The Rundown: 11/8/08-11/14/08

Aaaaaaaaaand, here we go. There’re just too many fucking cool shows coming up in the next several days for me to skip talking about ’em in good conscience. I’m sleep-depriving myself for you, people. Can you feel how much I sacrifice for you? You may, once you read the half-coherent writeups below…

Sat., November 8:
Secret Saturday Show One Year Anniversary, featuring Welfare Mothers, The McKenzies, Judas Bear, Darwin’s Finches, Nosaprise, Awake, & more @ The Shady Tavern (1-7PM, free!)
Gotta start with the One Thing You Absolutely Need to Do Tomorrow Afternoon. The Secret Saturday shows I’ve been to have been great fun, and seeing as organizers J.D./Broman and his lovely wife (whom I inadvertently made fun of while posting about the Westheimer Block Party…sorry!) are apparently moving to freakin’ Alabama sometime in the near future, the SSS anniversary show has the added bonus of maybe being able to say “hi” to ’em before they skip town. Fuck. Oh, and of the bands I’ve seen listed so far, Judas Bear are cool (hey, Thane!), The McKenzies absolutely rock & deserve your love, and Awake will melt your skull, even if they’re playing acoustic. Go.

Drag The River/Hobo Mouth @ Walter’s on Washington
This was going to be a bunch of other bands I’d never heard of, with the Drag The River/Hobo Mouth show tacked on, but it’s looking like the Say When/etc. part of the show has imploded, leaving the very, very cool alt-country-ish stylings of Drag The River behind. Which, honestly, I pretty much find more appealing. Their last album was pretty awesome.

Minus The Bear/Annuals/27 @ House of Blues
Patt Todd & the Rank Outsiders/Hickoids/Born Liars/Stevie Tombstone @ Rudyard’s
The Late Show, featuring Hightower, Bark Hard, & Loose Ride @ Numbers
Wha? Didn’t Bark Hard break up, like, a decade ago?

The After-Ween Party: A Benefit for “Baby Ramsey,” featuring Fredster, Bobby DJ, Grrrl Parts, Damon Allen, John The Third, & more @ Bootleg Studios (2301 Commerce; 11PM)
This one’s a benefit for a wee one, so I’m immediately heartbroken over it. Gonna try to slap the poster up here if I can; note that this is a late show, so all you club-going hipsters, help the kid out.

Jad Fair @ The Mink
Sad Gorilla/Benjamin Wesley/Robert Ellis @ Catalina Coffee
Houston Metal Fest, featuring Pinhed, Nhuvasarim, Cerebral Down, Epic, Surrealism, Blind Sanctity, Green Shoe Polish, Cerebral Rot, Ninth Kingdom, Lamb To The Slaughter, 28th St., Anguish In Exile, Chaos With A Smile, Krank Shaft, Rated E The Band, Vehement, Dismembered, The Forbidden Vista, Virus, What Lies Beneath, Bloodvoid, Brutally Mutilated, Burn The Sky, FleshHook, Bludstreem, Lycophile, Temple Of Wrath, Last Rosary, Cain Was Able, Insidious Decrepancy, DeadTrip, Predominant Mortification, In The Trench, Obsidian Throne, Paegan, BloodRequiem, Burn The Wicked, & more @ The Meridian
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band/The Lee Boys/Plump @ Warehouse Live

Sun., November 9:
A Tribute to Johnny Romano, featuring Sugar Shack, Teisco Del Rey, The Neptones, Luxurious Panthers, Uncle Charlie, surf/skate art auction, & more @ The Continental Club/Sig’s Lagoon ($10, kids free)
Mentioned this a while back, and it’s still the A-one thing to do this coming Sunday. I’ll post more on it if I get a chance.

Agent Orange/Dickey Hands/Crows Feet/Riot Up Front @ The Meridian
In college, Agent Orange made me want to play in a band. More specifically, “A Cry For Help In A World Gone Mad,” off the rerelease of Living in Darkness, made me want to play in a band. God damn, that was a fun song to bash a guitar and howl out in a crappy practice space… Anyway, since I started this site basically because I was in a band in Houston and couldn’t find anything about where to play, who to play with, etc., I guess that means that in a very roundabout way, I have Mike Palm & co. (apparently he’s the one original member left) to thank for this site devouring the last decade-plus of my life. I’ll leave you to judge if that’s a good or bad thing.

Penny Royal (as Ziggy Stardust)/Mechanical Boy (as Tears for Fears) @ The Mink
I’ve also seen this bill w/o Penny Royal & with somebody named “Iron Bridge” playing Smiths songs, so you take your chances, here…

Mon., November 10:
The Western Civilization/Cedar Boy Bailey/Gretchen Schmaltz @ Boondocks
Yes, yes, yes. If I can drag the Swedes to this, I will. The Western Civ rule, and so do Cedar Boy Bailey & Ms. Gretchen.

Tom Gabel/Chuck Ragan/Ben Nichols/Tim Barry/Kevin Seconds @ Walter’s on Washington
Remember all those cool punk bands you liked back in the day, like Avail, Hot Water Music, & 7 Seconds? Well, imagine the frontmen of all those bands playing singer/songwriter indie-folk. You make the call.

SBach/Motion Turns It On/Stove Blow @ The Mink
Matisyahu/Heavy Pets @ House of Blues

Tues., November 11:
Via Audio/The Factory Party/Grrrl Parts @ The Mink
Yay! And here I thought The Factory Party was dead & buried — glad to see ’em up and playing again. One of the most promising bands in town, seriously.

Wed., November 12:
White Lion @ The Meridian
Yes, I’m serious. White Lion sang (er, sings?) about how much war sucks, orphaned children, siblings dying, paramilitaries in El Salvador, and the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, making them really, truly the one and only fucking glam-metal band with a conscience and a social activist agenda. These guys were green before it was cool to be green and be in a band, and along with Nuclear Assault, they were pretty much this podunk military base boy’s introduction to the world of environmental activism. I love ’em for it, even now.

Thurs., November 13:
The Lonely H @ Rudyard’s

Fri., November 14:
Forsa Pink’s Almost Famous Fashion Show, featuring Glasnost, The Tontons, SerJ, & Grrrl Parts @ The Mink
Tontons & Glasnost. I could skip the fashion, yes, but damn, those two bands — I know for certain that the Tontons rule, but I’ve meant to catch Glasnost for a while, too…

Rock Band Live Tour, featuring Panic at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, & The Cab @ Reliant Arena
Yeah, yeah. What can I say? I’ve got a soft spot in my emo-boy heart for Dashboard Confessional. Dusk and Summer was a damn good pop album (and featured one of the most thoughtful anti-war songs I’ve heard come out of this neverending war), and listening to the original version of “Again I Go Unnoticed” makes me feel like a bitter, sensitive, jilted 20-year-old all over again.

Bigfoot and the Bear/Broman/Tiziano Dominico/Steve Eck and the Midnight Still/Cory Derden/Baby Hurricane/Airon Paul Dugas @ Stitched Tire House (1506 Caywood Ln.; 7PM, BYOB)
The Hood Internet/Car Stereo Wars @ Boondocks
The Invincible Czars @ Rudyard’s
Mel Tillis @ Stafford Centre (Stafford)
Mel Tillis! Holy shit, he’s still alive? One of my few childhood memories is of watching this guy play on television. He’s still the only stuttering country singer I’ve ever heard of…