Last Weekend of July: Denton Refuses to Go Quiet
Conventional wisdom says a college town in the last week of July is a ghost town with a liquor license. Denton, contrarian to its bones, has decided to close out the month with one of the loudest weekends of the summer. Here's where to point yourself.
Thursday, Jul 30 — The Body at Rubber Gloves. If you've never stood in a room while The Body plays, understand that "loud" undersells it; the duo trades in a kind of scorched-earth heaviness that treats volume as a raw material. Rubber Gloves' Showroom, which holds around 270, is exactly the right size for it — big enough to move air, small enough that there's nowhere to hide from the low end. Wear the earplugs. Mean it.
Thursday, Jul 30 — Barbelith, Inverted Candles, Saidan and Trhä at Dan's Silverleaf. Two blocks and one universe away, Dan's hosts a bill on the darker, more experimental fringe. It's a reminder that the Silverleaf isn't only Americana and reserved four-tops; the room that hosts Monday songwriter open mics will also, on the right night, let the weird in the door. Same evening, two very different definitions of heavy. Denton contains multitudes, mostly on Industrial Street.
Friday, Jul 31 — Oddfellows and Drakulas at Rubber Gloves. Drakulas bring the kind of taut, theatrical punk energy that plays like a jolt of caffeine at the end of a long week, and Oddfellows round out a bill built for a Friday. This is Rubber Gloves doing the thing it does best: a stacked local-leaning lineup, doors early, cover cheap enough that you can gamble on a band you've never heard of.
A few ground rules for the weekend, since some of you are new here. Bring cash — the door people and the merch tables will thank you. Tip the bartender and the sound tech; they are the difference between a good night and a great one. And do not, under any circumstances, skip the opener. In Denton the opening slot is where the next headliner gets built, and there is a specific, insufferable joy in being able to say you saw them first.
If you can only pick one night, Thursday is the connoisseur's choice — The Body at Rubber Gloves for the physical experience, or the Barbelith bill at Dan's for the head trip, with the two rooms close enough that the truly ambitious could theoretically sample both. Friday is the release valve, punk energy to send you into August.
Either way, the lesson stands: the deadest week on the Denton calendar still coughs up four nights of live music across two of its best rooms. Bring water, bring cash, and don't tell anyone the town is quiet in the summer. It ruins the surprise.
Sources: Rubber Gloves upcoming events (Do214); Rubber Gloves setlists (Setlist.fm); Dan's Silverleaf setlists (Setlist.fm)