Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Omotai (CD release/kickoff) + The Manichean + Weird Party + Continental Club 10th + Colin Hay + More

Trying to get a little bit of a jump on the rest of this weekend, so here’s what looks/sounds good to me tonight, Saturday, July 10th — and yep, as you can see, there’s even more good shit going on than there was on Friday. Here goes:

Giant Battle Monster/Lions of Tsavo/Omotai (CD release/tour kickoff)/Baring Teeth @ Notsuoh
This one’s my own personal biggie of the night, particularly since it’s both the official CD release and tour kickoff for bad, bad, badass doom-y, crushing metal dudes/dudette {Omotai} — I got a hold of Peace Through Fear a while back, and holy shit is it good.

Plus, there’s {Giant Battle Monster}, who flat-out cracked me up a while back at the Festival at Mink 2 by playing like total spazzes and yet somehow managing to make it all work like fucking clockwork. I’ve never seen a band play like they were hooked up to a car battery by the earlobes, but I’m betting it looks something like GBM when they play.

Now, large-ish news time: as noted in the oh-so-pretty flyer over there on the right, the show is apparently now not at The Hot Dog Shop but has moved to Notsuoh. Damn. I was actually really looking forward to trying the hot dogs…

The Manichean/Caveman Electric/Black Powder Poets/Tax the Wolf/Kat Kilpatrick @ Fitzdown
I’ve ranted & raved about {The Manichean} plenty of times before now, but hell, I’ll do it again — they not only craft some ridiculously intricate, dramatic-but-unprecious art-rock, but they put on a stage show that owes as much to theater as it does to rocking out. I still have no real idea what the songs mean, mind you, but hell, it doesn’t matter; it’s mesmerizing even still.

M.O.T.O./Midnight Creeps/Born Liars/Weird Party @ Rudyard’s
I’ll admit that I dunno a thing about M.O.T.O. or Midnight Creeps, but openers {Born Liars} and {Weird Party} are both pretty phenomenal. I still need to write up the latter’s performance at Summerfest (I know, waaaay behind), but the band rocked like hell, even in the torrential rain, and garage-y punks Born Liars are just about the most genuinely cool crew of rockers you’re likely to ever find. No garage-rock poseurs here.

Continental Club 10th Anniversary Weekend, featuring The Umbrella Man, ChangoMan, Little Joe Washington, The Suspects, The Allen Oldies Band, The New Duncan Imperials, & Honky @ The Continental Club
Nice. Since the first I heard of this show, the “centerpiece” evening of The Continental Club‘s official 10th Anniversary shindig, it’s expanded quite a bit, and in awesome ways.

The Umbrella Man is pretty great, and I freaking love ska gods {The Suspects} (who I swear I will get out and catch yet again sometime soon; don’t go breaking up again, okay, guys?), but best of all, apparently {Little Joe Washington} is back on his feet & able to play. The last I heard, Washington was in the hospital and not doing well, with a host of health problems — it’s good to see him on the bill. The guy’s a Houston treasure, and damn entertaining, to boot.

Orqjam II Benefit for the Star of Hope Mission, featuring The Mighty Orq, skyblue72, Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man, Amplified Heat, & Tody Castillo @ Last Concert Cafe
A cool benefit show tonight, too, for the Star of Hope Mission (a very good cause, in my book), and a good one in that it features The Umbrela Man (again? are they playing both here and the Continental Club?) and transplanted H-towner Tody Castillo, whom I still can’t help but feel is a hometown boy. Last year’s long-awaited full-length, Windhorse, is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Colin Hay @ Dosey Doe Coffee Company (The Woodlands)
Yeah, it’s that Colin Hay, the one from ’80s icons Men at Work, of “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under” fame. Cool to see that he hasn’t let the whole getting-sued thing get him down, and I bet the guy puts on a damn good show. Just try not to yell “Men at Work!” over and over again, okay?

Runners-Up:
Joe Pug & the Hundred Mile Band/Rayland Baxter @ Mango’s
Guilty Simpson/J-Rocc/Fat Tony/DJ Baby Jae/Harkore @ Numbers
Last Man/Pinche Gringos/Fake Believe/Wellborn Rd./Asunder @ The Mink
Sever The Senses/The Pant Factory/Tornahdo @ Fitzgerald’s
Lower Life Form/Uno Y Dos/You(genious) @ Dean’s Credit Clothing
All At Sea/Who Goes There/Brace For Impact @ The Pour House (Stafford)