Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Dead Horse Reunion + FPH Oktoberfest + BMC Block Party + SkateStock + Featherface + More

Wow. It’s another insanely-packed Saturday (October 22nd, specifically), with so much going on there’s no way I’ll be able to talk about all of it. Man…

It’s a three-way tie for first place, in my book, between the much-ballyhooed reunion of Houston metal icons {Dead Horse} over at Warehouse Live — even possibly sans vocalist Michael Haaga, it’s still bound to be pretty awesome, especially since they’ve got new-school metal dudes {Venomous Maximus} opening for ’em, a band that’s great in its own right — the BMC Block Party over at 1400 Nance (which includes the Last Concert Cafe), and the FPH Oktoberfest Jubilee up at Fitzgerald’s.

The FPH Oktoberfest Jubilee includes some damn fine folks, like Austinites The Eastern Sea, whom I freaking love (and who are reportedly almost done with new full-length Plague), raucuous proto-punks {The Energy}, cool, cool rootsy rock guys {The Small Sounds}, post-grunge outfit {Rivers}, new electro-pop {Bang Bangz}, Sideshow Tramps frontman {Craig Kinsey}, and touring electronic-/hip-hop-tinged pop deal Astronautalis.

I hadn’t heard of that last one ’til recently, but he’s pretty intriguing, like Eminem if he’d come up on New Wave and X rather than rap battles and booze. Take a listen:

Astronautalis – “Dimitri Mendeleev”

The last of the three, the BMC Block Party, sounds like it’s a regular event, but it’s not one I’ve ever heard of before, for some reason. And holy shit, they’re pretty much throwing in everybody but the kitchen sink, from beloved rapper {Trae Tha Truth} to excellent drama-rockers {The Manichean} to crazy-eyed post-prog duo {Caddywhompus} (sweet!) to hip-hop crew {The Niceguys} to wild retro-indie-rockers {Muhammad Ali} to threatening post-rock/noise guys {Balaclavas} to (and no, I’m not making this up) a guy called {T2 The Ghetto Hippie} to a ton of DJs I’ve never heard of. It promises to be pretty damn cool…

Slightly to the west, Notsuoh has a cool (if much smaller) show tonight, too, a benefit for True Blue Friends Rescue & Shelter, which sounds like a good cause to me, at least. They’ve got spazz-prog band {Giant Battle Monster} (who’re also listed as playing the Block Party), quirky oddballs Darwin’s Finches, a DJ set by {PAPAYA}, & more.

A little further west, there’s SkateStock at Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark, just outside of downtown, which’ll include a lot of skating (duh), plus music from cool-ass folks like {Tax the Wolf}, of whom I’m a fan, {White Crime}, who I hear are good, old-time punks {Anarchitex}, {The Escatones}, the aforementioned Darwin’s Finches, and — yay! — smart, sarcastic proto-punks {Art Institute}, who I’d thought were on hiatus ’til something like next Feb.

The show started around noon, btw, so get on over there fast… Oh, and I think the BMC Block Party starts at 3PM, so make sure to be there in time for that, too.

Heading back down south from there, Mango’s has a good one tonight, with ex-Voxtrot folks The Black headlining alongside freaking great psych-popsters {Featherface}, who happen to be one of my favorite bands around town right now — check out Jason Smith‘s recent interview with ’em here; it’s the first in the new “Musician to Musician” series of interviews we’ll be running. Also playing is {Warbler Pl} (billed as just “Warbler” this time out), who plays really, really rarely, as in “once or twice a year, tops.” Catch him/it while you can, eh?

Much closer to home for yours truly, there’s an entertaining-sounding show going on right now over at the mostly-derelict Westbury Square on W. Bellfort — it’s the Bellaire MENS Club Battle of the Bands, which every year pits a bunch of aspiring high school-aged musicians against one another in the name of charity. I dunno any of the bands playing — the only names I’ve seen so far are From Waves, The Honest Mistake, & Casual Taxi — but this year they’re competing to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, which I think is something extremely important & worthwhile. It runs from 1-4:30PM…

I’m a little conflicted on this year’s BuzzFest (#27, if you’re keeping track; holy shit, now I feel old). On the one hand, they’ve managed to pull together a wide selection of bands I’ve never liked, at all — Bush, P.O.D., Switchfoot — but at the same time, they’ve tapped local boys {the last place you look}, whom I freaking worship, to play the early slot. (Which, um, may mean they’re playing right now. Dang.) So while it kills me to see lame-ass cookie-cutter AlternaRock^TM recycled for the billionth time, it’s great to see TLPYL get the exposure. Half a virtual high-five, Buzz folks.

(Oh, and apparently it’s sold out. Just so you know…)

Last but certainly not least, folks on the southeastern edge of the Houston/Galveston Metroplex should hit the Rockin’ Roller Derby Show this evening (6-9PM) down in Texas City, at a place called House of Derby. There’ll be a roller derby match, naturally, but they’ll also have some bands, including the neato Days N’ Daze, although I’m wondering what the heck a folk-punk collective’s got in common with roller derby. Heck, who’m I to judge? It should be fun no matter what happens.

Here’s the extremely long, long list of everything that’s going on I happen to think sounds cool:

Dead Horse/Venomous Maximus/Bowel/Legion @ Warehouse Live
FPH Oktoberfest Jubilee, featuring The Eastern Sea, Astronautalis, The Energy, Muhammad Ali, Brent Nettles, Portal Walker, Craig Kinsey, Bang Bangz, The Mighty Orq, The Small Sounds, Generation Landslide, Rivers, & more @ Fitzgerald’s
True Blue Friends Rescue & Shelter Benefit, featuring Darwin’s Finches, Giant Battle Monster, Guwange, Clockpole, & PAPAYA (DJ set) @ Notsuoh
SkateStock, featuring Hell City Kings, Tax the Wolf, Crime Wave, Anarchitex, The Escatones, DJ Cipher, & more @ Lee & Joe Jamail Skatepark (12-9PM)
BMC Block Party, featuring Trae tha Truth, Antiserum, Michael 5000 Watts & Badbwoy BMC, Jansten, Getter, Rastatronics, Female Demand, WERD2JAH, Hazel E, Surreal, Felony, Lil Young, Young Red, Intager, Rob Bass, DJ Nine, Suma, Vandal Heart, Chelsmosis, Slick Kid, Mr. Peabody, Wes Walz, Brad Slack & DVS1, Eddie Spectro, Djalx, Sines, The Niceguys, The Blvd Nights, The Manichean, New York City Queens, Giant Battle Monster, Chironex, Shotgun Funeral, Zeale, Caddywhompus, Motel Aviv, Balaclavas, T2 The Ghetto Hippie, Muhammad Ali, DJ Czech 1, Ceeplus Bad Knives, Mr. Castillo, Fredster, & Hit It or Quit It @ Last Concert Cafe
The Black (ex-Voxtrot)/Featherface/Warbler @ Mango’s
Rockin’ Roller Derby Show, featuring Days N Daze, Garbage Dump, Bleeding by Example, & Better Days @ House of Derby (3502 Palmer; Texas City; 6-9PM)
Bellaire MENS Club Battle of the Bands/Benefit for Wounded Warrior Project, featuring The Honest Mistake, Casual Taxi, & more @ Westbury Square (5425 W. Bellfort; 1-4:30PM)
BuzzFest 27, featuring Bush, Staind, Chevelle, P.O.D., Everlast, 10 Years, Evans Blue, AWOLNation, Filter, Switchfoot, Anberlin, Sleeper Agent, & the last place you look @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Luigi’s Haunted Record Jam, featuring Thieves, Gain, Fingers Crossed, Chemistry, Cast Away, Nigh, They Lied, Bear Witness, Dead Streets, & High Tide @ Vinyl Junkie (4202 E. Canal; 4-10:30PM, $5)
Mack Stevens/Luxurious Panthers @ The Continental Club
The Escatones/Idyl/The Rich Hands/The Grimm Dolls @ Super Happy Fun Land
Hot 95.7 2nd Annual Boo Bash, featuring LMFAO & Kreayshawn @ House of Blues (sold out)
Lower Life Form/Ozeal/Mobley/Electric Attitude @ Echo
Houston Women’s Music Festival, featuring Paige Lewis, GBmojo, Ginger Leigh, Gina Chavez, Shelley King, Terri Hendrix, Wishing Chair, Robin Kirby & Friends, & BCPA Women’s Chorus @ Jones Plaza
Our Image Film and Arts: Beats, Soul and Thunder, featuring Ali Shaheed Muhammad (mem. of A Tribe Called Quest), Kashmere Reunion Stage Band, & DJ Flash Gordon Parks @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock)
Man Up Houston, featuring Lecrae, Tedashii, Trip Lee, Sho Baraka, PRo, KB, & New Faith Church (4315 West Fuqua St.)