Odds & Ends

The time has come: The 2005 Dallas Observer Music Awards ballot can be found in this issue, on page 70. Vote with your heart--and your pen. You may also vote online, of course, but however you choose to vote, do so only once. Ballot stuffers will be publicly mocked. The ballot is long and requires a surprising amount of concentration. For those still curious about the nominees--or anyone who just wants to enjoy them, and I think that's you--please join us downtown this weekend for the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, where a veritable smorgasbord of DOMA nominees will entertain you on the Bud Light Stage (at Main Street and Good-Latimer Expressway) for free for three days. On Friday, The Happy Bullets, [DARYL], Red Monroe and Radiant*. On Saturday, Sara Radle, Doug Burr, Chris Holt, The Chemistry Set, The Hourly Radio, Jayson Bales, OneUp, Rhythm, The Feds, Back in Black, Flickerstick. On Sunday, Leo Hull, Nectar Groove, Silvertones, Sheerfunk, Boys Named Sue, Calhoun, The Von Ehrics, Slick 57. Come early, call a cab, phone a friend, cut a rug. See you there.

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You know what the old folks say: When it rains, it pours festivals. This Saturday at the North Texas State Fairgrounds is the second annual WakeUp 05 festival, an afternoon of Denton peace, love and understanding, featuring such performers as The Riverboat Gamblers, The Gourds, Fishboy, jetscreamer, Steve Austin and The Baptist Generals. Some might consider Drowning Pool the highlight of the lineup; I would not be that person. Still, it should be a feel-good afternoon of local music and partial nudity. Tickets are $15 or $10 pre-sale. Meanwhile, over at Rubber Gloves, you can find the more-than-a-bit-cheekily-titled Naptime 06, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., featuring Shiny Around the Edges, The Skin Trade, The Tah-Dahs, The Strange Boys, Fishboy, Mwanza Dover and DJ Wild in the Streets.

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Speaking of The Baptist Generals, a little post-SXSW news blurb: BG front man Chris Flemmons was robbed at his own party at Big Red Sun. At 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 16, some crafty bastard stole his rental car, along with a G4 laptop and $1,000 petty cash (which Flemmons had in preparation for the party). Flemmons returned to Denton soon after to continue work on his band's upcoming album with engineer Stuart Sikes, but the good cops of Austin tracked down the criminal and, miraculously enough, all his possessions were intact. Which makes you wonder: Maybe people really are good. Or, maybe people are just really stupid.

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Former talent buyer for The Entertainment Collaborative (which includes the Gypsy Tea Room and Trees), Scott Beggs has announced his new concert promotion company, Fifth Street Concerts, which he will run along with Damageplan manager Paul Bassman. In April, they will start booking national acts into, among other locations, the Galaxy Club, which moved to a new spot last year. This is all good news for Deep Ellum clubs, and for Dallas. We wish them luck.

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Though local radio hasn't always been kind to local artists (Sunday-night programmers excluded), more acts are finding outlets on national television. Last season, The New Year's "End Is Near" was featured on The O.C., the gold standard for indie-rock on the boob tube. The Polyphonic Spree appeared on Scrubs and, more recently, on Las Vegas, in which they traded yuks with James Caan and Molly Simms. And last week, Slowride had two songs featured on CSI: Miami, "Building a Building" and "Montana." Almost makes me wish I watched that show. Almost.

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Caption Contest!!

In our continuing quest to bring more trivia and meaningless games into your life, we offer this week's first-ever local musician caption contest. Please submit your entries to sarah.hepola@dallasobserver.com. The winner will receive, um, something very cool.