Your Weekend, Pt. 2: News on the March/Eastern Sea + Suspects + No Talk + ConFunkShun + More

Yes, it’s Saturday, and no, the rock doesn’t stop. Rain or no rain, still plenty of things going on; I’m not sure what they’re doing for the downtown International Festival (go, Ireland! Woo!) in the wet, but the Texas Crawfish Festival out at Old Town Spring proudly declares that the show out there’ll go on, rain or shine. Don’t let Ma Nature stop you…

News on the March/The Eastern Sea (split-7″ release)/The Tontons/Bolt @ Walter’s on Washington ($8)
Okay, so this one’s really making me feel like a bad parent for wishing I could get out of the house, but I mean, c’mon — four of the best damn bands going, all in one jam-packed show. It’s going to be pretty great; News on the March & The Eastern Sea, whose split-7″ release party it happens to be, both put on darn good shows, and so do soul-blues folks The Tontons and retro-’70s/Bowie-esque rockers Bolt. A full house of a show… Oh, and there’s a brand-new review of the NOTM/Eastern Sea 7″ up here — go check it, then hit the show.

The Suspects/Johnny Gunhand & The Ramblin’ Reverends/The Flying Fish Sailors @ The Continental Club
I can’t express in words how happy I am to see The Suspects back together. If I could leave the house, I’d have a hard time choosing between local ska-scene icons and the show above (with the show below a close third). These guys still rule, even something like 15 years doing their thing. Plus, The Flying Fish Sailors are very cool, a seriously long-lived folk band that’s always damn entertaining (and no, I’m not just saying that because it includes our office IT guy).

No Talk (record release)/ Something Fierce/ Hjertestop @ The Mink
Another record release, this time for faux(?) leather-boy hardcore punks No Talk, who’re entertaining if not my favorite thing ever. That’s okay, though, because melodic-as-hell poppy punks Something Fierce are one of my favorite things ever (and I mean that seriously), and Danish punks Hjertestop sound pretty intriguing, too.

The Born Liars/Rockland Eagles/The Platforms/Muhammid Ali @ Rudyard’s
I’ll admit that The Born Liars had to grow on me somewhat, but dammit, I’m now fully sold. Ragged Island is an awesomely raw slab of garage-rawk that manages both to pay homage to heroes past and feel like it could’ve come out of only one place in the world. On top of that, up-and-comers Muhammid Ali play some nicely-done old-school indie-rock (think Sebadoh, Superchunk, Treepeople, etc.), so there’s not much chance of this being anything but a good show.

River City Rebels/ Muhammid Ali/The Caprolites/ The Urgencies/The Arcane Flowers @ Super Happy Fun Land
O-kay…so, Muhammid Ali have cloned themselves, maybe? Hrm. If you can’t make it to the show above, well…

Come See My Dead Person/Darwin’s Finches @ Mango’s
Have yet to see either of these bands, but I’ve heard great things about Come See My Dead Person, in particular. Should be a good one.

Fair to Midland/Project H/ thelastplaceyoulook @ Fitzgerald’s
I’m fairly eh on headliners Fair to Midland — fairly middle-of-the-road alternametal, as I recall — and know zip about Project H, but thelastplaceyoulook put out one of my favorite albums of 2009 so far and one of the best start-to-finish emo albums I’ve ever heard, to boot. Their shows look to be pretty intense.

ConFunkShun/The Bar-Kays/The Ohio Players/Slave Funk Band @ Arena Theatre
Seriously? ConFunkShun, The Bar-Kays, and The Ohio Players? Wow. Granted, they’re all three a bit past their prime, and the addition of “Sugarfoot’s…” to the Ohio Players makes me leery, but still, we’re talking the people who came up with “Chase Me,” “Shut the Funk Up,” “Ffun,” and “Fire,” among other things. Again: wow.

Amon Amarth/Goatwhore/Skeleton Witch/Lazarus A.D./Necrofaith @ The Meridian (Main Room)
Put on the chainmail hauberk and grab your battle axe — it’s full-on Viking Metal time. Lots and lots of long-haired dudes in black singing songs about Odin; how can that not be cool? C’mon, it’s at least cooler than the Renaissance Festival…

Runners-Up:
Texas Crawfish Festival (Hurricane Ike Fundraiser Day!), featuring Cowboy Mouth, Hayes Carll, Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners, Noony & the Zydeco Floaters, Jason Allen, Three Fantastic, Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights, Honeybrowne, Fred Rusk & the Zydeco Hi Steppers, Jesse Dayton, Paula Nelson, Orange Is In, Right to Refuse, & The 71’s @ Old Town Spring (Spring)
Houston International Festival 2009, featuring Beoga, Ohio Players, J. Paul Jr. and the Zydeco Nubreeds, Mariachi Los Arrieros, Marcia Ball, Blaggards, Danny O’Flaherty, Wyndnwyre, Fish and Chips, O’Maoileidigh Irish Dancers, Soular Grooves Sound System, Kuumba House Kids, Constant Billy, Celtic Menagerie, Kevin Burke & Friends, Texas Johnny Brown & the Quality Blues Band, Jody Nix & the Texas Cowboys, Lucia y Valdemar Gitanerias Flamenco, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Plena Libre, Julia Fowlis, McTeggart Irish Dancers, The Wailing Souls, Zulu Connection Mardi Gras Indians, Los Pistoleros de Tejas, Zydeco Dots, The Gillette Brothers, Maureen Miggins Swanson & the Miggins Family, Ballet Folklorico Ozomatli, Sean Richards’ Steel Drum, Anjali Indian Dance, Mitch Jacobs Band, Conjunto Los Diamantes, Cedric Watson & Bijoux Creole, Houston Highlanders Pipe Band, Umbrella Man, Darryl the Juggler, Grupo de N’Golo, Kalimba King, Roly the Clown, & Baba Ifalade @ Downtown Houston