Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Energy + Spain Colored Orange + Day Sailor + Illustrate The End + SHFL Anniversary + More

Spent the day out & about with the fam, so I’m running late again, I’m afraid. But hey, this is Houston, where things (generally, anyway) start late and go later, so what the hell; between writing up shows & hanging with the munchkins, the kids win out (although, yes, I am a bit bummed to realize I totally missed out on ex-Mineral/The Gloria Record band Zookeeper‘s appearance at the Heights Vinyl In-Store Performance Series this evening; dang…).

Anyway, here’s what’s (hopefully still) going on tonight that sounds good to me, Sat., March 31st:

The Energy (tour kickoff)/Mount Carmel/Black Congress/Peasant @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor; $5)
First on the pile, this here is the biggie of the night; it’s the official tour kickoff show for both {The Energy} & tourmates {Black Congress}, who are heading eastward to Liberty Fest, up in Philadelphia. This’ll be their last show in town for a while, so get on it now or be prepared to hold off a month or so…

Both bands are really good, btw, with The Energy doing a damn cool take on old-school, straight-up punk rawk and Black Congress melting down all those old AmRep records and injecting the vinyl sludge into your ears by force. Both acts will rock your fucking face off, seriously.

Spain Colored Orange/Day Sailor/Kuumba Freeque/P & the 10% @ The Continental Club
Holy crap, this one very nearly snuck past me entirely — been very, very behind on updating the shows list lately, and, well, I’m feeling it. Argh… This is definitely one not to miss, either, with headliners {Spain Colored Orange} in all their warm, organ-heavy (the last time I saw ’em, at least) indie-pop glory; the band’s been around as long as this Website/e-zine/zine has, believe it or not (roughly 15 years, as of this year), and we’ve been fans for the whole ride.

They’re joined this time around by one of the newest pop-ish bands in town, {Day Sailor}, who are one of the newest indie-pop(-ish) bands in town these days, and are really freaking good themselves. They make me think of a less fantasy-obsessed Eisley, a version of that band with somewhat more punch and guitar-rock fire to ’em, and what I’ve listened to so far of their debut EP has been really excellent. Well worth checking out.

Illustrate The End: The Art & Music of Vincent Fink, featuring The Lotus Effect & Illustrate The End @ El Rincon Social (3210 Preston; 8PM-4AM)
This one just started a little while ago, so you should still be able to catch a fair bit of the show, which is good, because {The Lotus Effect} are pretty great (looking forward to the new stuff, y’all). This isn’t strictly a “show,” mind you, at least not of the musical variety; instead, it’s more of a visual art-type thing, a party to celebrate the work of artist Vincent Fink, who also happens to play bass in The Lotus Effect.

Vincent’s apparently a finalist for this year’s Hunting Art Prize, one of only a hundred or so selected from the pile who entered, and that’s a pretty big deal — the winner gets an award of $50,000, which is nothing to sneeze at if you’re a struggling artist. Anyway, he’s partying down to celebrate getting picked, and at the same time he’s showing work from some other interesting-sounding artists, including none other than John Cramer, frontman of mostly-dead psych-rock outfit {Project Grimm}. Very cool…

Super Happy Fun Land 9th Anniversary Party!, featuring The Grass Skirts, The Annoysters, Poopy Lungstuffing, GoREALah Soul, Clockpole, Rusted Shut, Lazer Cun*zz, Demonic Hen, Anarchitex, & Caleb Fraid @ Super Happy Fun Land (free!)
And last but definitely not least, you can head on over to Super Happy Fun Land, on Polk east of the warehouses & lofts on the southeastern edge of downtown. Hard to believe the place has only been around 9 years now (although most of ’em not at this location); it honestly seems like the place has always existed in this city, somehow. Strange, yet neat, like the place itself.

Runners-Up:
Another Run/The Suffers/Mantis/Tax the Wolf @ Fitzgerald’s
The 6th Annual H-Town Blues Festival, featuring Mel Waiters, Sir Charles Jones, Millie Jackson, TK Soul, & more @ Reliant Arena
Houston Free Thinkers Presents: Patients Not Criminals, featuring EndIsNow, Cutta, Inzurgo, The Analyst, Jupiter Skyline, GALL, & Super Pancho Combo @ Notsuoh
Junior Brown @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
D.R.U.M. @ Kingston’s Rum Bar (11342 Beechnut)
Funky Mustard (CD release)/Herschel Berry/The Norman # @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Hard Rock Rising: The Global Battle of the Bands, featuring In Altum, Elbodo, & Somewhere Between Here and There @ Hard Rock Cafe (8-11PM)