Tomorrow Night: The Festival at Mink Rolls In

Just when you thought all the H-town festivals were done… While this weekend’s The Festival at Mink may not have quite the scale of the Summerfest, it’s still pretty damn impressive.

The show’s this Saturday, September 12th (i.e., tomorrow), starting at 6:30PM over at (duh) The Mink, and it’s going to cram in a full dozen excellent, excellent musical-type folks, mostly of the local variety, into both floors of the delightfully rough-around-the-edges club/bar/whatever it is. It’s going to be good, I swear.

Here’s the full schedule, per the last update I got from Jason Smith of Alkari, who’s both playing the show and promoting things:

6:30 (upstairs) — Nosaprise: I still haven’t managed to catch rapper Nosaprise, unfortunately, but I was pretty blown away by his performance in Joe Mathlete‘s living room for 29-95.com. It’s some good, good, good shit, smart and pointed and nimble; I like it.

7:00 (downstairs) — Benjamin Wesley: He’s a little early to be a real headliner, I know, but honestly, Benjamin Wesley is the brightest spot in a lineup of bright spots, at least in my book. He’s one of those jealousy-inducing people who can play anything and everything, seemingly with ease…except that in his case, he plays it all at the same freaking time. It’s mesmerizing, trippy, and head-nodding cool.

7:30 (upstairs) — Neon Collars: Haven’t ever seen these folks, but I’ve heard good things about ’em; they’re kind of a neo-soul thing, apparently, funky and deep and pretty as hell.

8:00 (downstairs) — Kenny Bernal: Dunno Kenny Bernal, but apparently he used to play in d.e.m.o. with Jason from Alkari…

8:30 (upstairs) — The Manichean: One of the most promising (and newest, relatively speaking) bands currently in town, these guys (technically a core duo, Cory Sinclair & Justice Jamail, surrounded by a wide-ranging crew of talented folks) play sharp-edged, smart as hell post-rock that’s intriguingly structured, quirky, and artsy without being off-putting. Good shit.

9:00 (downstairs) — The Blind Pets: Austinites, and a band I dunno much about, sorry, although I’ve heard they do kind of a Sabbath-y thing.

9:30 (upstairs) — Elaine Greer: H-town’s folk-pop sweethearts (well, one of ’em, anyway), Ms. Greer plays sweet, pastoral music that’s poignant and intelligent at the same time; she’s got a great voice, for sure, but the part that really wins is that she knows how to craft a great song.

10:00 (downstairs) — Your Kisses Cause Crashes: Ah, yeah; another band of Austinites, Your Kisses Cause Crashes, are a really cool crew, grabbing hold of driving indie-rock songs and injecting ’em with a burst of Wayne Coyne-ish overdriven, shimmery pop goodness. The end result is warm and inviting, majestic and sunny. (And good, obviously.)

10:30 (upstairs) — Alkari: I’ve mentioned a few times before that I like these guys, and dang it, it’s still true. Straight-up rock with synths, and the songs they write are weirdly universal and cool. I’ve only heard the one EP so far, but I’m eagerly awaiting new stuff.

11:00 (downstairs) — Fake Believe: Been listening to these guys a lot lately, actually, in large part due to the sheer awesomeness of “Card Homes” (check it out on the Mixtape. They do alt-rock, for sure, but heavily coated in cool, Anniversary-esque synths and a surprisingly cool modern-sounding feel.

11:30 (upstairs) — The Pons: The third band in the Austin contingent, and another well worth hearing; The Pons play rootsy, rough-edged, melodic rock that comes off almost like Robert Pollard fronting Silkworm.

12:15AM (upstairs) — Electric Attitude: It makes perfect sense that these guys close out the night, since they’re pretty much the epitome of the party-down funk-rock band. I’m afraid I’m on the fence about their latest EP, Laser Laser Laser Beams, but when I caught ’em live, they seriously shook my expectations and had me grinning by the end of the night.

There you go, folks; that’s a heck of a lineup, esp. for the $10 door charge ($13 for the 18-20s; sorry, youngsters). Go, hang out, & catch some damn good bands.