Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: MonstrO + Girl In A Coma + Finnegan + Sundress + Texas Massacre + More

Argh. Sorry, y’all — dropped the ball again tonight, I’m afraid. There’s a lot going on tonight, Sat., December 10th, and some of it’s still going on, so get on out…

Black Tusk/MonstrO/Kyng/Burn The Boats @ Rudyard’s
Oh, yes. Tonight’s a tough call, but honestly, MonstrO pushes this one over the top for me; I’ve fallen hard for their self-titled debut (reviewed over here), to the point where I have to keep it in the car in case I feel the sudden urge to hear “Anchors Up!” or “Concertina,” in all their sludgy-yet-melodic, Priestess-meets-Chavez prog-rock heaviness. It’s seriously one of the best albums I’ve heard all year. Plus, I’ve liked what I’ve heard from both headliners Black Tusk and local dudes {Burn The Boats}, so that’s a bonus.

Girl In A Coma/Fences/Electric Touch @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
And then here’s the close contender, with San Antonio’s Girl In A Coma — I saw ’em a month or two back with Concrete Blonde, and holy crap were they good; I was well & truly converted to the fold. They nonchalantly burned their way through a full set of raw, smart, New Wave-tinged rock that nods backwards to rootsy rock heroes gone by, and it was amazing to see.

They’ve got an extra-special guest tonight, too, locals {Bang Bangz}, a trio that includes Mario from {Tax the Wolf}; happy to see ’em playing out more regularly. I swear, y’all, I’m gonna come see you soon…

Sundress/Brent Nettles/Finnegan/Ghost Mountain/Ben Godfrey @ Fitzgerald’s (free!)
I have to say, while I was slow to embrace pseudo-supergroup {Finnegan}, after hearing the band’s first album, What Happened to Jacqueline?, my jaw hit the floor and stayed there. “B-Team Squad Leader” should be in the running for Song of the Year, in my book… They’re freaking incredible, both in recorded form and live.

And hey, tonight also marks the oh-thank-God return to the stage of awesome, awesome quirky/nerdy psychedelic hip-hop duo {Ghost Mountain}, whom I’d feared was gone for good after they parted ways to go off to college. Glad to see they’re going to at least grace us with some occasional hometown performances. On top of that, there’s also Ben Godfrey, frontman for the badass {listenlisten}, doing a solo thing, relative newcomer {Brent Nettles} (who I hear is really good), and Denton-dwellers Sundress are pretty impressive themselves, in a hazy, retro-ified psych-pop kind of way.

Best of all, this one’s free for the of-agers, and only $5 for the kids. Oh, and it just started, so go, go, go.

Texas Massacre 11, featuring Big Pokey, K-Rino, Gman, iLL LiaD, Los Gritos, My Fist Your Face, BTH, Joe Words, & BFI @ The White Swan
Last but not least, there’s a cool-sounding hip-hop showcase going on at The White Swan, of all places. I dunno a lot of the names, but {iLL LiaD} is pretty great, and I hear {K-Rino} is good, too. Check it out…

Runners-Up:
Trout Fishing in America @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Reggae Inna Winter Wonderland, featuring Carleton Pride, Mighty Zion, D.R.U.M., Bigga Starr, & DJ Zion 808 @ Last Concert Cafe
East End Toy Drive & Freddy Fender Tribute Concert, featuring Los Skarnales, Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man, & DJ Stephanie Saint Sanchez @ The Orange Show (7-11PM; $10)
Verbal Abuse/SS Kaliert/Embrace the Kill/U.Y.U.S. @ Fitzgerald’s
Dave Alvin/Mitch Jacobs @ The Continental Club
1st Annual Holly Jolly Art Fest, featuring Braggart Family Side Circus, Yello Echo, Doomsday Wrestling, & Zack Weiss, plus lots of art @ Khon’s (2808 Milam; 7PM-1AM, $5 for adults, children under 12 free)
Stuart Hinds/Thomas Helton/Doggebi/Ike Can’t Stop This Feeling @ Super Happy Fun Land
Arthur Yoria @ WineStyles the Vintage (8PM)
Quiet Riot @ Nutty Jerry’s (Winnie)
El Batallon End of Season Party, featuring Fuska & DJ Sin Nombre @ Mango’s
dUNETXmas freaKOut, featuring duneTX @ The Big Top
Tomball German Christmas Market, featuring Alpenfest, Chris Rybak Band, Terry Cavanagh and the Alpine Express Trio, Kenny James, Armstrong Family Carolers, Clown Jewels of Arabia Shrine Circus, Judy Dugas, Texas Klompendansers, 3rd Generation Band, Cloggers Unlimited, TubaMeisters, Brendon Mak, Friendswood HS German Club Folk Dancers, Sheila Lee and Friends, Gene Hackemack, Our Savior Lutheran Bell Choir, Rathkamp German Dancers, The Siekers Band, Das Ist Lustig, Covenant Academy Honor Choir, Enzian Buam, Sinterklaas, & Tannenbaum @ Old Town Tomball (Tomball)