16 December 25 - 31, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents A Sound Start to the Year Where to ring in 2026 with music. BY CARLY MAY GRAVLEY Cutting loose on New Year’s Eve is a time- honored tradition, and, if you’ve had a par- ticularly rough year, a deeply necessary form of release. Add some live music to the mix, and you have the exact kind of cathartic closeout that 2025 deserves. The North Texas music scene has some- thing for everyone this New Year’s Eve. Whether you’re into country, classical, goth rock or EDM, there’s a show or party hap- pening that will help you end 2025 on a high note. Pun intended. Lights All Night Dec. 30–31, 2200 N. Stemmons Freeway Lights All Night, an annual multi-day EDM festival, has been a bright spot in Dallas’ New Year’s festivities for over 15 years. This year’s event boasts “three epic stages, “top- tier production” and a “diverse lineup” of more than 40 artists, including a DJ set from Porter Robinson. This event is 18 and up. Several ticket tiers have already sold out, but single-day GA passes are still avail- able for $188.27 Rosegarden Funeral Party at Three Links 7 p.m., 2704 Elm St. Beloved local goth rockers Rosegarden Fu- neral Party are celebrating their fifth New Year at Three Links alongside special guests Nite and Redder Moon. Guests are encouraged to wear their best gothic-for- mal attire and come prepared to dance to trad goth and dark wave favorites before enjoying a Champagne toast at midnight. The event is 18 and over and anyone under 21 must pay a $5 fee upon entry. Tickets start at $22.30. Parker McCollum at Dickies Arena 8:30 p.m., 1911 Montgomery St., Fort Worth If you’re a country fan or just looking for more of an arena setting for ringing in the New Year, you might appreciate the timing of Parker McCollum’s tour. The platinum- selling country singer-songwriter will be closing out his year in Fort Worth alongside special guests Jake Worthington and Jarrod Morris. To sweeten the deal, $1 of every ticket sold will be donated to The Ruger Fund, McCollum’s charity organization that supports multiple causes close to his heart. Tickets start at $35. Away From the New Year’s Eve at Double Wide 9 p.m., 3510 Commerce St. Everyone’s favorite trailer park-themed bar is throwing a New Year’s Eve bash with a lineup packed full of some of the scene’s most excit- ing underground artists: Alt-electronic duo Othering, genre-bending force of nature Ll- lora, San Antonio darkwave artists Night Ritu- alz and the debut performance of Jacks Haupt’s new project, Fatal Frame. In addition to these performances, three DJs will hold down the bar side all night. This event is 21+. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Forgotten Space at Granada Theater 8 p.m., 3524 Greenville Ave. Most people are content with simply ringing in the new year with a countdown and a kiss. Others are looking to ascend into 2026. For- gotten Space, one of the most popular Grate- ful Dead cover bands in North Texas, is giving Deadheads a New Year to remember with their groovy and authentic take on the iconic ’60s rock band. Tickets start at $45.52. Emo Nite at Puzzles 9 p.m., 2824 Main St. Most of us make resolutions that reflect the ways we want to grow and mature, but it’s also important to accept who we’ve al- ways been. After all, some things aren’t “just a phase,” Mom. Emo kids of all ages (who are over 18, that is) are invited to Puzzles in Deep Ellum to ring in the new year with the music that made their teen years bearable: My Chemical Romance, All Time Low, Paramore and so much more. If you were obsessed with it during your MySpace years, it’s on Emo Nite’s playlist. Tickets start at $29.21. Reputation: A Taylor Swift Tribute at The HUB 7:30 p.m., 1289 Johnson Road, Allen To paraphrase a certain blonde pop star, “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling ’26.” At this free, family-friendly event, Taylor Swift tribute act Reputation is taking the stage at The HUB to help Swifties shake off 2025 and launch their 2026 era in style. Fans are invited to dress up in their favorite Swift- inspired outfits and scream along to both newer hits and nostalgic favorites. This event is free to the public; however, reserva- tions and VIP experiences can be booked on Eventbrite. New Year’s Eve at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra 7:30 p.m., 2301 Flora St. If one of your resolutions is to be more cultured and classy in 2026, we can’t think of a better way to set that tone than a night at the symphony. Assistant conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg will lead the DSO in a celebratory concert featuring waltzes, polkas, marches, overtures, operetta ex- cerpts and a few surprises to help ring in the new year. The DSO is also hosting a four-course dinner prior to the concert, as well as a VIP lounge experience during in- termission. Tickets start at $74 for just the show and $250 per party of two for the VIP experience. Vibe District at AT&T Discovery District 10 p.m. – 2 a.m, .308 S. Akard St. Nothing says “Happy New Year” like a mas- sive party with a couple thousand of your closest friends. On New Year’s Eve, the AT&T Discovery District transforms into the Vibe District, becoming a multi-stage, festival- style celebration. The event will feature mul- tiple DJs (lineup to be announced) and private bars in four zones with their own dis- tinct vibes, from the massive outdoor main stage to the low-sensory “reset room.” The dress code is elevated and Gatsby-inspired. Tickets start at $29.74. ▼ OBITUARY AS BIG AS TEXAS LEGENDARY JOE ELY INFLUENCED, DEFINED GENERATIONS BY BEING AS WILD AS WEST TEXAS. BY KELLY DEARMORE J oe Ely, a titan of Texas music who in- fluenced multiple generations of art- ists with his insurgent roots rock that helped usher in the Americana and Texas Country boom of the ’90s, died at his home in New Mexico last week at the age of 78. A statement released by the singer’s fam- ily said he died “from complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s and pneumo- nia.” Ely’s family announced he was diag- nosed with Lewy Body Dementia, a progressive brain disorder, as well as Parkin- son’s disease, in September. Born in Amarillo in 1947 and raised in Lubbock, Ely would spend the 1970s and ’80s defining West Texas cool through his solo albums, and perhaps most notably, his work with The Flatlanders, a trio that in- cluded Lubbock natives Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, who all contributed vocals, guitar, and songwriting. It was the Flatlanders’ song “Dallas,” written by Gilmore and originally recorded in 1972, that inspired the Observer to name its first music blog DC-9 At Night nearly 20 years ago. The iconic line “Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night? Dallas is a jewel, yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight,” has been memorized and quoted by likely mil- lions of Texas country fans for decades now. Although it was written by his bandmate and appeared on a Flatlanders album, the rockabilly-tinged, galloping ode to Big D would never leave Ely’s solo concert setlists. Videos showcasing Ely’s rollicking solo ver- sion of the song are thankfully easy to find and well worth the moment it takes to pull one up. Austin City Limits, the trailblazing music program that Ely appeared on several times over the years, paid tribute to him on Face- book, writing that “Ely was recognized as an icon — a maverick, genre-agnostic song- writer who gave performances that alter- nated between touching our hearts and melting down our cameras.” Music photographer Danny Clinch re- membered Ely on X. “What a lovely man,” Clinch wrote. “A bunch of us had the pleasure of hanging with Joe and Sharon a few years back. It’ll always be in our hearts. Thanks for the mu- sic and kindness.” Bigger Than Texas Similar to contemporaries Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson, slotting Ely into the pantheon of Texas musical greats is both easy and sensible, but falls short of the im- pact he had across not only geographic bor- ders but musical boundaries. Global icons ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Joe Strummer and the Clash counted them- selves as fans first, followed by friends, then collaborators of Ely’s. Springsteen sang on a pair of songs on Ely’s acclaimed 1995 album Letter to Laredo, with the duo absolutely nailing the album’s signature song, “All Just to Get To You.” It’s not often that someone sharing a micro- Andrey Kiselev/Adobe Stock Music fans have a choice of genres to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a concert. | B-SIDES | ▼ Music
