Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Radiohead + Other Lives + Shearwater + Flogging Molly + Young Girls + Hank Schyma + More
Hey, all — on to Day 2 of your weekend (Saturday, March 3rd, specifically), and it’s another good one. Before I get into it, though, I wanted to mention something about this year’s Vans Warped Tour, coming through town Sunday, July 1st.
I’ve been trying to dig up some info on my own, but screw it, I give — where the fuck is the Warped Tour being held this time around? Somebody, anybody know? See, I’ve seen some listings that put it out at Sam Houston Race Park, where it’s been the past few years, but then I’ve seen other listings placing the show at Minute Maid Park, i.e., way the fuck across town from the other possible location. Which is it? Not a clue. If anybody out there knows, please enlighten me, if you could…
Alright, with that out of the way, on we go:
Radiohead/Other Lives @ Toyota Center
If you didn’t already know this was happening tonight, you either live under a rock or only listen to talk radio or something. Which is a damn shame, frankly, considering that Radiohead, whether or not you’re a fan, is one of the most ground-breaking, constantly-interesting bands of the past 30 or so years. And no, I don’t say that lightly.
I am a fan, myself, tending more towards The Bends and Pablo Honey than anything after; what I’ve heard of last year’s The King of Limbs was pretty dang neat, though, and I really need to finally get off my ass and listen to the whole thing.
Openers Other Lives are one heck of a cool bonus, too; I liked their latest, Tamer Animals, quite a bit, enjoying the Oklahoma band’s gentle-hearted, moody folk-soul. Think Fleet Foxes or The Moondoggies, and you’ll be in the ballpark. If you’re going, make sure you get there early, or you’ll miss out & regret it later, trust me.
Oh, and I thought this had been sold-out for quite a while now, but I literally just checked the Toyota Center Website, and lo and behold, they’re still selling tickets. They’re not cheap — the only seats that came up when I searched were $86 with all the charges & whatnot — but hey, if you’re desperate to go and thought you’d blown it, you’re in luck.
Shearwater/Marmalakes/Dana Falconberry @ Fitzgerald’s
Okay, so I’ll admit it: this is actually the show tonight that I’m the most psyched about. I’ve been a fan of Okkervil River spinoff band Shearwater for a while now, since 2002’s Everybody Makes Mistakes, and each time I hear them, they only seem to go further and further upwards. Case in point? The band’s brand-freaking-new release, Animal Joy, which takes the grand fragility of past releases and amps it up into a baroque, multi-layered roar, imbued with as much fury and bitterness as quiet restraint. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, honestly, but holy crap is it good.
If you don’t just want to take my word for it, mind you, you can always listen for yourself:
I’ve only seen a teeny-tiny bit of fellow Austinites Marmalakes, when I ventured upstairs during a punk show at Fitz, but even that wee glimpse made the band sound pretty damn promising. Again, get up there early, y’all.
Flogging Molly/Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears/The Devil Makes Three @ House of Blues
Ah, yeah. One of my all-time favorite adoped-sons-of-Erin bands ever, Flogging Molly, are coming back through town tonight. I’ve written quite a bit about ’em over the past year, so I won’t go into a whole heck of a lot of detail about ’em now, but I have to say, I still love the band’s take on updating traditional Irish folk with heavy guitars and a punk sensibility; take a look at a neat, neat video from last year’s Speed of Darkness:
Of course, I can’t forget Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears — I finally got to see ’em live at last year’s Free Press Summerfest, and while the fact that my brain was melting diminished the experience somewhat, I was still mightily impressed…
Heights Vinyl In-Store Performance Series, featuring Young Girls @ Heights Vinyl (6PM; free!)
Ah, cool. I like the whole in-store performance thing in general, and it’s great that it’s not just Cactus doing it solo these days, but also at Vinyl Junkie and now Heights Vinyl. Free, early shows that aren’t necessarily in dingy dive bars rule, in my book. And hey, so do {Young Girls}, whose surfy, hazy psych-pop bowled me over last year and who will reportedly soon be making their home up in Austin; see ’em here while you still can.
Hank Schyma/Craig Kinsey @ Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (Galveston)
Yep: two of H-town’s finest, most entertaining frontmen around — of the {Southern Backtones} and {The Sideshow Tramps}, respectively — joining forces once again down in G-town. Expect plenty of wickedly dark, dark country/folk/rock from this one.
Shellee Coley (CD release)/The Hems @ Conroe Sparkle Event Hall (Conroe)
Mentioned {Shellee Coley}‘s other CD release show yesterday, so I won’t go too overboard again. Just wanted to point to it for those folks who live up on the north side; if brand-new album When It Began is any indicator of how good she is live, you really need to consider catching Ms. Coley while she’s up in your neck of the woods…
Runners-Up:
Blu/Exile/Thurogood Wordsmith/Richie Roc/D Rose and Cozmos/DJ iPod Ammo/BBC @ Numbers
Dogz On Parole (CD release)/Zipperneck/Penny Arcade/The Freakouts @ Rudyard’s
The 71’s/Eyes Burn Electric/The Greatcoats @ The Continental Club
Cop Warmth/The Riffs/Dada Moda/Garbage Dump @ Mango’s
First Saturday Arts Market, featuring Westbound @ 548 W. 19th St. (11AM-6PM)
Sundrunk/Spastic Fit/Bending Villa/Cassette Tape @ Union Tavern (Clear Lake)
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