Tonight: Suspects + Latch Key Kids + Crystal Method + Otep + More…

Damn, damn, damn. Yeah, I know it’s late as hell, but what the heck — I’ve been running nonstop all week & haven’t been able to catch up ’til now (more on why later). Which sucks, because there’s a ton of good stuff going on this weekend, starting tonight. Get on out while you can…

The Suspects/The Neptones @ The Continental Club
Suspects! Woo! I’m over the moon that these folks are back together again & playing out; the Suspects are bona-fide legends, I swear. Back in the day, they used to blow big-name touring ska bands off the stage — they’re really that good. I can recite the lyrics to every damn song, even now… (And hey, The Neptones are excellent, too, from what I’ve heard.)

Latch Key Kids @ Walter’s on Washington
Well, I can’t find a mention of it on the band’s own MySpace site, but Walter’s has it listed, and that’s a very cool thing, because these guys were (and now are again) one of the best Cali-style pop-punk bands in town. Fast, tuneful (but not sappy) melodic punk, the kind you grew up with.

The Crystal Method @ Rich’s
Wha? Holy fuck…how in the hell did this not get promoted more? I mean, c’mon — this is The Crystal Method we’re talking about, here. These guys are in every damn car commercial known to man, right? It’s supposedly a “DJ set,” but I’m not sure how that differs from the band’s “non-DJ set,” seeing as they’re, um, DJs.

Otep/Ill Nino/Walls of Jericho @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
A little ways outside of town, I know, but this is seriously the best metal show in town tonight. Ill Nino are cool, but headliners Otep are the real draw; eponymous lead singer Otep Shamaya is one of very few female metal singers that can roar, growl, and sing, all in the span of one breath. The first time I heard the band, I swear, I thought it was a big, burly gorilla of a guy doing the Cookie Monster-ing.

Wolves at the Door/Ozeal/Studemont Project/Yoko Mono/Juzcoz @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
This looks to be a sweet set — sadly, I’ve only ever heard a whole lot from Studemont Project, but I’ve heard good, good, good things from fellow locals Wolves at the Door, Ozeal, & Yoko Mono. Good shit at a venue that doesn’t generally see a lot of non-bluesy/jammy bands.

Peekaboo Theory/A Dream Asleep @ 2010A Commerce St.
New venue, apparently, which is cool in itself, but I’ve heard really excellent things about Peekaboo Theory, too…

The Caprolites/The Delta Block/The Takes/500 Megatons of Boogie @ Notsuoh
I dunno the Caprolites real well, I’m afraid, but I dig The Takes & 500 Megatons of Boogie quite a bit. If you like your rawk raw and noisy, this is where you should be.

Q-Tip/The Cool Kids/The Knux @ Warehouse Live
Tribe Called Quest in the house, y’all. Yes, it’s the original Hip-Hop Act Every Cool White Kid Liked from back in the late ’80s, and frontman Q-Tip is still at the top of his game. Plus, The Cool Kids are one of the leading lights of the positive hip-hop movement right damn now…

Otenki/American Fangs/Meriwether/Great American Actors @ Fitzgerald’s
Nice post-emo rock night up at Fitz; “American Fangs” is the new name for Morningside Drive, who’ve actually been one of the few bands to near fame & fortune from our fair city, and Great American Actors is a pretty freakin’ great band.