Yay Sports

CultureMap’s Tailgate scores big with Dallas foodies + sports fans

It was sports heaven at The Empire Room on Monday, December 9, when fans of food, fun, and football gathered for the second edition of CultureMap's Tailgate party, presented by Verizon.

Absolutely perfect weather greeted guests at the indoor-outdoor event, as did the Frisco RoughRiders' mascot, Bull Moose, and excellent tunes from DJ Paiin.

CultureMap Dallas Tailgate 2024 Cowboys fans were out in full force.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Photo by Ashley Gongora

Fans showed up supporting all Texas teams.

Many wore Dallas Cowboys jerseys in support of the Monday Night Football matchup against the Cleveland Browns, which was projected onto two walls of the venue. Mavericks, Rangers, and even a few-out-of-state jerseys cemented that Dallas fans are serious about sports.

Courtesy of presenting sponsor Verizon, VIP admission gave guests access to a special meet-and-greet with former Cowboys tight end Jay Novacek as part of its On the Road to the Super Bowl promotion. Former Texas Rangers legend Rafael Palmeiro also posed for photos with VIP fans and joined Novacek in signing autographs to kick off the evening.

Guests were also able to register for an exciting chance to win a VIP trip for two to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans*. And if you missed your chance, don't worry. There's still time to enter now.

CultureMap Dallas Tailgate 2024 Tailgating is all about the food.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Of course, no tailgate is complete without delicious food. Guests gobbled up generous samples from some of Dallas' favorite restaurants, including:

Smash Burger Pizza from Cenzo's Pizza & Deli
Buffalo shrimp and blue cheese grits from McRae's American Bistro & Cocktails
Sweet n' spicy bruschetta from Postino
Pulled pork banh mi from JW Marriott Arts District
Bulgogi Ssam (marinated ribeye lettuce wraps) from JOA Grill
A variety of mini sandwiches from Corner Bakery
Mexican shrimp cocktail and poblano cream soup from Anaya's Seafood
Game Time venison roll-ups from Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse
Smoke Signal sliders from Scout at the Statler Hotel
Pastrami and pimento cheese sandwiches from Empire Baking Company
Baked mezze rigatoni urbano from Will Salisbury
The Original ChopShop's Kickoff with Coconut Chia Pudding and Huddle for Hummus with tortilla strips and veggies
Blueberry cheesecake and tiramisu tartlets from La Rêve Gelato & Pâtisserie

With virtually no wait time for drinks, the bars served up signature cocktails by Tequila 512 (the Touchdown Margarita and Mexican Mule Rusher) and Jim Beam Black (the BBG and Rackhouse Black) and beer from EIGHT, along with THC seltzers from Howdy.

CultureMap Dallas Tailgate 2024 An array of beverages ensured guests had fun all night.Photo by Ashley Gongora

McRae's American Bistro scored as attendees' favorite dish of the night. Angry Dog beat out 15 other competitors in a bracket-style tournament to take home the title as winner of the Ultimate Wing Showdown. It was a busy week for Angry Dog — the eatery was also rumored to be one of the locations recently filmed for Guy Fieri's popular TV show Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.

CultureMap Dallas Tailgate 2024 Buffalo shrimp and blue cheese grits from McRae's American Bistro & Cocktails won the best dish of the night.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Local sports organizations were well represented, with the 2023 World Champion Texas Rangers raffling off an autographed baseball and the Frisco RoughRiders delighting guests with a prize wheel offering T-shirts, drawstring bags, and Evan Carter and Josh Jung baseball cards. An array of autographed photos, helmets, jerseys, and other memorabilia were also up for grabs in the silent auction.

CultureMap Dallas Tailgate 2024 The silent auction inspired competitive bidding.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Even though the Cowboys didn't win their game that night, fans still had such a good time that a spontaneous dance party broke out. At least someone got to do a victory dance!

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The Tailgate was presented by Verizon and sponsored by HOWDY, Eight Beer, Jim Beam Black, 512 Tequila, and PicMe Events.

*The NFL Entities shall have no liability or responsibility for any claim arising in connection with participation in this sweepstakes or any prize awarded. The NFL Entities have not offered or sponsored this sweepstakes in any way.

sports celebrities contests wings tailgate

Movie Review

Billie Eilish brings fans closer in immersive new 3D tour film

Photo by Henry Hwu/courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Billie Eilish in Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

In 2021, at the tender age of 19, singer Billie Eilish was already the subject of a documentary, The World’s a Little Blurry. At that point, she had only released one album, so the film threatened to feel too early for such treatment. The ensuing five years have only made her a bigger star, though, so in many ways that movie now feels prescient for the person on display in the new concert documentary with the unwieldy title of Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

Directed by Eilish and blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron, the film takes viewers inside Eilish’s 2024-2025 tour in support of her latest album, 2023’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. Filmed mostly at her series of shows in Manchester, England, the movie is a showcase for Eilish’s music, but it also serves as a smaller exploration of the type of person she is, as well as the impact she has had on her legion of fans.

The draw of the film is the use of Cameron’s beloved 3D technology, which he has employed in each of the three Avatar films. Unlike in those films, where the 3D has the odd effect of making the visuals too realistic for their own good, the technique brings an intimacy to the large-scale show that underscores the unique bond the singer has with her supporters.

Eilish and Cameron go back and forth between performances at the concert to behind-the-scenes sequences, detailing the enormous effort it takes to put on a show like that and how Eilish spends her time getting ready for it. As in The World’s a Little Blurry, this film continues to portray the singer as down-to-Earth, someone who yearns to maintain the connection to her fans that she’s had since she released her first single, “Ocean Eyes,” 10 years ago.

And as the many emotional songs in Eilish’s concert playlist prove, the feeling from the crowd is mutual. While Eilish has multiple bangers like “Bad Guy,” “Therefore I Am,” and the Charli XCX collaboration “Guess,” it’s the sad songs like “Everything I Wanted,” “Happier Than Ever,” and the Oscar-winning Barbie anthem, “What Was I Made For?” that hit the hardest. The depth of feeling emanating from her many sobbing fans singing along to crushing songs cannot be understated.

For audiences of the film, though, it’s the breadth of camera angles and shot choices that make it truly dynamic. There are cameras everywhere, including in the crowd, inside a cube at the center of the stage that rises and descends, following Eilish as she traipses every inch of the long, rectangular stage, and even a small one Eilish uses to bring an extra personal touch to the in-arena screen. Combined, they capture the complete energy of the concert, something that is not always the case in a film of this type.

Eilish has almost as many movies - two - as she does albums - three - which borders on overkill for a singer of her age. But both her music and the movies show her to be a person who knows the responsibility of being a celebrity, someone who understands that her fans are the reason she’s famous at all. Her career may go up or down from here, but it’s clear she’s already made a huge impact on those who love her most.

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Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D opens in theaters on May 8.

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