Much Badassness This Weekend, Yes…

UPDATE II: Okay, so I started posting this yesterday at 3PM. When’s it go up? Today, long after at least a third of the listed shows actually happened. Fuck you, Blogger. Every time I think shit’s improved, you folks prove me wrong.

UPDATE: I found out just a wee bit too late that yeah, the Stadium show at The Mink got cancelled. Sorry, y’all…

Holy crap. I haven’t seen a Friday night like this in a while, seriously; while I should be getting some shit done, I feel compelled by The High Hoary Deities of Good Music to babble a bit about just what an awesome weekend the coming 72 hrs. or so is going to be, music-wise.

Ah, but there’s a catch: out of this whole damn list of good-ass shows you need to split yourself into three to go check out, there’s only two with any kind of big-ish name out-of-town headliner (and even those I personally like not because of the biggies but because cool locals like Kam or Elaine Greer are playing). Everybody else is local, or at least local-ish. Y’know why? Well, there’s this feeling going ’round that Houston’s music scene sucks and therefore cool bands that get good reviews in Pitchfork steer clear — and hey, that’s probably true to an extent — and that’s why nobody good’s coming through town, at least not this weekend. My response to that pseudo-trend: fuck ’em. We don’t need ’em.

No, really — when I look down the list below, I get this warm feeling up in my chest that’s one-half adopted-hometown pride and one-half sheer joy, because the folks below are the reason I give a crap about H-town music at all. They’re good, people, and each one of ’em’s worth 10 hipster-ironic Brooklyn bands nobody’ll remember three years from now anyway. Stadium, The Wild Moccasins, Miss Leslie, The American Masquerade, Something Fierce, Elaine Greer, Georgia’s Horse…the list goes on. These people all — and I do mean all — fucking rule so hard your grandma would probably be blown away by the sheer musical goodness which they emanate.

So, do yourself and those around you a favor: prove the naysayers wrong. Prove to the world at large that Houston does have audiences to go with the excellent bands & musicians living and working in this city. Grab a friend or five and hit a couple of bars. You don’t need to use my little list as your only guide, btw — there’re plenty of other bands playing, too, that maybe aren’t my style but happen to be yours. Find them. The paper, the TV, the radio, they’re not gonna do it for you, and neither is sitting at your computer listening to some random guy’s Myspace page (and yes, I know; guilty, guilty, guilty…).

If the Big Boys want to ignore us, that’s perfectly fine. Again: don’t need ’em. All we need to do is look down at what we’ve got right here under our noses, grab hold of it, love it, and flip the rest of the country the bird. Ask folks in any “scene” worth naming in the country how things came to be, and I guaran-damn-tee you that’s pretty much how it went.

[steps down off soapbox] Go have some fun, y’all…

Fri., July 18:
Stadium/Gamenight/Tastydactyls @ The Mink (6PM)
Tilly and The Wall/Elaine Greer/The Wild Moccasins @ The Engine Room
Georgia’s Horse/Phillip Foshee/Tizian Dominco @ Bohemeo’s
The Finalist/Eldridge/The Last Place You Look/Sidewise/The Last Starfighter/Good Night Goddess @ Fitzgerald’s
The Chop Tops/Luxurious Panthers/The Ghost Storys @ Walter’s on Washington
“Pen and Ink” Panhandler Benefit & Poetry Celebration @ Notsuoh
Benjamin Wesley @ Catalina Coffee
Bo Diddley Tribute Concert, featuring Hamilton Loomis & Offspring @ Last Concert Cafe
Broken Teeth/Whorehound @ Rudyard’s
Graham Wilkinson and the Underground Township/The Hacienda Brothers/Miss Leslie and Her Juke-Jointers/Molly and the Ringwalds @ The Continental Club

Sat., July 19:
The Ends/Something Fierce/Alarma/Sister Devastation @ Rudyard’s
The Ergs/Hunchback/Teenage Kicks @ I Heart U Warehouse (7937 Ashcroft; $5)
Holy shit…this is literally 3 blocks from my recently-vacated house at Bissonnet & Hillcroft. And I’m still not far away now, just down the road in Westbury. Hot damn — it’s about time the Southwest Side got some love…
Windsor Drive/Deep Ella/The American Masquerade/Camera Can’t Lie/Where Vegas Lies/Gatlin Elms @ Fitzgerald’s
Hollywood Black (in-store) @ Cactus Music (6PM)
Vatos Locos/de Sangre/Impugned/Black Rose/Flawless I @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
The Hates (CD release)/Static Thought/Societies Parasites/The Drafted @ Fitzdown
Vice on Victory/Who Shot Mr. Burns/The Sterling/Fighter/Permanent Daylight @ Javajazz Coffeehouse (Spring)
Okay, just so you know — no, I don’t like this show (don’t know any of the bands, honestly), but I just have to comment on it. Damn, y’all — did you seriously name your band after one of the goofiest cliffhanger episodes of The Simpsons ever? Man, why?

Sun., July 20:
The Eastern Sea (EP release)/News on the March/B./Elaine Greer and The Holly Hall/The Wild Moccasins @ Walter’s on Washington
Rx Bandits/Facing New York/Portugal The Man/Kam @ The Meridian

Mon., July 21:
Teeth Mountain/The Super Vacations/Wicked Poseur @ Boondocks (10PM)

Tues., July 22:
Billy Bob Thornton & the Boxmasters @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
I know, I know. What can I say? I’m curious, dammit…