Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

The Fourth of July weekend has arrived, and with it comes a slew of fun holiday-related events in Dallas and the surrounding area. But there are also a variety of non-patriotic happenings, including a national tour of a classic musical, a new production seemingly ripped from the headlines, and more.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, June 30

Dallas Arboretum Cool Thursdays Concert: The Dallas Wind Symphony
With temperatures hovering near 100 degrees, attending a Cool Thursdays concert at the Dallas Arboretum isn't so cool anymore. The Dallas Wind Symphony brings the spring/summer portion of the series to a close with a Fourth of July-themed concert, featuring patriotic favorites and more.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents 42nd Street
The 2015-2016 Dallas Summer Musicals season comes to an end with the classic Broadway musical 42nd Street. The production about a young girl looking to make it big on Broadway may seem like it has been around forever, but that's only because the musical, which debuted in 1980, is based on the 1933 movie. The national tour will stay at Music Hall at Fair Park through July 10.

Second Thought Theatre presents A Kid Like Jake
Second Thought Theatre brings its 2016 season to a close with the area premiere of A Kid Like Jake, a play about a young couple struggling to do what is best for their 4-year-old gender-fluid son, who happens to prefer Cinderella to G.I. Joe. The play follows the parents as they try to get a good education for him. The production will run at Bryant Hall through July 23.

Friday, July 1

Feeding Texas presents the 2nd Annual Lone Star Beer Texas Heritage Festival
The Lone Star Beer Texas Heritage Festival is a unique experience with an array of music, food, and fun curated by Lone Star Beer, the National Beer of Texas. The second annual event at the Bomb Factory features performances by Shovels & Rope, Okkervil River, Matthew Logan Vasquez, and Girl in a Coma. This event also includes an assortment of delicious food options, along with activities, arcade games, a photo booth, and more.

Dashboard Confessional in concert with Taking Back Sunday and the Early November
Emo band Dashboard Confessional, like most emo bands, hit their peak in the mid-aughts, thanks to a couple of hit albums. They haven't released new music of any kind since 2009, but true fans are sure to enjoy this concert at South Side Ballroom, which is part of the Rockstar Energy Drink Taste of Chaos tour. Taking Back Sunday and the Early November are also playing.

Saturday, July 2

Dallas Wings vs. Connecticut Sun
The WNBA's newest team, the Dallas Wings, has gotten off to a somewhat slow start at 7-9 through 16 games. But that's good enough for third place in the Western Conference, and with 18 games left to go, there's still plenty of time to get better. Catch Odyssey Sims, Skylar Diggins, and the rest of the Wings in action at College Park Center in Arlington as they take on the Connecticut Sun.

Sunday, July 3

Lone Star Park presents Lone Stars & Stripes Fireworks Celebration
The annual Lone Stars & Stripes Fireworks Celebration features two nights of spectacular fireworks at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie. Kids can enjoy the Family Fun Park featuring pony rides, a petting zoo, an obstacle course, a zip line, bounce houses, face painters, tattoo artists, and more. Music lovers can enjoy live music by Vegas Stars between the races. Following the last race each night on July 3 and 4 is a spectacular, 20-minute firework display choreographed to music.

Addison Kaboom Town!
Addison’s most explosive party of the year, Kaboom Town!, features fireworks choreographed to music, plus food, bands, spectacular historic warbird flyovers by Cavanaugh Flight Museum, and more. The celebration is city-wide, with a party in the 12-acre Addison Circle Park; watch parties at many of Addison’s 180-plus restaurants and 22 hotels; and the Addison Airport Air Show.

Levitt Pavilion presents Light Up Arlington
For a more low-key Fourth of July celebration on the day before the day, you can head to Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in Arlington. Light Up Arlington is an evening of food, fun, fireworks, and free music. The event features Hannah Kirby and Brad Thompson in a back-to-back concert.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents 42nd Street at the Music Hall at Fair Park through July 10.

Photo by Chris Bennion

Dallas Summer Musicals presents 42nd Street at the Music Hall at Fair Park through July 10.

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Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."