Buffalo Tree Festival Will Bring You The Perfect Pairing: Spoon and Beto O'Rourke

Two days before the deadline to register to vote in Texas, the inaugural Buffalo Tree Festival will make one last push to encourage people to vote — especially if they're Democrats — as well as enjoy an all-day music festival. Normally the Main Street Garden in downtown Dallas is the...

By Eric Grubbs

September 7, 2018

Beto and Spoon in one festival. Brian Maschino

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Two days before the deadline to register to vote in Texas, the inaugural Buffalo Tree Festival will make one last push to encourage people to vote — especially if they're Democrats — as well as enjoy an all-day music festival.

Normally the Main Street Garden in downtown Dallas is the site of springtime festivals like Homegrown and the Old 97’s County Fair, but Buffalo Tree will be Sunday, Oct. 7. Not surprisingly, this festival is brought to you by the same folks behind Homegrown in conjunction with the Dallas County Democratic Party.

Democratic candidates Beto O’Rourke, Lupe Valdez, Kim Olson and Colin Allred share the same billing as musical acts Spoon, the Polyphonic Spree, Sarah Jaffe, Bobby Sessions and Sparta. More acts will be announced in the following weeks.

Dylan Silvers, best known for his work with These Machines Are Winning, [DARYL] and the Sunshine Village Band, created the event. “The event is not about just one concert,” he said in a press release that arrived in inboxes Thursday morning. “We want to inspire people to take action all the way to Nov. 6.”

Acts like Spoon and Sparta have made no secret on their social media accounts about their support of Beto O’Rourke, the Senate candidate who has drawn a lot of eyes and ears because of his stances and campaign trail, which has hit every county in Texas. Taking pictures with O’Rourke and spreading the word through Instagram posts, these musicians are just some who want O’Rourke in office and Ted Cruz out.

And O’Rourke is no stranger to having musical acts play at campaign stops. Many rallies feature live music from local bands. Jim Ward, Sparta frontman and former At the Drive-In member, is from El Paso and has known O’Rourke for a long time. At the end of July, between tour dates with Sparta, Ward played a solo acoustic show with O’Rourke in Amarillo.

Meant as a family-friendly, all-ages deal with voter registration in full force, Buffalo Tree tickets are $10 for adults and free for anyone younger than 18. It runs from noon to 10 p.m.

The Buffalo Tree Festival is Oct. 7 at Main Street Garden in downtown Dallas.

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Eric Grubbs is a Dallas-based writer who has published two books, Post: A Look at the Influence of Post-Hardcore 1985-2007 and When We Were the Kids. His writing has been featured in Punk Planet, Popdose, Fort Worth Weekly, The Dentonite and LA Weekly. He supports Manchester City and will never root for Manchester United.

Contact: Eric Grubbs

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Twitter: @Eric_Grubbs