The Rundown, Part 1: Secretly Awesome + Tontons Rejoicing + Old-School Metalcore

Still reeling from/dealing with the Thanksgiving aftermath here — the family that puts up Christmas decorations together & all that — so I’ve got to keep it brief for right now, but for tonight, Friday, November 28th, you’ve got a few cool choices to fight the mid-holiday slump…

First there’s the Secret Awesome Fest 9000, the details about which have been a wee bit sketchy (like, say, the date it was happening), but then, I guess that’s the whole “Secret” part. Anyway, I’m not real familiar with most of the bands, but it’s a varied crew of mostly(?) local folks, like Breathe In Your Neighborhood, The Mermaids of Judaism (formerly The Baristas), Charger Fits, Giant Battle Monster, & Female Demand — see the flyer over there for the full list. It’s at a venue I’ve never heard of, out at 10553 Fisher Rd., and it’s free as free can be, which probably accounts for part of the “Awesome” part. Oh, and it’s, um, already going on right now, I think, so y’know.

Alternatively, you could also head on over to the Warehouse Live — some will probably be headed there anyway to check out Little Joy, the new band of (ex?-)Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, but honestly, I could give a shit about that. Reason Number Two to see this show is for The Dead Trees, who do some quite decent countrified indie-pop thing, and Reason Number Three — the most important of the pile — is to check out local kids The Tontons, who are flat-out awesome, all smoky sultriness and head-nodding psych-soul.

Your third option would have to be the Inner Lights show up at Rudyard’s; I could’ve sworn those folks broke up a while ago, so maybe this is a reunion deal? Either way, they’ve got PuraPharm, who I haven’t heard, and Western Civilization-ite Gretchen Schmaltz, who I have heard and really like (she does a very cool indie-folk-type thing) opening for ’em, which makes the show a total good deal. (10PM, I believe…)

Finally, for those who dwell up on the northside, there’s a heavy duty metalcore/screamo show going on up at Javajazz in Spring, the lineup of which includes Shai’Hulud. Yes, seriously — fucking Shai’Hulud, one of the “godfather” bands of the whole hardcore-with-metal subgenre. Of course, it’s barely the same band that released Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion (I think the only surviving original member is Matt Fox), but heck, it’s still a big deal from where I sit.

Lots of other folks are playing the show, too — Born of Osiris (it’s their CD release), After the Burial, Burning the Masses, Upon A Burning Body, & Before…There Was Rosalyn (who’re kicking off their tour tonight) — but I’m afraid the mid-headliners are the only ones I know much about, sorry…

Runners-Up:
Carolyn Wonderland/Bob Showdown @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Wolves At The Door/HalffNelson/Desmond Zavala @ Fitzgerald’s
Gab-E’s Birthday Party, featuring Glasnost, Damon Allen, DJ Jeffe, & Bobby DJ @ The Mink
The They/Maxwell and His Demons/Atlas/DJ Lu @ Notsuoh
Hollywood Black/The Goods/Circuit Slomo/The Shiny Darks/Jody Seabody & The Whirls @ Fuel (Humble)