Good Shows All ‘Round: Sharon Jones/Ivan Milev (Last Fri.) + Happy Hour Invitational (Tonight)

This is late, late, late — eh, I’m still sick, so I’m excused (the flu I’ve been fighting feels like it’s turning into bronchitis or something…shit…). Anyway, it’s been a busy few days for yours truly, even still; stood in the freezing fucking cold for a really long time to see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings last Friday, and yes, it was worth it. Anybody who didn’t get tickets this time & missed out: you really, really, really need to get ’em early next time. And then go. Seriously. Jones was incredible.

And then of course, there were these guys, about whom I can only say, “holy fucking crap, that’s amazing.” Granted, the music was loud enough to partially deafen my wife, but what the hey, tinnitus comes and goes, right? (Uh, right…?) Ivan Milev and Entcho Todorov were mind-blowing, really, so much so that the crowd overcame the initial “what the hell?” pose and started yelling and cheering enthusiastically to each piece they played. For their part, Milev and Todorov were sweetly appreciative, after starting out seemingly shy and standoffish — maybe they had had a bad reception in The Big Easy?

Anyway, while I’m talking about damn good shows (like that segue?), there’s another damn good show that’ll be starting shortly — Bright Men of Learning frontguy Marshall is once more hosting his fabled Happy Hour Invitational tonight at the soon-to-be-a-memory Proletariat (sigh), and it promises to be good. Marshall himself will be playing solo, in his Custom Drinker incarnation, along with John Sears (aka “that Grey Ghost Guy”), AWESOME! (about whom I know zip, sorry), and, uh, maybe other people (apparently The Jonx were slated to play, but the sneaky state of Washington has trapped Trey up in the Great Northwestern Woods).

So, there you go — gonna be good. Now, unless you, like me, are preparing to drive home, curl up on the couch, and pass out for the second time in a week, get on over to the Montrose. Fun starts at 6PM (dunno about a cover, sorry, but the Proletariat’s always cheap, so y’know).