Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Omara Portuondo + The Wheel Workers + Light Pollution (MP3!) + More

Whoa. I know we’ve had some busy weekends lately, but tonight (Friday, October 8th) seriously takes the cake. There is so damn much going on this evening that I really, truly don’t know where to begin…especially since I’m short on time at the moment, unfortunately, so they’re all going to have to get just a quick little glimpse.

Oh, and before I get to that, just an FYI: when I saw a few weeks back that Front Line Assembly was scheduled to play at Warehouse Live, I initially got kinda excited. I’m not a huge fan or anything, but I always thought they were one of the more interesting of the industrial acts going back in the day… My quasi-excitement was short-lived, sadly, as I saw last night that the band’s show (set for Nov. 10th) has been cancelled. Ah, well…

Anyway, here goes for tonight:

Omara Portuondo @ Jones Hall
Holy crap do I wish I were going to this show, honest, I do. I was blown away by Cuban diva Omara Portuondo back when Buena Vista Social Club came out, enough that I almost immediately hunted down her self-titled album and was very glad I did. She’s an amazing performer, by all reports, and tonight’s apparently also her 80th birthday, so it promises to be a pretty special show.

The Wheel Workers/Chase Hamblin/Espantapajaros @ Walter’s
I remember hearing of The Wheel Workers a few years(?) back, I think, and I was impressed at the time by what I’d been able to listen to by ’em…but then they vanished, seemingly disintegrating overnight. poof.

Apparently the band went on hiatus for a while, but they’ve now been resurrected, thankfully, by frontman/main songwriter Steven Higginbotham — which is a good thing, because I’m liking the heck out of the gang’s sweet-voiced, thoughtful, driving indie-folk-pop. They’re reminiscent of fellow Houstonians Holy Fiction, or maybe Canadians Ketch Harbour Wolves, with a bit of an ’80s tinge to the music (mostly thanks to Higginbotham’s up-front vocals). Tonight marks their first headlining show, so be sure to stick around to the end…

Oh, and {Chase Hamblin} pretty much rules, too, especially if your heart bleeds paisley and/or you think the Byrds and the Beatles should’ve combined to form some kind of awesome über-supergroup to deliver shiny-jangly pop to the world at large.

Light Pollution/Prince Rama/Sleep Over @ Fitzgerald’s
I’m not super-familiar with the folks in Light Pollution, I’ll confess, but I happened to listen to ’em recently and found myself enjoying the Chicagoans’ nicely-layered, almost Arcade Fire-level epic/baroque indie-pop quite a bit. Check out an MP3 right here:

Light Pollution – “Oh, Ivory”

It’s good shit, and it does its thing and gets out quick, without messing around; I always appreciate that in a band…

Runners-Up:
Foals/Esben And The Witch @ Fitzgerald’s (10:45PM)
The National/Owen Pallett @ House of Blues
Help Cure the Pedal Foot Blues Benefit, featuring Hightailers, New Jack Hippies, PJ Flowers, T.C. & the Cannonballs, & Cornhole Dukes @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Death is Not a Joyride/Insert Credits/O.U.N./The 24th/Components of the Modern Age @ Super Happy Fun Land
Devendra Banhart and The Grogs/Twin Sister @ Warehouse Live
Baker Hotel/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
Two Cow Garage/Grizzly/The Wayward Sons @ Rudyard’s
Blaggards @ R&R Sports Bar & Grill (Friendswood)