20 May 9 - 15, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Waxahatchee 8 P.M. THURSDAY, MAY 9, TANNAHILL’S TAVERN AND MUSIC HALL, 122 E. EXCHANGE AVE. STE. 200. $30 AT TICKETMASTER.COM In 2020, right before the world shut down, Katie Crutchfield, known by her stage name Waxa- hatchee, released Saint Cloud, an album that took a deep dive into the singer’s new-found so- briety. Since 2013, Waxahatchee had been a force of drunken poetry sung haphazardly over angsty indie rock. Saint Cloud not only repre- sented a shift in consciousness but also a shift in genre as Crutchfield embraced her Alabama roots and delivered a country album with a de- cidedly independent approach. For her March release Tigers Blood, Crutchfield doubled down on this approach, attempting to make great mu- sical art that wasn’t so reliant upon inner tur- moil, and she pulled it off. Named after a sweet snow cone flavor or as a declaration of strength a la Charlie Sheen’s infamous 2011 interview on 20/20, “I got tiger blood, man. Dying’s for fools,” Tigers Blood finds truth and beauty in the un- likeliest of places, granting permission to cele- brate the smallest of life’s joys. Australian indie-pop duo Good Morning opens the show. DAVID FLETCHER slowdive 6:30 P.M. FRIDAY, MAY 10, LONGHORN BALLROOM, 216 CORINTH ST. $48+ AT PREKINDLE.COM You really can’t talk about British shoegaze band slowdive without acknowledging the ocean of missing time in its discography. From 1989 until some time in 1995, slowdive was the most prominent band in the British shoegaze scene. The band’s first EPs drew in fans and mu- sic critics alike. As the band’s popularity grew, the British press went on to criticize its output. Its first two full-length albums received negative reviews, and by the time the third album was re- leased, the band had all but broken up, which it finally did later that year. The band was just too soft and feminine for the loutish Britpop that was becoming the music de jour. The weird thing about time, though, is how often it can bring perspective. As critics looked back at slowdive’s music in the decades leading up to the band’s reunion in 2014, its peaceful sound- scapes and artsy progressive music were cham- pioned. The band has released two albums since. LA shoegaze duo Drab Majesty warms up the crowd Friday night. DF Nicki Minaj 8 P.M. FRIDAY, MAY 10, AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER, 2500 VICTORY AVE. $147+ AT TICKETMASTER.COM For many, the first introduction to Minaj was on Kanye West’s “Monster,” in which she raps, “You could be the king but watch the queen conquer,” and really, she did. There’s a line in “Big Differ- ence” on Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 in which the rap- per calmly yet assertively states, “When bitches be rappin’, I’m laughin’, it sound like you tryin’ to me / I’m who you dyin’ to be,” and if it was any- body else, we could write it off as typical hip- hop posturing. When Nicki Minaj says it, she’s right. Iggy Azalea, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Ice Spice — the list goes on and on of women rappers borrowing something from Minaj. Whether it is her revealing outfits, her provocative performance, her sexually explicit lyrics or her aggressive rhymes, she was and is a trendsetter. And while you can point to fore- bears like Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown or Trina, none of the above did it with the same conviction and independence that Minaj did. Her Pink Friday 2 World Tour with Monica comes to Victory Park this Saturday. DF The Decemberists 8 P.M. TUESDAY, MAY 14, MAJESTIC THEATRE, 1925 ELM ST. $40+ AT TICKETMASTER.COM The Decemberists took their name from the De- cembrist revolt, an 1825 insurrection in Imperial Russia in which a force of about 3,000 troops attempted to stage a military coup against Em- peror Nicholas I in favor of his brother Konstan- tin. After the attempt failed, the belligerents were sentenced to hanging, prison or exile to Si- beria. That’s a long explanation, but it serves to illustrate the point that The Decemberists (the band) comprises some pretty nerdy people. Frontman Colin Meloy specifically is known for his grandiloquence both in lyrics and in inter- views, never settling for the easiest word or phrase, but always the most precise — even at the cost of making the audience run for their dictionaries. This of course makes for some en- tertaining music that rewards the listener for reading closely. The band’s A Peaceable King- dom Tour 2024 with Chicago indie-rock band Ratboys come through town ahead of the re- lease of new album As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, which is set to be released on June 14. DF Jelly Roll 9 P.M. TUESDAY, MAY 14, BILLY BOB’S TEXAS, 2520 RODEO PLZ. $150 AT AXS.COM As hip-hop began exploring its softer, confes- sional side, and country music embraced elec- tronic elements like the clap track, it makes sense that an artist would emerge from this time with the ability to perfectly blend hip-hop and country music into a seamless work of art. Jelly Roll has been at it since 2004, but only re- cently is he seeing the fruits of his labor. At the age of 16, Jelly Roll began drawing inspiration from other rappers in Memphis and selling mix- tapes out of his car. Jelly Roll’s music never tran- scended the R&B label until A Beautiful Disaster was released on the eve of the pandemic lock- downs. By November 2021, the artist was in- vited to play the Grand Ole Opry. In 2023 Jelly Roll released Whitsitt Chapel, which went to No. 1 on Billboard’s rock chart, No. 2 on its country chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Jelly Roll’s Tuesday night show at Billy Bob’s will benefit the Tunnels To Towers Foundation, which has provided mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children since 9/11. DF | LET’S DO THIS | t Music Molly Matalon Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee, plays Thursday, May 9. Dream Jobs - Dream Talent Since 1998 THE PLACE TO BE AND BE SEEN Scan Me Baby! We can’t live without in 2024 view the full list here
