Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Hatetank Benefit + Fat Tony + The Small Sounds + Citizen Cope + Hank III + More

More fun things going on tonight, Sat., March 13th — a lot more, in fact. Here’s the list, not of absolutely everything that’s going on, but everything that sounds at least promising to me:

Benefit Show for Willow’s Father, featuring Iron Age, Bitter End, Power Trip, Pride Kills, The Weight of Respect, Golden Axe, Killer Ape, Roots of Exile, One Against Many, & Hardside @ Walter’s
Damn. This show’s morphed a bit since it was originally announced as just an Iron Age show; in the intervening time, Hatetank Productions honcho and all-round good guy Willow lost his dad. And for those who’ve been fortunate enough to never have to see how expensive it can be to say goodbye to a loved one, trust me, it costs a hell of a lot more than you think. So this show’s meant to raise money to help defray the funeral costs for Louis Villareal III, and there’s a small horde of cool-ass heavy bands willing to help out.

Iron Age themselves are pretty neat, in an old-school, Metallica-esque thrash vein, Golden Axe are one of the best damn instrometal bands out there, and Pride Kills are pretty much hardcore pioneers ’round here, these days. Oh, and The Weight of Respect, the new band formed by at least one of the Will to Live guys, is playing, too. A badass show for a good, good cause.

Best Fwends/Fat Tony/Balls Deep/Zombie Sentinel/DJ Damon Allen/DJ Jacob Mthrfkn Calle @ Mango’s
Dunno Best Fwends at all, sorry, but this one’s worth it for the local hip-hop/DJ talent alone. Fat Tony is hands down one of the best MCs in town right now — and yes, I say that including the big-namers like Paul Wall or Slim Thug — and a guy well worth watching, and I’ve heard good shit about sex-obsessed hip-hop act Balls Deep, too. Plus, there’re DJs Damon Allen (ex-hardcore dude from Refuse to Fall, Blueprint, & Celindine) and Jacob Calle (aka “The Hurricane Bear”)…

Ian Moore/The Small Sounds @ The Continental Club
I like Ian Moore okay, sure — he’s more the wife’s thing than mine, honestly, and that may partly be nostalgia for her show-going days — but I really love The Small Sounds. I can’t say enough good things about these guys, seriously; they’re up near the top, at least, of the small pile of really, really, really good local country-ish/-influenced roots-rock bands, and it’s a hard call whether I like them, Buxton, or The Literary Greats the most. They’re an awesome band. I’m still most fond of the slower, more melancholy songs (“Leave Virginia Girl”, in particular), but they’ve really hooked me with the louder, more rocking songs now, too. See ’em soon, before they become at least city-wide household names.

Hank III & Assjack/Kyle Turley/Lynda K @ Wired Live (formerly The Meridian)
I’ve heard really, truly epic things about Hank III‘s shows, like the whole “plays country like his daddy did for half the night, then whips out his long hair and throws down, punk rock/thrash style” thing. Plus, there’s Kyle Turley, who one of our own got to talk to recently.

Citizen Cope/Gin @ House of Blues
I generally don’t go for that hip-hop-singer-gone-roots thing — Everlast’s Whitey Ford deal generally left me cold, and most things like it usually strike me as being poseur-ish. Citizen Cope, though, I find myself liking more and more; I freaking love the heartfelt, imperfect, dirty-edged soul of songs like “Son’s Gonna Rise”, and what I’ve heard of new album The Rainwater LP has been pretty cool, too. Here’s a free one from the new album to check out:

Citizen Cope – “Healing Hands” (MP3)

I’m still leery of the House of Blues — where the hell do all those people milling around down there come from? — but this should be a good show.

SXSW Overflow Fest, featuring Evolucid, My Milky Way Arms, Icarus Himself, Grey Market, Dinosaur Feathers, Bamboo Shoots, & Parallax @ Super Happy Fun Land
Damn, damn, damn. Okay, so my whole “SXSW Overflow Picks” thing has run aground the last two nights, it seems. I swear, I’ll get some more detailed info up here soon… What I said before still goes, though — go, take a leap, and you could hit something cool you’d never have heard otherwise.

Bat Castle/Torsectomy (CD release)/Sever The Silence/Sculpting Atrocity @ Cardi’s
Okay, so I only really like this one because the idea of a band named Bat Castle cracks me up. Be warned, though — I just found out this isn’t at the old Cardi’s, but at a new location out in Pasadena, of all places. The address is 3306 Preston. Damn; I was kinda hoping Cardi’s old location was still alive & kicking…anybody know if that’s the case?

Runners-Up:
South By Due East 2010, featuring Rich Del Grosso, Nosaprise, Tyagaraja, Rozz Zamorano, Plump, Corey Stoot, D.R.U.M., Dubtex, Mr. Blacc Sheep, Bigga Star, Congas by Carlos, The Wrong Ones, Danny Kristensen, Ashton Taylor, No Borders, New Jack Hippies, Patrick Brink Big Band, The Hates, Shina Rae, Dr. Jeff and the Painkillers, Hueman, The Journey Agents, Suspenderman, Guy Schwartz, Karina Nistal, Kozzmik Steel, The Annoysters, The Deen Jones Experience, Allison Fisher, Buxton, Heroine Stereo, Alligator Assassins, & more @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar (free!)
Ray Prim & Denitia Odigie @ Avant Garden
Jesse Dayton @ Goode’s Armadillo Palace
One Mic Concert Series, featuring Delo, Kane, Union, Hollywood Floss, & Thurogood @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Unearth/Stick To Your Guns/Veil of Maya/The Ghost Inside/Carnifex/Legion @ Wired Live (formerly The Meridian)
Poor Dumb Bastards (CD release)/Donkey Punch/Shit City High @ Rudyard’s
Monster Music Showcase and Rock ‘n Roll Fashion Show, featuring Otenki, Necrofaith, Blood Rooted, Clovis, Skeptikal, Inner Image, Metalloyd, Black Queen Speaks, & Failure To Notice @ Warehouse Live
Insert Name Here (CD release)/The Failed Attempt/Low Frequency @ Bohemeo’s
13 Black Coffins/The Dead Rabbits @ Trash Bar (Humble)