North Texas’ top five bandwagon trends of 2011

by Jessica Harp, Josh Hogan, Brenna Rushing

Better yet: Who fell off the bandwagon?

Posted by Flickr user Beige Alert

This is a bandwagon. It'd be good if you stayed on it.

In our yearly bandwagon story, we seek to measure who and what were trendsetters in the Dallas-Fort Worth music scene. We gauge which trends will extend through 2012 and which were simply a passing fad.

Scroll down to see who fell off the bandwagon with a thud.

5. Musicians double-dipping: In the music scene, it isn't uncommon to see fellow musicians help each other out in various projects, but this year, we saw more of it than usual. Ryan Hamilton of Smile Smile joined Jaret Reddick of Bowling For Soup to create the indie pop super group known as People On Vacation. Ryan Thomas Becker of RTB2 often helps out Madison King with guitar work and also has his own solo material, but this year he also joined Hares on the Mountain, Satans of Soft Rock, and started RTB & Last Joke. Even Centro-Matic keyboardist Scott Danbom took time away from the band to perform with Sarah Jaffe. One band just isn’t enough, it seems. More for us.

4. The Denton festival name game: The festival formerly formerly known as NX35, formerly known as 35 Conferette, is now 35 Denton. They've been playing the name game as those in charge attempt to find a title that sticks. After the first year when the hipster fest was called NX35, the name had to be changed because it was a little too close to a certain music and film festival that takes place about a week ~~prior~~ later down in Austin. Later named 35 Conferette -- a word that's seemingly made-up -- the organizers have settled on a name that's a little bit more easy to pronounce. But that doesn’t mean the new title will stay the same for the next go-round. We'll be watching.

Photo by Josh Hogan

Electric Daisy Carnival was a fantasy for the senses.

3. Dubstep: Dubstep has come a long way from its South London roots. It broke into the American mainstream in a huge way this year, and along with it came a cultural embrace of electronic music in general. It was an embrace that was an especially warm, yet sadly tragic one for local music fans this summer when the Electric Daisy Festival made a stop in Dallas. The otherwise wildly successful electronic festival was marred by the death of a 19-year old concertgoer. But dubstep, both in DFW and elsewhere, will continue to be a force in music. Even Britney Spears, Skrillex, and Deadmau5 have tried their hand at it.

Renfield's sign

2. Local music in Uptown Dallas: Uptown is known for its high-end apartments and pretty SMU students who take over the bars every weekend. Until this year, it was never known for having great live music; that job was left to bars in Deep Ellum and Denton. But recently, drinking establishments like The Common Table and Renfield’s Corner have opened their doors to local musicians, a trend we hope continues. Booking companies Spune and Manhandler are putting names on the roster that we think any fancy Uptown dweller should listen to, like RTB2, Bravo, Max!, and Seryn.

Richard Card

Alan Palomo of Neon Indian

1. The local explosion: DFW has long had a dominant music scene full of varied genres and passionate artists, but this year, an important number of those artists were catapulted to the national scene. Rolling Stone named Neon Indian one of the hottest new bands of 2010, practically guaranteeing the phenomenal year mastermind Alan Palomo has enjoyed. Free-styling maniac Astronautalis (aka Charles Andrew "Andy" Bothwell) has gained national attention for his unconventional blend of hip-hop, electro, and indie rock, and made his name more known through a big tour for the majority of the year. St. Vincent and Sarah Jaffe are local darlings whose fanbase extends far beyond their hometown digs. Our local musicians are making a name for themselves nationally, and we couldn't be happier.

Who fell off the bandwagon?

See 2010's bandwagon trends here.

This is tough, but we have to do it: The Denton music scene fell off the bandwagon. One of us lived there for six years, and great shows were plentiful. Not a weekend went by that we didn’t spend nights catching a favorite band at Hailey’s, Dan’s Silver Leaf, or J&J’s, but lately there haven’t been as many shows worth attending. The city's biggest music event in years' past has been 35 Denton (formerly 35 Conferette and NX35), but this year we're not at all moved by the line-up -- an obscure list that will cost $45 to see. Denton, you have out-hipstered yourself.