Man, it's been a rough fucking week. Not even getting to rock out live and in-person to The Hold Steady last night made me feel much better, although stopping back in the old 'hood at 1AM and sitting out on the Hazard St. Bridge over 59 with some M&Ms and Gatorade (I was dehydrated as hell after the show; goddamn, was it hot in Walter's...) helped a bit.

At any rate, I'm homebodyin' tonight, just chillin' and watching SciFi Channel and reading Day Watch, but that doesn't mean you should stay home. Here's what all's on:

Bert Jansch/Jana Hunter @ The Orange Show
Wow. This is really freakin' impressive, seriously -- Jansch is an old-old-old school folkie who's been dragged recently out of semi-obscurity by the new crop of folk-ish people out there, including H-town's own Jana H. Who is, obviously, absolutely great. And, unfortunately, moving out of state again, this time to Bal'mer, MD. Dammit...

Calvin Johnson/Julie Doiron @ Aurora Picture Show
I've never been a huge Calvin Johnson fan, I have to admit, but the guy's been one of the driving forces in the indie-rock/pop world for, what?, twenty years now? Gotta respect that. Ms. Doiron, on the other hand, we truly-truly love -- and by "we" I don't mean "me," but other folks here at SCR, too. Her new album's great.

Vietnam/Greg Ashley/The Dimes/Studemont Project @ The Mink
Truth in advertising's the name of the game for VietNam -- strange, bearded, druggy-lookin' guys playing, well, strange, maybe-bearded, druggy-soundin' music. Dunno Greg Ashley, but the Dimes are one of the coolest, most interesting rock bands in town right now, and Studemont Project prove that H-town hip-hop ain't all 'bout the lean or the bling.

Comp1 Road to Recovery Benefit, featuring Havikoro, Joe B, Illset, EZ, & more @ 3220 Hadley St. ($5 minimum)
sigh. Damn shame... I've never met the guy personally, but Comp1's been one of Houston's best & brightest DJs for some years now, so it was kind of a shock to hear that he'd been in a bad accident and was in the hospital. I think he's doing okay, but apparently the bills are astronomical, so this is a benefit to raise funds to cover 'em. More info here.

Houston Press City of Spin, featuring Josh Harris, Alex C, James Reed, & DJ Red @ 702
Yeah, we missed Night 1 of this -- sorry 'bout that. I like the idea behind the shows, though: you go, you watch the DJs do their thing, and then you vote for who you want to end up on the Houston Press Music Awards ballot. Beats trying to get your friends & family to all get together and write you in...

Necrophagist/Decapitated/Cephalic Carnage/Cattle Decapitation/The Faceless/As Blood Runs Black/Ion Dissonance/Arsis/Beneath the Massacre/Daath/Pinhed/Insect Warfare/As Eden Burns/School Girl Knife Fight/Viral Load/The Final Plague/Brazen Altar @ The Meridian
Mëtäl up your ass. Honest. I am happily ignorant of most of these folks (although I love to snicker at some of the band names), and some that I do know make my head hurt, but some, like School Girl Knife Fight, are damn cool. And again: mëtäl up your ass. What more could you want?

Skyblue72/Freebleeder @ Rudyard's
I like the Skyblue72 folks, mostly because -- and boy do I feel my age admitting this -- my wife, daughter, and I happened to see them play one morning at the Borders near our house. They were good, despite the non-audience, and my daughter loved dancing to them. Anybody who makes my daughter laugh and dance like a maniac is pretty badass in my book. (Dammit, when's Gogol Bordello going to play H-town?)

Knock Out the Triple Threat Benefit, featuring Exit 380, Flood, Swinging Teresa, Virus, & Mindflow @ Fitzdown Another benefit, but this one's a wee bit more vague -- it's a three-issue/threat benefit, raising money to combat, um, AIDS, poverty, and...hell, I can't remember. Sorry... But hey, they were all good things to combat, so y'know, make it out if you can.

More to come...

Labels: H-Town News, Pseudo-Reviews, Things To Do

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