Yr. Weekend (& Beyond), Pt. 1: Black Congress + Weird Party + Diplo + Goodnight Summer + Jealous Creatures + Blaggards + More

Heading into the Labor Day weekend with Friday, September 2nd, and I have to say, I’m feeling pretty psyched, not just about the weekend and not just because it’ll be yours truly’s birthday this coming Saturday, September 3rd, but about my birth-month in general — there is a crapload of awesome, awesome stuff going on in September, y’all, seriously. I honestly haven’t seen a month this crammed full of shows I’d really-truly love to be able to see in a long, long while.

I mean, just take a look at the shows list, for crying out loud. Skimming on past tonight (since I’ll get to that in a minute), we’ve got the reunited Black Star(!) on 9/8, dirty ol’ man supreme Andre Williams on 9/3, along with both The Dodos and Active Child, local quasi-recluses {Balaclavas} on 9/4, Miniature Tigers on 9/14, ex-Geraldine Fibbers frontwoman Carla Bozulich on 9/16 (at Super Happy Fun Land, of all places), Hank III on 9/8 down in Clear Lake, & Avenged Sevenfold on 9/5 (along with Sevendust).

Then there’s the pair of Trout Fishing In America shows on 9/16, Deadmau5 that same night, which is also the same night Chromeo rolls back into town, personal hip-hop hero Atmosphere on 9/22, Weird Al on 9/23, Jacuzzi Boys (who I’ve only recently heard but am impressed by) also on 9/22, the return of {Something Fierce} on 9/13, old-school hardcore dudes Agnostic Front on 9/19, the freaking incredible Reptar on 9/17, and Mix Master Mike (and excellent locals {American Fangs} & {Nosaprise}) on 9/24.

Matt & Kim are on 9/26, Peter Bjorn & John on 9/27, Kyuss Lives! (Kyuss minus Josh Homme, but still) on 9/29, Rocky Votolato that same night, and Cymbals Eat Guitars, {Buxton}, {By the End of Tonight}, & {the last place you look} on 9/30.

Oh, and I can’t forget the Acro-Cats, who’re coming back to SHFL 9/28 through 10/2, or the Houston Press BestFest 2011, which is coming up 9/24 & 9/25. phew.

I know I’m forgetting a bunch, sorry, but you get my point: it’s gonna be a damn good month.

On the bad side, it sppears that booking group Onstage Events may be no more — not sure when it happened, but their Website (“http://www.myonstageevents.com/”) is now toast, and it looks like their most recent scheduled show, with Evergrey down at The Scout Bar on 10/11, is no longer happening. Damn.

Speaking of The Scout Bar, they’ve moved the D.R.I. show that was set for 12/10, fyi; now it’s on March 12th, 2012. Re-set your calendars accordingly.

Now, for tonight… It’s tough to pick a frontrunner for the evening, I have to say, but the show up at Rudyard’s appeals to me the most — it promises to be a sprawling squall of post-punk noise courtesy of {Black Congress}, {Weird Party}, & out-of-towners The Men. I dunno the latter at all, but I’ve been blown away each & every time I’ve seen either BC or WP (both of which, coincidentally, are shards of the long-dead Fatal Flying Guilloteens — never occurred to me before…) They’re just a raw, fiery, fuck-it-all explosion between the two of ’em.

Up at Fitz, then, there’s the short-notice show with Diplo, a producer/DJ guy I happen to like quite a bit (you may know him from the Blackberry commercial a while back) — he’s playing with local {Fixture} and Arkade, who I’ve never heard of, and it’s going to be a great show for any electronica/dance heads out there…

The other floor of Fitz ain’t bad, either; I’m not real familiar with Grave Babies (this is apparently their farewell tour), unfortunately, but I am a fan of {Jealous Creatures} and am seriously looking forward to checking out their new full-length. As for {The Stage Frights}, I have yet to hear them, either, but they’re apparently the new horror-rock project of local scenester Larry Rainwater (of Ex-Voto & a bunch of other bands/projects). Bring on the murk-rock, people.

Over at Warehouse Live, there’s a very cool benefit for The Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (I think that’s the right link — let me know if it’s not); we’ve got some friends with autistic children and have witnessed their struggles over the years, so this is something fairly close to my heart. It’s definitely a good cause, and hey, there’s good music besides, from folks like popsters {Spain Colored Orange}, cool TwinTone-esque rock guys {Alkari}, John Lefler of Dashboard Confessional, {Electric Attitude}, and {AThousandColours}. They’re calling it The Goodnight Summer Tour; get on out & support, y’all.

Lastly (for right now, anyway), Dan Electro’s has a neat-sounding show tonight, too, with Irish roots-rockers {Blaggards} — think Thin Lizzy but with more trad Irish instruments — and newcomers {Moxy Go Go}, which I’m told is the new band of Mark Fain, formerly of Chlorine, once this city’s long-cherish alternarock hope for notoriety. Glad to see he’s back playing again…

Here’s tonight’s full list:

Black Congress/The Men/Weird Party @ Rudyard’s
Diplo/Fixture/Arkade @ Fitzgerald’s
The Goodnight Summer Tour: Benefiting The Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, featuring Deep Ella, Suite 709, Spain Colored Orange, Alkari, Castle Lights, John Lefler (Dashboard Confessional), Electric Attitude, AThousandColours, & The Urgent Young @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Grave Babies/The Stage Frights/Jealous Creatures @ Fitzgerald’s
Blaggards/Moxy Go Go @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Greg Babineaux Art Show, featuring Tom Gun, Infinite Apaches, & Then Underground @ Super Happy Fun Land
Social Decay/H.R.A./Krullur/Termination Force/Gutter Rats @ Mango’s
$2 Hip-Hop Show, featuring Nikkhoo, Fullmetal F Dot & The Bandtastic Four, D-Risha, Danny Wattz, Bishop Black, FGNG, & Wayword @ Notsuoh
Skyrocket!/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
2011 Summertime Bikes & Blues Festival, featuring The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Dean Seltzer Band, Dan Lawson Band, The Mighty Orq, & Texas Blues Brothers Band @ Downtown Freeport Memorial Park (Freeport)