Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Weird Party + The Mahas + Dex Romweber Duo (MP3!) + Woozyhelmet + Cancellations/Reschedulings + More

A good, good weekend of music coming up (the first day of that being today, Friday, August 5th, mind you), but before I get into all that, there’re a bunch of reschedulings, cancellations, and moves to mention.

First, as you’ve probably heard, Kings of Leon decided to completely scrap their rescheduled dates following Dallas’s apparently-disastrous show (again, I’m going to irrationally blame Dallas for the burnout, just ’cause) — that September 22nd date we mentioned last week evaporated almost before the pixels were dry, I swear. Damn shame, especially for tourmates Band of Horses (who I was honestly more interested in seeing, myself), who had to scramble to put together a handful of dates, at least, when the tour fell apart.

On top of that Jay-Z and Kanye had to reschedule their joint tour as The Throne, shifting the Houston date from October 26th at the Toyota Center all the way out to December 5th at the same venue. But hey, at least it’s still happening, right?

Unlike, say, the Leon Russell show previously scheduled for September 15th over at Numbers; no word as to why, but the Numbers site now says the show’s a no-go. (A little odd, btw, since it looks like Russell hasn’t cancelled his whole tour, just the Houston stop…)

Things aren’t as grim for the pile of metalhead shows formerly scheduled at Walter’s (which I haven’t heard much about lately, something that’s a bit of a cause for worry) — the Pathology and Evil Entourage shows (August 28th & August 24th, respectively) will now be at a new venue I’ve never heard of before called Feedback (no Website, sorry) out at 11045 Fuqua, down past Hobby Airport. There’s also the Proclamation show set for tomorrow night (August 6th), which has been moved to BFE Rock Club.

Way, way out at the Dosey Doe Coffee Company, the August 14th show with David Benoit‘s been rescheduled, too, at the same venue; it’s now set for November 14th.

Aaaaaaaanyway. Stepping backwards in time to now, there’s a nice-sized pile of good stuff going on this evening, at the top of which is the {Weird Party} 7″ release show over at Mango’s. Seen these guys twice now, and while I have to confess that nothing frontman Shawn Adolph‘s going to do will probably ever eclipse the undying love I hold for his former band, the {Fatal Flying Guilloteens}, I really-and-truly love WP; each time I’ve caught ’em, the sheer raw energy’s blown me away. Haven’t heard the A-side of the 7″, “Honey Slides,” but B-side “Sarah Palin” has been floating around for a while now, and it’s pretty great.

Plus, they’re playing with garage-rawk dudes {The Mahas}, who’ve also managed to win me over in a big way this past year or so. Their Dead of Night 7″ turned out to be impressively tight and melodic beneath the loud, raw noise, and when I saw them play a while back at The Mink, they were one of the best things going that night. Recommended.

Oh, and apparently The Mahas and {Titan Blood}, a newish band who’re also playing the show but who I have yet to hear, are taking the opportunity tonight to release an ultra-limited-edition (as in, “we’ve only got 40 of ’em”) split cassette. Sweet!

In spite of my fawning over said awesome bands, mind you, I have to give respect where it’s due, and that’s on over at Fitzgerald’s, where the Dexter Romweber Duo will be tearing the house down in a big, big way. I can remember listening to Romweber’s previous band, Flat Duo Jets, on {KTRU} way, way back in those hazy days of college, and while I wasn’t big into garage-punk then, in recent years I’ve come to the belated realization that they were pretty incredible, paving the way for a whole ton of rough-edged rockers to follow.

Check out a slab of the Duo’s scrappy, yowling garage-soul (which makes me think of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, actually), right over here:

Dex Romweber Duo – “Jungle Drums”

Tonight’s their CD release party, too, it seems, which is cool by me, as is the fact that resurrected vatobilly rockers The Flamin’ Hellcats will be opening for ’em. I freaking love those guys, and can’t help but howl along with “Go Straight To Hell Baby” every time it rolls around on the iPod… Glad they’re back, alive & well.

For those looking for more of a house-party-type vibe, well, you’re in luck, because tonight’s also a party over at the Rosalie Haus co-op (recently written up in the {Houston Press}, I believe) at 1505 Rosalie. $5 gets you in, and then you can hang out with the Rosalie folks while watching/listening to {Frank Freeman}, Austin’s Linky Dickson, and “headliners” {Woozyhelmet}, then do drunken karaoke to the delight of all in attendance. Sound like fun? Damn right. (And besides, Woozyhelmet are pretty freaking great; it’s worth it for their set alone…)

Plenty more, but that’s all I can do for now; here’s the list:

Weird Party (7″ release)/The Mahas/Titan Blood @ Mango’s
Dexter Romweber Duo/The Flamin’ Hellcats/Radioflyer @ Fitzgerald’s
Woozyhelmet Haus Karaoke Party, featuring Woozyhelmet, Linky Dickson, & Frank Freeman @ Rosalie Haus (1505 Rosalie)
Z-Ro/Slim Thug/Devin the Dude/Afroman/Fat Tony/Myth/Uzoy/DJ Matt Murdock @ Warehouse Live
Mantis/The Journey Agents/Achachay!/Roderick Vonn @ The Mink
Orange Is In/TC5 @ Bohemeos
21st Houston International Jazz Festival, featuring Kyle Turner & Joe Carmouche @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
100 Monkeys/Kissing Club/Electric Attitude @ House of Blues
Skyrocket!/Picture Book @ The Continental Club