Yr. (Late) Weekend, Pt. 2: Young Girls (Revd!) + IFest + Dengue Fever + Bright Men + T.S.O.L. + More

Argh. Late, late, late, sorry — spent the day dealing with sick kids & family members, and it just plain got away from me, I’m afraid. Which sucks, because there’s a lot of very awesome stuff going on tonight, Saturday, May 7th. Don’t fret, though, ’cause there’s still time to get out & witness at least some of it.

First on my list is the CD release show for local fuzzy/shiny pop dudes {Young Girls}, which I’ve been listening to on endless repeat all this week and have finally gotten my shit together to review — their eponymous full-length is pretty damn awesome, in my book, so check out the full writeup over here.

There’s been a change to tonight’s show, btw, in case you hadn’t already heard; it had been scheduled over at Warehouse Live, but for reasons unknown to me, the venue’s changed, and now the show’s happening at 2215 Commerce, over in the warehouses near Downtown (I think?). They’re playing with International Waters, who I don’t know, Invincible Czarhoons, which I suspect may be a pseudonym for/offshoot of crazy klezmer-punk orchestra The Invincible Czars, and local DJ gang {GRRRL PARTS}, about whom I’ve heard good, good things.

Then, of course, there’s that little Houston International Festival thing that’s been going on downtown all damn day today. It’s the second-to-last day of the Fest, I believe, and it’s pretty notable in my book, mostly since Michael Franti & Spearhead are apparently playing right freaking now, and, well, I pretty much dig everything Franti does, going back to the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy days…

Over at Fitzgerald’s, there’s an awesome-looking show unfolding right now, too, one that features about half of my favorite pop-ish bands in town right now — namely {Tax the Wolf}, {Spain Colored Orange}, {Electric Attitude}, and the awesomely cool crew that is {The Manichean}. Oh, and there’s also headliners Dengue Fever, who are no strangers to this here little site — we’re big fans of the quirky Cambodian psych-pop band.

On over at Rudyard’s, there’s another great, great (if somewhat more brief) lineup, with ex-Houstonian Tody Castillo playing in the headline spot and supremely cool roots-rock/pop band {Bright Men of Learning} kicking things off. It’s been ages since I last saw Tody play (as in literally more than a decade), but his most recent album, Windhorse, still hits me hard whenever it rolls around on my iPod.

As for BMOL, their most recent full-length, Fired, was one of the top, top handful of albums I heard last year, and that includes a lot of really, really high-profile, big-name bands who put out stuff. Fired stomps 99% of ’em into the ground and does it with a smile on its face. That good, honest.

Old-school hardcore heads should probably head on over to Walter’s right now, mind you, to catch what they can of the T.S.O.L. show tonight — I dunno how many more years those guys have in ’em, but they can’t keep rolling on forever, y’know? Plus, I’m told openers {Funboys} are great, and expat H-towner Room 101 (he moved to New Orleans last year, I believe) is very, very neat, in a dark, menacing, Foetus-/Cop Shoot Cop-like way.

I can’t forget The Continental Club tonight, either; I was fortunate enough to see {Sara Van Buskirk} playing there recently with {The Literary Greats} and was face-slapped with how awesomely talented she is from forty or so feet away. Hit the Continental tonight to see/hear her doing her songs solo, seriously — debut album The Place Where You Are breaks my heart every time.

And last but definitely not least, waaaaaay down in Clear Lake, The Scout Bar has — brace yourself — classic German metalheads Accept playing. Holy wow. Yeah, I know they were here not that long ago, but I’m still somewhat in shock.

Full pile, right here:

Houston International Festival, featuring Emory Quinn, Space City Gamelan, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Bhangra DJ Dance Party, Buckwheat Zydeco, Los Skarnales, Rahim Alhaj and Little Earth Orchestra, Nrityasiri School of Indian Dance, Kozzmik Steel, Natya Upasana School of Indian Dance, Red Baraat, Chris Bell Band, Houston Youth Symphony Quartet, Grupo Folklorico Raices de Panama, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Glen David Andrews, Los Pistoleros de Tejas, Pan Liping School of Chinese Dance, Moodafaruka, Bollywood Blast, Raices del Peru, Sanggar Tari Nusantara Indonesian Dancer, Peking Opera Club, Blaggards, Kuumba House African Dance Theatre, Honey Island Swamp Band, Jose Antonio Smion, The Olympian Dancers, The Octanes, Oriental Arts Dancers, Chris Bell & 100% Blues, Mariachi MECA, Tarana School of Indian Dance, Taipei Puppet Theatre, Yellow River Chorus, Voodoo Brass Band, The Leo Trio, Danza Azteca Teokalli, Revels Houston, & more @ Downtown Houston
T.S.O.L./Shot Baker/Room 101/Funboys @ Walter’s
Dengue Fever/Spain Colored Orange/Electric Attitude/The Manichean/The Band Foster/Tax the Wolf/Brandon West & The Black Hats/Cari Qouyeser Band @ Fitzgerald’s
Young Girls (CD release)/International Waters/Nomadics/GRRRL Parts @ 2215 Commerce St. (9PM)
Tody Castillo/Bright Men of Learning @ Rudyard’s
Jeff Boortz/Sara Van Buskirk/Day Sailor @ The Continental Club
Sucka Free Showcase, featuring Hollywood Floss, Reese, UZOY, Tawn P, John Dew, Snap, Purple Bastard, Authentic Snoopy, & DJ Klinch @ The Mink
Launching Pad 2 Mixtape Mixer, featuring Franchise & Yung, Mantis, & DJ Mr. Luke @ SF2 North
Accept/Sabaton/Fallacy @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
57th Annual Texas Music Festival Village Fair & BBQ Cook-Off, featuring Kevin Fowler, Charlie Lucas Band, Rosehill, & John Slaughter @ Walter Hall Park (League City)