Yr Weekend, Pt. 2: The McKenzies’ Last Stand + Rad Rich + Peter, Bjorn & John + Crystal Gayle + More

More going on this weekend, of course — like I said, not as much as a lot of weekends, but some good stuff, nonetheless. Here goes…

Sat., August 29:
The McKenzies (last show!)/Fat Tony/The Tontons/Tax the Wolf @ Mango’s
sigh. The heartbreaker of the weekend, hands down; if you’ve been paying attention to local music-media type folk lately, you’ve probably already heard that fast-rising (for H-town, anyway), ultra-sarcastic pop-rock kids The McKenzies are hanging it up after this one last show. Damn, damn, damn. I get it, believe me, but it still sucks — they were one of the bands I really needed to get up on the “Featured Bands” list pronto, but my lazy ass couldn’t get it together in time.

Anyway, now’s your chance to help ’em go out with a bang. They’re helped along, of course, by a full slate of fellow awesome-fucking-cool music-makers, including psych-soul purveyors The Tontons (who apparently won’t be playing live again ’til January — gah!), quick-witted, pop culture-obsessed, hip-hop maestro Fat Tony, and murky indie-rockers Tax the Wolf. Hard to beat all that for $5. See ya, McKenzies crew…

Rad Rich Birthday Back 2 School Radical Bash/Benefit for Music Therapy of Houston, featuring JW Americana, Mic Skills, Grave Robbers, Luxurious Panthers, Oklahomos, Mass of Men, The Delta Block, Dollyrockers, American Sharks, Fired For Walking, The Bad Ones, Zipperneck, Unzipped, Pretty Little Turtle, & Somosuno @ Avant Garden & Mango’s (2-9PM)
Gotta love Rad Rich — the guy never quits, I swear. And hey, I’m not complaining, since he keeps it up with his traditional Back 2 School/Birthday Bash thing every year. This year he’s assembled quite the lineup, heavy on the punk/rawk end of things, with good, good, good folks like punkish garage dudes American Sharks, old-time rockabilly guys Luxurious Panthers, & straight-up alt-rockers Fired For Walking (among others). Oh, and it’s freeeeeeee. Sweet.

Mad Macka/Somethin Ain’t Rights/Welfare Mothers/Muhammid Ali @ Rudyard’s
A teensy bit disappointed by this one, mostly because local garage-rock icons Born Liars were originally on the schedule, but eh, that’s only a minor thing considering that fellow garage heroes Welfare Mothers and flashback indie-rockers Muhammid Ali are both playing, too. Heard good things about Australians Mad Macka, but I don’t know ’em…

Sound of Seattle, featuring TEN (Pearl Jam tribute), Badmother (Soundgarden/Temple of the Dog tribute), & Facelift (Alice in Chains tribute) @ House of Blues
Okay, so does this seem really weird to anybody but me? I mean, I honest-to-God loved music coming out of Seattle in the early ’90s, but, um, I also lived it. And now there’s a market for tribute bands for folks like Pearl Jam & Soundgarden? Really? Hell, did Pearl Jam even ever stop playing?

Elaine Greer @ Cactus Music (1PM)
Electric Attitude @ Cactus Music (4PM)
Brains For Dinner/King Shanty/King Young/Young Militia/The Light of the Trinity @ Super Happy Fun Land
Snit’s Dog and Pony Show @ The Continental Club/Pachinko Hut (2-5PM)
Suburban Warfare/Skepticynic @ The Mink

Sun., August 30:
Depeche Mode/Peter, Bjorn and John @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Honestly, I could give a crap about Depeche Mode — I can still remember when the small cadre of DM fans at my high school got beaten up regularly for wearing black & smearing on makeup — but damn, I do like Peter, Bjorn and John. “Young Folks” still ranks as one of my favorite-ever minimalist pop songs (and drum tracks).

Weedeater/Dixie Witch/Iron Age/Bowel @ Walter’s on Washington
Yep, already talked about this one — head on over here. And then go, right?

Crystal Gayle @ Dosey Doe Coffee Company
Um. What? Crystal Gayle, the lady who sang “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” is playing at a coffeehouse in The Woodlands? Okay, so the Dosey Doe‘s not exactly a typical “coffeehouse,” and the tickets are waaaaaaay pricier than your average latté ($80? really?), but still. This just seems…strange. But hey, if you’re a fan…

Scott Ayers & The Nonsense Music Band @ Avant Garden
Honky Tonk Happy Hour, featuring Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers & Johnny Falstaff @ The Continental Club (6-9PM)

Mon., August 31:
Nebula/The Entrance Band/Trian Woodburns/Ghost Town Electric @ Walter’s on Washington
Aaaaand this one, too. Gonna be a good one — again, see here.