Pegasus News - Dallas/Fort Worth

Siiiiigh...

Ya know I try to stay relatively positive and don't tend to stir things up..but...this DallasMusicFest has been a big-ass thorn in my side for over a year now. I want to support it, mostly because I want to believe it's a good thing for the local music scene, plus there are a lot of TexasGigs.com pals performing this year. But everytime I've sent emails and/or inquiries to the DMF powers that be...I never hear anything back. While TexasGigs is just a little ol' blog and not a big time news publication; I still think they might want free help in promoting this deal and squashing any rumors or bad rap...

...Sarah Hepola writes...

With around 200 bands playing 18 stages over four days, the Dallas Music Fest may be the best organized and least interesting music festival around. That's no surprise: The festival is the brainchild of John Michalak and Dan Bliss, the same out-of-town promoters who began the Cleveland Music Fest and the nationwide "Battle of the Bands" contest, which pits (mostly) high school students and their allowances against each other. The main problem with the DMF is that it places commerce ahead of artistry, slotting bands according to the number of $15 event passes they sell. Remember: Band members don't know when and where they're playing yet, so fans (or, more likely, friends and family) who buy those $15 tickets don't even know if they can attend their show. It's a flawed system, one we placed under the microscope when the festival premiered (see "Feel the Noise," December 4, 2003)...Read the rest.

The whole thing kicks off today. Go here for a list of bands, times and venues. Since I can't get the DMF folks to tell me anything, I guess I'll wait for reports from participating bands....sigh...

Turn over to Odds & Ends to hear Sarah's plea to VOTE DAMMIT!

Last Thursday, the nomination ballot for the 2005 Dallas Observer Music Awards went online. Since then, I've had several conversations like this: Me: Have you voted yet? Them: What are you talking about? Me: This year, we're letting readers pick the nominations for the Observer Music Awards. Them: That's interesting. Wait: Why would you do that? Me: [Slugging back drink.] It's complicated. Them: Hey, that's my beer. So in case you haven't heard: YOUR vote determines the music nominations this year. If you haven't voted yet, go to www.dallasobserver.com and do so now. I mean it. Now. Read the Rest and VOTE!!!

Look...the good folks at the Dallas Observer are putting these results right in the palm of our hands...or the click of our mouses...so take advantage of it! It takes a few secs to vote, you don't have to vote in every catagory...just do this one little thing to support the local scene.

Shannon Sutlief chats Aqueduct here.

Go here for the whole thing..music-wise.

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.