Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: KTRU Outdoor Show! + HHOC No More + The Suspects + My Education + Glasnost + More

Saturday, April 9th, and I’m trying to get this little rundown up on the site early, because at least one of the biggest things going on today starts early, as in, um, right about now…

First, though, a bit of bad news — I’d thought {Born Liars} were supposed to be headlining a show over at the Houston House of Creeps this evening, but after checking the HHOC site, it looks like, well, the place is no more. They apparently hosted their last-ever show back on April 1st, which could have been an April Fool’s joke, but then they followed up with a post declaring the place is dead. Damn.

Sad news aside, there’s still plenty to be psyched about, the most crucial of which is the KTRU Outdoor Show, a festival that’s near & dear to my own little heart, having been the place where I got to see some incredible music as a non-car-having college student, right there across the road from my residential college. I first heard or saw Alejandro Escovedo, NoMeansNo, & Death Valley at the Outdoor Show (among others), and had some truly memorable times in the process.

Anyway, there’re some truly great people playing — {Grandfather Child} is apparently rolling out its raw, halfway-to-gospel blues stomp right now, and they’re followed by excellent locals {The Tontons}, {Young Mammals}, {Fat Tony}, & The Smoking Section, plus cool out-of-towners like Washed Out and Sundress.

That’s the full schedule over there on the right, but you can pretty much head on over to the Rice University campus and be guaranteed to hear & see something cool no matter what time it is. I’m on Midget #2 duty this afternoon, but seeing as I can already hear him stirring, I may attempt to head over there myself, little dude in tow…

Of course, he can’t really make it to all the other cool stuff happening later in the day today, like, say, the gonna-be-awesome show at The Continental Club with ska legends {The Suspects} — I know I’ve said it a million times, but if you’ve never seen this band, you really need to. They remain the only ska band I’ve ever seen that could blow The Toasters off the stage, and that’s no mean feat.

A few doors down at The Mink, too, there’s an excellently head-nodding, shoe-gazing lineup, with local Houston/Austin badass dudes {Co-Pilot} opening for Austin-dwelling orchestral-space-rock gang My Education and big-namers Maserati. I’m not huge on the headliners, I’ll admit — not bad, just not amazing — but bot Co-Pilot and My Education are freaking great, honest.

Oh, and last but not least, Fitz has both some decent-sounding shows tonight, too, like the {Eyes Burn Electric} show on one floor and the {Glasnost}/MoTel Aviv/{Corners} show on the other.

If that ain’t enough, here’s the full list:

20th Annual KTRU Outdoor Show, featuring Washed Out, Real Estate, Mister Heavenly, Ducktails, Grandfather Child, Young Mammals, Sundress, The Tontons, Wicked Poseur, Fat Tony, & The Smoking Section @ Rice University Central Quad (free!)
Maserati/My Education/Co-Pilot @ The Mink
The Suspects/Continental Graffiti @ The Continental Club
Glasnost/Motel Aviv/Corners/DJ Rindfuss @ Fitzgerald’s
H-Town Blues Festival, featuring The Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston & Blue Lovette, Sir Charles Jones, Mel Waiters, Bobby Blue Bland, Lenny Williams, Floyd Taylor, & Latimore @ Reliant Arena
The Houston Railroad Museum’s Third Annual Music Festival and Trainfair, featuring Mike Stinson, Digger Davis & Tombstone, & Texas Harmony (12-5PM)
Eyes Burn Electric/Electric Touch/The Vettes @ Fitzgerald’s
The Collaboration Party, featuring Deathface, DJ Manny, Damon Allen, TDBZ, Dayta, J.Oddio, Mad Turtle, Mr. Peabody, Insert Credits, Ceeplus Bad Knives, Mr. Castillo, Fredster, Juan Calero, & Stephen Farrell @ Vanguard Studios (910 Hardy)
Texas Massacre 10, featuring Yungstar, K-Rino, iLL Liad, G-Man, U.Y.U.S., The Ballistics, D-Risha, Caveman Electric, Anal Punishment, Big Mike, Los Gritos, J-Styles Brown, Gods of Death Screw, Deizel Black, & Caliyo Cutt Dog @ Walter’s