Bandmates play tonight and tomorrow – two different places though

Those cute ladies of Bandmates (and their hunky drummer (we hope he’s still with them)) are starting off the weekend a little early by playing tonight over @ the Lakewood Bar & Grill. That great smoky place that might look a little icky at first but has tons of great character, good burgers and a coterie of live music many a night.

But if you happen to miss them there, they stick close to the East Dallas area (Ed. note – Thanks for that, ladies!) by playing a gig over at Veve Mexican Restaurant and Bar. Now, that might sound like a second rate gig but Veve ain’t your typical restaurant with a band in the background type place. Wine tastings, DJ nights, Trash Disco (sort of) and live music make this stand out from the usual restaurant-ainment type places.

In fact, for Lent, sacrifice stay at home nights for evenings out on the town. You totally won’t regret it. And go give Bandmates a listen here. Margaritas and music? Not a bad combo.

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Picks of Mint – State Fair edition

OK, with one weekend day out of the way, your options are slightly reduced but no less exciting. So, here are some ideas in planning your next few hours as well as tomorrow.

State Fair – it ends tomorrow. Go! Go now! But don’t check out the chicken-fried bacon. With some ranch it would have been perfect, otherwise, it’s not much more than a saltlick.

The ladies of Bandmates have graced the old Sue Ellen’s patio many times but tonight will be performing at the new Muddy Waters which has moved over to Live Oak and Carroll (which is my hood!) in east Dallas. A fun band with some rockin’ sweet chicks and a hunky drummer to boot.

Over at one of our favorites you can partake in your artistic good cause for the day. Buddies II will be hosting A Night for the Cause fundraiser tonight. That’s sort of a heavy title for this event but nonetheless it’s your chance to support local music. The fundraiser will help fund singer/songwriter Mishaele Richardson‘s new music video for her song, “Here Waiting”. It’s a weirdly haunting tune which has the darkness of those underground early 90s tunes with a touch of IAMX. Buddies II isn’t pulling punches on this one. The event will include a screening of the indie film The Dogwalker with local smokin’ sexy actress Diane Gaidry who will also be on hand for the night. Richardson will be performing as well as have a meet and greet.  So get your autograph now, help a sistah out with her musical dreams and have a drink for us! Tickets are $15. Go to Buddies II site for more information.

Tonight is also Ricki Derek’s Night-OH Cabaret at the Dallas Hub Theater in Deep Ellum which I hate to admit after mentioning above, is a MUST-SEE! it is a surreal comedy experience that goes all over the board. I wish I could find the words to give it justice but it’s so hard. Comedy, music, this, that…think Prairie Home Companion on psychedelic drugs. And at first you might even ask, “what is this?!”, I did, but after sticking around a bit longer, you can see the absolute genius of it all. It is the antithesis of everything prosaic and Ricki Derek is a local phenom. Really, he is. And I said so here. Tickets are $20 with an early and late show tonight.

And tonight, The Soda Gallery in the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff, opens their new show, All in a Day’s Work featuring the superhero artwork of Robb Conover as well as opens their new in-house comic book store Boomstick Comics. There’s a lot going on in that little place but it is so much peppy fun, you can’t help but enjoy yourself. Or maybe it’s just the unique sodas they also sell. I love me some of their root beers. The show runs until November 12 in case you don’t make it tonight at 7.

And as for Sunday…..well….getcher arse over to the State Fair. The weather’s perfect and it’s a way to stick it to the collapsing economy by overspending on corny dogs and funnel cakes. It’s worth it. Totally.

And that about does it for your weekend planning.

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