West and Clear’s weekend events: I hate Valentine’s Day edition

by Steve Smith of West and Clear

My least favorite holiday falls on Saturday this year, so forget trying to get into a restaurant tomorrow night.

I hate Valentine’s Day. I hate it so much that I’m like the Scrooge of Valentine’s Day. Bah. If it wasn’t bad enough that Hallmark wants to put their hands in your pocket and florists want to mark everything up 200 percent, the ultimate indignity comes down to this — because my least favorite holiday falls on Saturday this year, try getting into a restaurant tomorrow night. Forget it. If you want to avoid the canoodling crowds, better make dinner plans for Friday.

With that in mind, what should you do on Friday? Allow me to suggest the grand opening of the Royal Falcon Pub. First, falcons kick ass and royal falcons are just that much better. Second, any business that decides to launch on a Friday the 13th is alright in my book. Go ahead and give Mr. Mojo the middle finger. Third, opening an English pub right next to a German restaurant at least has a sense of humor — gas masks and trench mortars strictly optional. But Boddington’s on tap seals the deal for me. Somebody drop in and report back immediately.

Saturday

Alejandro Escovedo at McDavid Studio: Austin Americana superstar Alejandro Escovedo postponed his gig at McDavid a few months back, but he didn’t forget about Fort Worth. If you didn’t have a chance to listen to his latest album, Real Animal, pick it up and find out why No Depression named it their No. 1 album for last year. The $30 ticket price is a little bit of an ouch, but the show will be worth it even if McDavid is probably my least favorite venue to see a show in Fort Worth. But this video of Alejandro with Buick MacKane back in 1991 is a reminder of why I’ll probably be there on Saturday night.

The Shawl Live at the Modern: Doug Burr plays the songs from his new record at Modern Art Museum Auditorium. Telegraph Canyon and Tim Locke will join Burr. Tickets are on sale at Spune.com. For a preview, check his latest video below.

Sunday

Barbara Crane - Challenging Vision: I’ve got a great podcast with Barbara Crane for Monday — editing time got away from me so I can’t have it today. But I can’t urge you enough to go see this retrospective of her work — it’s stunning. If you can’t wait for a podcast fix, check out Justin Flowers podcast interview with her.

Have a great weekend!