Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Rock Baby Rock It Day 2 + Young Girls + Hearts of Animals + Sade + Don’t Fuck With Texas + More

Saturday, now, July 23rd, and there’s so much going on I can hardly keep track of it…

Tonight’s Night #2 of DJ Big E‘s 11th annual Rock Baby Rock It fest, and I have to say that this evening’s a bit more enticing, at least to me — I dunno headliners Pep Torres or Ray Campi at all, but I’ve heard good, good things about both Joe Clay and The Bellfuries (and that’s an awesome name, by the way).

Plus, Dash Rip Rock are always fun, I’ve been meaning to hear more by {The Ghost Storys}, I like local long-running punks {The Hates} quite a bit, and hey, apparently the Luxurious Panthers have arisen from the dead, which is very cool by me. I thought for sure those guys were dead & buried. Sadly, it looks like Gothabilly rockers {13 Black Coffins} are no longer on the bill; not sure when they dropped off, but they’re no longer on the Facebook event, at least.

Oh, and there’s plenty of non-musical stuff going on, including a pin-up contest, a burlesque show courtesy of Dem Damn Dames, a classic/vintage car show, some DJs, and I dunno what else. Festivities have already started, so get on over to Midtown, pony up your $20, and join in. I should’ve mentioned yesterday, btw, that the show’s not all at The Continental Club — there are also stages at CClub adjuncts The Pachinko Room and Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge, as well as music over at Natachee’s Supper & Punch. The whole damn block’s rocking, this year — see the event page for the full schedule.

It occurred to me while typing this, by the way, that this year’s RBRI is likely to be somewhat bittersweet, considering the tragic death barely two weeks ago of Houston/Austin rockabilly musician Chadd Thomas, of Chadd Thomas and the Crazy Kings. If memory serves, Thomas played last year’s installment of the festival; I know he’ll be missed tonight.

Now that I’ve completely bummed you out, I’d like to point down to the southern edge of that cool little chunk of Midtown where about half the music in this city seems to live lately, to The Mink, which is hosting a show tonight that — while it ain’t rockabilly — is also pretty damn good.

They’ve got the cool, cool pop roar of {Young Girls}, which (if you haven’t yet heard it) is like some kind of crazy cross between Beach Boys sunshine, Jesus & Mary Chain haze, and Killers nu-New Wave coldness, and opening(?) is expat Houstonian Tody Castillo, who’s flat-out one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard. (No, really.)

On down in Montrose, hit up Mango’s for a fun blast of weirdness, with sweet/strange indie-pop act {Hearts of Animals} playing with scrappy, messy weirdo-pop act {The Wiggins}. Both take some time to sink in, but when they do, you’re gone for good. Both are opening for L.A.-dwellers Chop Chop, who manage to kind of span the gap between delicate sweetness and psych weirdness.

I neglected to mention another cool festival yesterday, I’m afraid, namely the badass-ly-named Don’t Fuck With Texas Fest going on yesterday & today up at BFE Rock Club. I can’t claim to know most of the bands, but I’m a little partial to tonight because Broken Teeth happen to be headlining, and I was a big, big fan of frontman Jason McMaster back when he was in Dangerous Toys. One of the first CDs I ever owned…

(Fans of local crew {The Hectic} are going to disappointed, though; apparently the band’s singer has lost his voice, so they won’t be playing tonight. Sorry, y’all.)

What else, what else… Well, {Peekaboo Theory} and Austin band Mobley, both of whom I like, are playing up at Fitz tonight, and then there’s Sade over at Toyota Center with John Legend, although if you’re going to that one, you probably already know it.

And yes, before you ask, I am a Sade fan, myself — I think she’s pretty phenomenal, and the wife and I even did our first wedding dance to “The Sweetest Gift,” which still makes me simultaneously beam and weep, whenever I hear it. So there.

Legend‘s also going to be partying on into the night after the show, apparently, over at Venue — no idea if music will be involved, but hey, if you want to at least be in the same building as one of the best-loved R&B singers of this generation, well, get dressed up real nice and cross yr fingers.

That’s all I’ve got for right now; full list, right here:

Rock Baby Rock It #11, featuring Pep Torres, Ray Campi, Hot Rod Hillbillies, Joe Clay, Eddie Peery & The Rattlesnakin Daddys, The Bellfuries, Modern Don Juans, Dash Rip Rock, Los Ramones, Luxurious Panthers, Dem Damn Dames, 13 Black Coffins, Dem Damn Dames Burlesque, The Ghost Storys, Resurgents A.D., The Hates, & Jazz Connection @ The Continental Club/Pachinko Hut/The Big Top/Natachees
Chop Chop/Hearts of Animals/The Wiggins @ Mango’s
Young Girls/The Villas/Cattle Drums/Tody Castillo @ The Mink
Sade/John Legend @ Toyota Center
Osirus/Mobley/Royal Teeth/Peekaboo Theory @ Fitzgerald’s
Don’t Fuck With Texas Fest, featuring Broken Teeth, Phantom X, Wide Open Throttle, Bayou City Outlaw Band, Strait Laced Scarlet, Winter’s End, Fallacy, & Bloody Von Erichs @ BFE Rock Club
John Legend @ Venue
Andrew Karnavas/Clory Martin @ Khon’s
Vigilante/Cronophage/Necrotix @ Bohemeos
Dayglow Houston, featuring Richard Vission, The Devil from Acapulco, David Solano, & more @ Stereo Live (sold out!)
The Inanimate Objects/Skeleton Dick/The Shiny Darks @ Rudyard’s
Espantapajaros @ Bohemeos
Gritsy/Freshmore/Bombon Collab Event, featuring a bunch of people @ 2016 Mainstage