Cory Graves
Get Destroyed at This Month's Red Bull Sound Select.
According to the study that was blowing up the web yesterday, lab rats love Oreo cookies just as much as they do cocaine.
Who can blame them, right? The white stuff is awesome!
Well, it's more than that, turns out: The researchers behind the study say that the rats' desire has something to do with the way that both substances activate the “pleasure center” inside of the brain.
Other surefire pleasure center activators? Going out, watching bands and/or comedians, and pretty much just having fun in general.
Lucky you, then, that there are plenty of ways to get your fix tonight.
Red Bull Sound Select Presents: This Will Destroy You at Sons of Hermann Hall
In conjunction with our friends at Spune and the event's namesake sponsors at Red Bull, we've now helped throw three separate Red Bull Sound Select shows in Dallas since July — monthly concerts that, rather unequivocally, have proven to be good times. And there's no reason to believe that this trend won't continue with tonight's offering, which features semi-local post-rock heroes in This Will Destroy You supported by local experimental electronic gurus New Fumes and Botany. As with all Red Bull Sound Select shows, tickets to this one will cost $3 at the door to attend. This one also comes with something of an added twist, though: Index Festival ticket holders will get into the show for free, and will also be able to pick up their bracelets for this weekend's a day early just by coming out tonight. — Pete Freedman
Jessie Ware at South Side Music Hall
Best known for the song “Wildest Moments” from her 2012 debut LP, Ware is what the British tend to refer to as a “proper pop star.” Her down-tempo R&B and markedly British brand of electro resides comfortably in a region that Clash magazine calls “the missing link between Adele, SBTRKT and Shade.” To be fair, Ware did used to provide vocals for SBTRKT and Joker out on tour. — Cory Graves
The Love Language at Dada
When The Love Language's Stuart McLamb got a MySpace message from a touring band that said they loved his band and wanted them to open for them when they came to town, it was all a bit ironic for the North Carolina-native. At the time, he was between bands, and the page for the “band” that received the aforementioned message was really just a online dumping grounds for some lo-fi, Guided By Voices-style demos he'd written for an ex-girlfriend following a drunken binge. That was just the impetus McLamb needed, though, to put together a backing band and turn his demos into a full-on project. — CG
Christopher Titus at Addison Improv
That which doesn't kill us often makes us stronger. And, in the case of comedian Christopher Titus, a brutally dysfunctional childhood that saw him splitting his time between the care of an alcoholic father who remarried six times and a manic-depressive schizophrenic mother who forced him to live out in her garage also made him loads funnier. Instead of distancing from his turbulent past, Titus often mines it as one of his primary sources of humor. — CG
Paul Varghese at Hyena's Comedy Night Club
Depending on how you feel about leaving your couch tonight, you've got two ways to catch stand-up sets by Dallas comedian Paul Varghese tonight — both of which are free. He'll not only be appearing on tonight's episode of the Showtime series Russell Peters Presents, but he'll be doing his thing live and in the flesh at Hyena's Dallas as well. — CG
Improvised Horror Movies at Dallas Comedy House
Every Thursday in October, director Tabitha Muhn and her crew of improvisers will create a new, live horror movie onstage at the DCH. Despite the fact that each week's creation will be based on audience suggestion, Muhn expects to be able to work in plenty of slasher flick cliches from week to week. Seating is limited, and advanced tickets — which can be purchased here — are strongly recommended. — CG
Circus Cats at Stage West Theatre
The writers of Portlandia thought they were being clever with their sketch about Cat Nap, the cat-led trio that “transcends music on literally every single level.” Thing is, there really is a band that features not one, but three real-life cat members playing real live instruments. OK, so maybe the group's arrhythmic, not-quite-in-sync compositions don't necessarily put them on par with The Beatles. But The Rock Cats' performance is just one of the acts whose undeniable talents will be on display this weekend at Circus Cats. — CG
The Return of Big Tex at Brookhaven College's Atrium Gallery
What has inspired more art exhibitions in Dallas in the last few months: Bix Tex's untimely end or the upcoming 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK? It's a close one, for sure. This one, of course, focuses on the former and sees 28 designers, photographers, illustrators and fine artists putting their spin on the big guy's fiery fall and phoenix-like rise from the ashes. — CG
Black at the Assassination at Bishop Arts Theatre Center
Rather than throwing their hats into the overcrowded JFK memorial art exhibition ring, Camika Spencer and Kyndal Robertson have done something a little different here, penning an original (read: fictitious) play based on the actual events of that fateful day in Dallas and, in particular, looking at how they affected members of the area's black community. The play, which opens tonight, runs through the 27th. — CG
This Will Destroy You cover photo by Karlo X. Ramos. To find out what else is going on today, this week and beyond, check out our events page.
