it, “musical mayhem to the stages of Dallas and beyond.” PJ Jessica Waffles There I Ruined It takes a playful approach to mashing up popular songs. | LET’S DO THIS | t Music
