This café-bookstore-bar has been written about in the past (in last year's Best Of, we named it "Best Place for a First Date"), and it will almost certainly be written about in the future. But we would be remiss not to point out how special it is that Sir Richard Bishop, the guitarist and vocalist of Phoenix avant-garde and punk legends Sun City Girls, played the intimate setting last year. The Wild Detectives is also a great place to check out a who's who of regional talent, including Austin's own Little Mazarn and Thor & Friends and locals such as Aaron Gonzalez and Lily Taylor. The acts who often play The Wild Detectives won't be selling out Carnegie Hall any time soon, but if there were any divine justice, they would be. They are some of this state's supreme talents, and the world needs to know it.

If you've ever succumbed to FOMO from some of Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios' many FOMO-worthy shows, Denton videographer Larry Hill more likely than not has your eyes covered from the comfort of your own home (but still, go to shows.) His YouTube channel "Animals Mistaken for Monsters" includes roughly 4,000 uploads, including full concert footage of professional quality from the likes of Die Spitz, Xiu Xiu, Lightning Bolt, Chat Pile, Sunami, Melvins, Napalm Death and many more.

If you're into the D-beat, crust and powerviolence acts like Discharge, Anti-Cimex and Infest, and you peruse the subreddit r/jacketsforbattle, you will be pleased to know that a distribution site ships out patches and other merch for those bands and others. You can even get a whole sheet of patches for $12, whether they be the logos of Rudimentary Peni or Hannah Montana (seriously, they've got it.) And once you place an order with Slit Wrists Distro, you will see on the shipping label that the products are packed and shipped from Abilene. Not exactly Stoke-on-Trent, but it's nice to know that someone in that town is doing this kind of exceptional work.

The official podcast for the publication Texas Hemp Reporter Magazine is the Texas Hemp Show. It offers the latest and greatest news around all the happenings in the Lone Star State's hemp industry. The show is recorded every Thursday, 6–7 p.m., and is released on Fridays. Each episode ranges from 30 minutes to an hour with the hosts inviting guests to discuss their corner of the hemp market. Recently, the podcast celebrated its four-year anniversary and hosted discussions about possible bans on delta-8 and delta-9 products in Texas.

Dallas multi-instrumentalist Paul Slavens hosts the award-winning weekly radio program The Paul Slavens Show on 91.7 KXT. During the program, you'll hear a diverse mix of music from varying time periods and genres. From jazz to country, Slavens plays it all. Listeners can also suggest tunes in the comments section on KXT's website. This year, Slavens celebrates 20 years on the radio, starting out on the Sunday night shift on KERA 90.1. When KXT was formed, Slavens moved over to the station where The Paul Slavens Show was created. If you miss a song, don't worry. Slavens posts the playlist on his blog after each show. If you want to catch the magic that is Paul Slavens, tune into KXT at 8 p.m. every Sunday.

For the second year in a row, Jesse Plemons has taken the cake when it comes to North Texas actors. Born in Dallas and raised outside of Waco, Plemons received the Best Actor award at Cannes this year for his role in Kinds of Kindness, the latest from Yorgos Lanthimos. Plemons solidified himself as a Texas boy back in his Friday Night Lights days, and now he has cemented his spot within the Hollywood elites. His cover profile with Texas Monthly is worth the read.

Dallas Book and Sip Club is not your average book club. The flagship Book and Sip Club was founded in Houston in August 2023. In less than a year, the community-focused book club has exploded with 26 chapters worldwide. Mallory Jordan founded Dallas' chapter in April 2024 and has since accumulated a membership waitlist of hundreds of eager readers. It's no surprise why. Jordan selflessly invests in the aesthetics and community-building aspects of the Dallas chapter. There are various socializing opportunities around the city, including pizza making, happy hours and movie outings. Once a month, the club gathers for an intricately planned, themed book club meeting. It's the perfect opportunity to make new friends, visit Dallas hot spots and dive into engaging conversations about books with a diverse group of literary aficionados.

In the middle of a sprawling concrete jungle in Plano sits a little oasis called the Katy Trail Icehouse Outpost. Many Dallasites are familiar with the bar and grill's flagship location along the Katy Trail in Dallas on Routh Street, but its satellite location in Plano is well worth the stop if you find yourself north of the PGBT. Like the flagship, the outpost is a casual beer garden with plenty of drinks to choose from and a delicious menu to boot. Unlike the little ice house along the trail, the suburban Katy Trail Ice House Outpost has plenty of room to grow, so it is. The Outpost is expanding its patio by 6,000 square feet, enough room for 300 more guests, a tiki bar, outdoor bathrooms, 22 trees, a new fire pit and two walk-in coolers for the kitchen that should all be complete by the end of October.

Founded in 2016 in a little house on Locust Street in Denton a little more than half a mile from the Downtown Square, Faded Blue is more than just a record store with its vintage furniture, home decor, crafts, clothing and any other kind of odd or end that is old and cool, especially vinyl records. Faded Blue is by no means a large record store. One could easily flip through the store's entire selection in about an hour, but there is always plenty more in the back. Owner Devin Drake prices records fairly, meaning that you're not going to pay more just because it's by the Rolling Stones. Maybe that copy of Beggar's Banquet has some cover damage or a minor scratch on the vinyl, but this decent copy of the classic album will only set you back $15. To keep up with the space, Drake will move records that haven't been sold into a $5 bin and then into a $1 bin. Anything that sits too long in the $1 bin will be bundled together in a bundle of 20 mystery albums that is sold for $5, which is a great way to expand your collection and hear some really weird stuff from musicians long-forgotten by history. That deal alone is worth the drive.

Opened as the Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre on July 23, 1988, Dos Equis Pavilion has been Dallas' best medium-sized spot to catch a live show for about 36 years now. The first thing to appreciate about the Pavilion is the parking price included with the ticket. Yes, you're still paying for it, but isn't it nice to avoid the secondary hassle of figuring out how you should pay the parking attendant? Next is the location. Its setting in Fair Park is away from the chaos of Deep Ellum, Lakewood, The Cedars or Lower Greenville, but close enough to make any of those areas an ideal spot for an afterparty. Then there is the humble lawn, which has always given music fans budget ticket options to see great bands. Then there is the lineup of concerts itself, which can be truly unbelievable in its variety. This year alone, the venue has hosted Alanis Morissette, Hozier, Foo Fighters and 21 Savage, and the rest of the year is looking even brighter.