Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Alkari (Rev’d!) + Linus Pauling Quartet + Better Block + Benefit for Bill DeGidio + More

On to Saturday, May 12th, and if anything, it looks like there’s more going on today than there was yesterday. Before I get to that, though, I wanted to mention a couple of things. First, in case you didn’t see the very nice {Rocks Off} post about it, it appears that EDM guy Avicii has cancelled his 5/17 show over at the Reliant Arena, apparently because his fancy-shmancy stage set’s not finished yet. I hate it when that happens to me, I know… No word on if/when it’ll be rescheduled, sorry.

A little closer to now, the Toy Bombs show scheduled for tomorrow night (5/13) at Warehouse Live has also been cancelled; not a clue what the reason is behind that one, I’m afraid.

Then there’s the ever-fun Mango’s, which seems to’ve gone a little multiple-personality lately, since it sure looks like the place has double-booked a show for the second time in a month or so. This time they’ve done it for 5/18, where supposedly both “Russian Mafia”/gypsy-punk band Debauche and locals {Second Lovers} each have a show set up for the same dang night (the former with {The Suffers}, {The Failed Attempt}, & DJ Simmer Down, and the latter with {excuseMesir} and Fox and Cats). Um. Whoops?

Alrighty, enough of that; here’s what I like for today:

Alkari (CD release)/The Manichean/Electric Attitude/The Wheel Workers/Super Robot Party/Featherface/Mike Booher/New York City Queens/The Dead Revolt/3 Wheeler @ Fitzgerald’s
Okay, so it came close a tie for tonight’s #1 spot, I have to say. Between this show and the next one on the list, damn, I’m torn. The sheer mass of good, good bands playing at Fitz tonight, for {Alkari}‘s release party for Blackout Falls, kinda tips the scales. I mean, beyond the headlining band — who I really, really like, and whose new album has blown me away; check out the full review over here — there’s also excellent psych-pop guys {Featherface}, Austinite Mike Booher (formerly of Zykos), sharp-edged popsters {New York City Queens}, dramatic art-rockers {The Manichean}, danceable electro-funk outfit {Electric Attitude}, smart, literate rockers {The Wheel Workers}, and murky, brooding rock band {The Dead Revolt}. It’s hard to top that one.

Linus Pauling Quartet/Fiskadoro/Burn The Boats @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor)
But yeah, it’s still a close one to call. How can I not love a show that pairs self-effacing stoner-/psych-rock heroes {Linus Pauling Quartet} and quirky/strange Lake Jackson rockers {Fiskadoro}, plus metal guys (I think?) {Burn The Boats}? It’s been too, too long since I’ve witnessed the set-shit-on-fire glory of an LP4 show, and I’ve been wanting to see Fiskadoro for quite a while now. Tonight might have to come to a coin toss…

Better Block on Washington Avenue, featuring The Boulevard Nights, The Lotus Effect, Jealous Creatures, The Tyburn Jig, Ben Godfrey (listenlisten), & Charles Peters @ Liberty Station (2101 Washington; 3-10PM)
Heard about this one just yesterday, but it sounds very cool to me — it’s a street festival-type thing up on Washington Avenue, between White & Hemphill, put on by a group called Better Block Houston, which aims to “demonstrate how easy & effective it is to cater to all users while increasing safety, connectivity, walkability and economic activity.” Well, alright, then.

I’m all for making H-town a cooler, more usable city, that’s for sure, but I’ll admit that what entices me most (obviously) is the cool, cool music. I’ve heard good stuff about {The Boulevard Nights}, and Ben Godfrey‘s “main” band, {listenlisten}, is freaking great, as are {The Lotus Effect}, {Jealous Creatures}, and {The Tyburn Jig} — they’re seriously three of the neatest, most promising bands in town right now. Get on over there, y’all.

2nd Annual Haute Wheels Houston Food Truck Festival, featuring Southern Backtones, Craig Kinsey, & Two Star Symphony @ HCC Campus West Loop Center (5601 West Loop South)
Pretty sure this is already going on — I was out and about with the midgets earlier and saw a whole crapload of food trucks and people eating from ’em, and it looked pretty busy. So get on over there early to catch the excellent, excellent musical accompaniment, as well (see the Haute Wheels site for the schedule); {Two Star Symphony} are spectacularly creepy and cool, and {Craig Kinsey} and the {Southern Backtones}, well, okay, they’re creepy and cool, too.

Have a Heart: Benefit for Bill DeGidio, featuring Blower, The Wrong Ones, The Freakouts, & Generation Landslide @ Rudyard’s
A good cause, definitely; Bill DeGidio, aka Robert Conn, is a punk rock icon, both here and in his hometown of Cleveland, OH. Up there he was in The Pagans, The Plague, & The Defnics, the latter of which was pretty much one of the first American punk bands around, and after he moved down here he started up the also-excellent {Chelsea Hotel}.

Unfortunately, DeGidio/Conn had a heart attack a while back and has been in recovery since; of course, the bills for any kind of a hospital stay mount up insanely quickly, and he’s been out of work during the healing. In short, the guy needs all the help he can get — donations beyond the $6 cover are definitely accepted. And hey, {The Wrong Ones} are always cool, so that’s an added bonus…

Runners-Up:
Devin the Dude/Coughee Brothaz North @ House of Blues
Blaggards @ Ashford Arms Pub (13308 Westheimer)
Gritsy, featuring Distance, J:Kenzo, Aura, Huy Cao, John The Third, Squincy Jones, Suraj K, Vincent 2 Fly, & Full Effect MC @ The Engine Room (1515 Pease)
Music Is My Genre, featuring Part 2, Drastik IV, Nick Greer & The G’s, & Twenty Eleven @ The Mink
3rd Annual “Don’t Sleep on It” Youth Health Expo, featuring DJ Michael “5000” Watts, Killa Kyleon, MPS, 1040 Boyz, Beat King, Big Wood, & D Boss and the Swishahouse Family @ Fifth Ward Multi-Service Center (4014 Market)