Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Athlete + Alex Arizpe Benefit + The Fox Derby + Miss Leslie + Fight With Flash/Little Lo + More

Back again with the rest of the weekend, and yep, there’s still a lot going on; here’s what looks good to me:

Sat., June 26:
Athlete/Carney @ Mango’s
I’m always partial to the locals, these days, but in this case I’m just as psyched at the prospect of British pop-rock crew Athlete making a swing through our fair city. Kinda odd to think of a band that’s this well-known in England playing little-old Mango’s, but hey, who’m I to argue? I still feel my soul crack open a wee bit every time I hear “Wires,” off the band’s jaw-dropping 2005 release, Tourist.

Alex Arizpe Benefit Show Part II, featuring Blueprint, Latch Key Kids, The Tie That Binds, Pretty Boys, & LJ All Stars @ Walter’s
Talked a bit about this one already right over here, but again: this will be awesomely good, and for an extremely good cause, to boot. A bunch of amazing bands that most fans of the H-town scene never got a chance to see and probably won’t ever again.

Sean Reefer & the Resin Valley Boys/Mike Stinson @ The Continental Club
It’s been a long while since I’ve been over to The Continental Club, but this is tempting me to make the run to Midtown once again. Still haven’t managed to ever catch {Sean Reefer & the Resin Valley Boys} live, but I love the songs I’ve heard; rough-edged country/rockabilly songs about, well, weed — how can that go wrong?

The Fox Derby/Brains For Dinner/Intilusion/Cari Quoyeser @ Fitzgerald’s
Two bands I really need to hear more from, {The Fox Derby} and {Brains for Dinner}, playing at this one; I don’t know a lot about ’em, unfortunately, I like what I’ve heard so far. The Derby, as I recall, are kinda indie-pop-like, while Brains for Dinner are more old-school reggae…

Days of the New @ 18th Street Pier Bar and Grill (San Leon)
Okay, I’m not going to say I like this show, because Days of the New mostly irked me back in the day, but…wow. To go from having #1 songs on the Billboard charts and videos on MTV to, um, playing a bar in San Leon? I’m sorry, but damn, that’s got to sting. I mean, it’s great for San Leon-ians, and the 18th Street Pier sounds like a cool place, but that whole area’s kinda like no-man’s-land, to me.

He’s not the only hard-luck story playing there in the near future, btw — Seven Mary Three‘ll be there in July, as will Michael Schenker(!) and Tone Loc (aww, man…), with Marcy Playground (who I’m amazed still exist) there in August. Mark your calendars, south-of-Houston folks.

The Thing @ Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex (8PM; $13/$10/free)
Ian McLagan @ Listening Room (NiaMoves; 9PM)
Carolyn Wonderland @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Spare Parts Band/Staci’s Edge/The Snake Charmers/Robin Kirby & Friends @ Rudyard’s
Witness To The Fallen/Sever The Silence/Blind Sanctity/Aerial Second/Play For Keeps @ Fitzdown
Sugarball Express/The Be Sharps/Letters to Voltron @ The Hot Dog Shop (6405 Brittmoore)

Sun., June 27:
Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers @ Discovery Green (3-5PM)
Niiiiiice. If the weather holds off, this’ll be damn cool — Miss Leslie and company are absolutely amazing, honest, the best Patsy Cline-esque country band around. Seeing ’em live at {Discovery Green} is a pretty neat prospect.

Jeremy Messersmith/Featherface/Fight With Flash (er, Little Lo?) @ Mango’s
Painful confession time: I’ve got CDs from both {Featherface} and {Fight With Flash} sitting on my desk (well, okay, the former’s an electronic download, but you get my meaning), and they’ve gone unlistened-to so far. I have heard excellent things about both, however, so they’re moving upwards in the pile. Hope to have more on ’em here soon, but hey, you can still go see ’em now, right?

By the by, apparently Fight With Flash recently changed names — they’re now going to be known as Little Lo, and, dammit, they’ve moved up to Austin.

The Texas Buzz, featuring Sounds Under Radio, Floorbound, & Light Parade @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)