Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Tambersauro Bows Out + Bettye LaVette + Clouseaux + Animals As Leaders + Tone Loc in San Leon + More

Late, I know — spent the day bouncing between chaperoning Midget #1 at a birthday party and frantically packing suitcases & such…

Just FYI, yours truly will be out of town for a week or two after tomorrow, so the site’ll most likely get a little quieter than usual. Currently attempting to find somebody to fill in a bit & post some things in the coming couple of weeks, but that’s still up in the air.

Anyway, even though I’m running behind (as always), there’s still plenty going on. Here’re my picks for tonight (i.e., Sat., July 24th):

Tambersauro (final show!)/Spelling Bee/Babar/Dear Human/Honey & Salt @ The Exoskeleton (2808 Milam; 7PM-12AM)
Already talked some about this one, I know, but hell, it bears repeating. This’ll be {Tambersauro}‘s last-ever (maybe?) show, and that makes me sad beyond belief — I’m glad to’ve been able to see ’em one last time last weekend, at least, even if it was only an abbreviated set. Spent the week listening to their final, digital-only album, From the Last Time I Saw You (the title alone of which is a nice upending of convention, in itself), and it’s seriously, really good. I still like “Make Water Sand” best, but “Standing There Gawking” and “Gravity Takes Its Toll” are incredible; with this album, the band’s honed its now-trademark math-prog-punk sound into a divinely sharp point, and then they stab you with it.

Anyway, you can check out the full review here, then get on over to The Exoskeleton quick, so you’re in time to catch the band’s last hurrah.

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy/Bettye LaVette @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Okay, so if you’re going to this show, odds are you’re already there, sitting comfortably and swatting man-sized mosquitoes out on the CWMP hillside. Even still, I feel compelled to call it out, although not for Robert Plant — don’t get me wrong, I think Raising Sand is a pretty great album, definitely, but for me the main draw of this one would be lost-in-the-wilderness soul diva Bettye LaVette.

If you haven’t heard 2007’s The Scene of the Crime, particularly LaVette’s cover of “Talking Old Soldiers” and her own biographical anthem, “Before the Money Came,” well, you haven’t heard the best soul album to be released in a decade or so. The woman’s amazing; it’s tragic that she was living in the shadows for as long as she did, but I’m damn glad she’s out in the light now.

Clouseaux @ The Pachinko Hut
Hallelujah! It’s been a while since I saw these guys listed as playing anywhere, so I was halfway afraid tiki-swank combo {Clouseaux} had broken my heart & called it a day, seriously. They do this crazy, laid-back (yet still mysterious) mishmash of jazz, lounge, surf-rock, and “exotica” (whatever that is) that effortlessly evokes desert isles, angry volcano gods, and beautiful wahines luring you into secluded jungle abodes. And yes, that means they’re awesome.

Decapitated/The Faceless/All Shall Perish/The Red Chord/Veil of Maya/Cephalic Carnage/Decrepit Birth/Carnifex/Animals As Leaders/Vital Remains @ The Warsaw
I’ll freely admit that I dunno most of the bands playing this show, but I do know (and like) The Red Chord quite a bit, and I’m absolutely floored by one-man guitar-wizard band Animals As Leaders, which sound nothing like most of the other bands on the bill, as far as I can tell, but dwells in this rarefied space where instro-prog-metal guitar gods soar above us mere mortals and play things most guitarists can only dream about playing. Oh, and he plays a freaking eight-string, which makes him even more badass just by virtue of two extra strings.

(BTW, apparently this tour’s stop in El Paso was nearly scuttled when the owner of the club where it’d been booked, Club 101, cancelled the show in favor of a fucking Buckcherry show. Really, Mr. Bar Owner? Does anybody even like that band? If so, I honestly can’t see how. Keep it in mind, folks, should you be booking anything out in West Texas…)

Tone Loc @ 18th Street Pier Bar and Grill (San Leon)
Uh-huh, you read that right. Tone Loc, of “Funky Cold Medina” and “Wild Thing” infamy, is playing San Leon. Hot damn. I would actually be really intrigued to see what the hell this is like, especially twenty-two fucking years on. Except that, um, I don’t even know exactly where San Leon is, beyond the fact that it’s a long ways from my house (and I’ve still got a ton of crap to pack).

Runners-Up:
Built By Snow/The Black & White Years/Glasnost @ Walter’s
Rock Baby Rock It!!, featuring Chadd Thomas, Rockin Lloyd Tripp, Modern Don Juans, Sean Reefer, & more @ The Continental Club
The Great Texas Clean-Up: Concert and Rally, featuring Ray Johnston Band, Los Pistoleros de Texas, Robert Ellis & The Boys, & Mrs. Glass @ Discovery Green (4-10PM)
Fitz Turns 33, featuring Brave Combo, Brains For Dinner, & Cadre @ Fitzgerald’s
Pasadena Napalm Division/Oklahomoes/Metalloyd @ The Hot Dog Shop (6405 Brittmoore; 9PM, $5)
Afton Live Showcase, featuring John Farley and the Wild Turkeys, Petesimple, Tod the Fox, A Fat Lot Of Good, The SIBS, Us 2, & more @ The Meridian
Burn The Boats/Venomous Maximus/Secret Prostitutes @ Rudyard’s (free!)
Hangover Kings/Los Pistoleros @ The Big Top
Hype!, featuring LAZRTAG, GRRRL Parts, DJ Hyro, & Funkshun @ The Mink
Saving Abel/We Are The Fallen/Taddy Porter/Sugar Red Drive/Otenki @ Warehouse Live
Devil Killing Moth @ Waldo’s Coffee House (1030 Heights)