Yr. (Late) Weekend, Pt. 1: The Skatalites + Clouseaux + Laura Stevenson + Square and Compass + More

Crap, crap, crap. Tonight (Friday, March 30th) seriously snuck up on me, I’m afraid. And it’s a big, big night, too…here goes:

The Skatalites/Los Skarnales/Eagger/Fuska @ Mango’s
When I first saw that The Skatalites had shifted over from the House of Blues to Mango’s, my jaw literally dropped. I mean, the one time I’ve seen the legendary Jamaican ska pioneers, they played a sold-out-and-beyond show at Fitz that was shut down halfway through by the freaking fire marshal. No idea if this show’ll go that way, since the heyday of ska is far behind us, but either way, it seems like an odd choice.

Meh. Whatever, though, y’know? However it goes, it’s bound to be a great show — that one show I saw was freaking mind-blowing, a real dream come true.

Clouseaux/Trio Musette/Will Van Horn @ The Continental Club
Halle-freakin’-lujah. I was starting to worry that {Clouseaux}, the side project-gone-real life band of a bunch of the guys from {The Suspects} who do a great, great kind of surf-lounge-exotica. It’s been a long damn time since I saw ’em, but back then they were truly, truly excellent. As an added bonus, I’m told {Trio Musette} — the new band of {The Sideshow Tramps}‘ Geoffrey Muller — it’s pretty great, to boot.

Bomb The Music Industry!/Laura Stevenson and The Cans/LIMB/Lisa’s Sons @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor)
Dammit, how did I let this one creep up on me? I was seriously psyched to hear Laura Stevenson and The Cans were coming back through town — Stevenson & co. do some nicely indie-folk that veers close to Rilo Kiley/Palomar territory but with Fleet Foxes’ stolen instruments. Check over here for a couple of MP3s from their 2008 release…

Oh, and there’s also local-boy openers {LIMB}, on the electro-experimental side, and Lisa’s Sons, on the in-your-face synth-rock side, both cool.

Wiccans/Guilt Party/Brain Attack/White Crime @ Notsuoh
Oh, yeah. Notsuoh has the gritty, snarling, break-your-nose-and-laugh garage-punk roar tonight, with locals {Guilt Party} and {White Crime} — both of whom are damn promising — plus Brain Attack and Dentonites Wiccans…

Floorbound/Square and Compass/Life as Lions/Potbelly @ Fitzgerald’s
A nice night of emo-ish rock tonight at Fitz — I’m not real familiar with {Floorbound}, unfortunately, but I do like sharp-edged, smart indie-rock guys {Square and Compass} a whole heck of a lot, seriously. And I’ve heard excellent things about {Life as Lions}, too, which is the new band of at least a couple of the former members of {Thee Armada}, a surprisingly great band that flamed out far, far too early.

Runners-Up:
My Education/Super Robot Party/A Sundae Drive @ Rudyard’s
Dan Coyle/The Illegal Wiretaps/2-Bit Palomino/Texas City Revelators/Nterlude Band @ Super Happy Fun Land
The Tyburn Jig/Pillow Talk/The Revival @ Mango’s
Hot Chelle Rae/Electric Touch @ House of Blues
Pale/Southbound Saints @ Fitzgerald’s
D.R.U.M./Bigga Starr/Jimmy Lee Deen @ Last Concert Cafe
2012 Tomball German Heritage Festival, featuring Bluegrass Friday Night, Alpenfest, Chris Rybak, Walburg Boys, Tuba Meisters, Round Top Brass Band, Das Ist Lustig, Terry Cavanaugh, Kenny James, JungeMeisters, German Folk Dancers Rathkamp, de Texas KlopenDansers, Scandinavian Folk Dancers, Aggie Wranglers, Ultimate Cloggers, Tomball Promanaders, Valina, & more @ Historical Train Depot Plaza (Tomball)