Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Van Halen + Kool & The Gang + Darwin’s Finches + Headbang For The Highway + More

Coming into Sunday, June 24th, now, and despite it being, well, a Sunday, there’s still some good stuff going on. Here’s what sounds/looks good to me:

Van Halen/Kool & The Gang @ Toyota Center
Yeah, yeah, I know. What can I say? I grew up with Van Halen, like a lot of people my age did, and I was — and yes, I realize this is pretty close to heresy — a fan of both the classic David Lee Roth lineup and the Sammy Hagar-led “Van Hagar” lineup. No, seriously; at one point in my life, Van Halen was my favorite damn band in the whole universe. I suspect that I still have all of Van Halen, Women and Children First, 1984, & 5150 memorized, somewhere deep down in my skull.

That said, VH just doesn’t mean the same thing to me these days, at this point in my life. They’re still a classic band to me, but I don’t need to go back there, y’know? So honestly, what sounds the best to me about this show is old-school funk band Kool & The Gang. They’re probably best known at this point for “Jungle Boogie,” thanks to Quentin Tarantino using it in Pulp Fiction, but the band is far, far better than just that (althugh yeah, it’s a great song). If I were going to the show, it’d probably be more for them than for Halen… (Oh, and check out Creg‘s thoughtful dissection of the reformed, Roth-having Van Halen, over here.)

Darwin’s Finches @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor)
Those guys in Darwin’s Finches are some strange, strange dudes (no, seriously — go check out their series of quasi-autobiographical comics). That strangeness, though, is part of the band’s charm; they honestly just play whatever the hell they feel like, I think, with no concern for the consequences, and hey, I respect the hell out of ’em for that. They’re calling this show “DADRAWK,” and the invite declares that, “the musicians are reproducing and need a hand.” Go help ’em feed their respective babies, and enjoy some weird, quirky music in the proces, eh?

Headbang For The Highway: Official Battle for Mayhem Fest, featuring Cronophage, Legion, & Carry the Storm @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Okay, so this one’s a “battle of the bands”-type thing, I believe — from what I’ve seen/heard so far, it sounds like the idea is that one lucky band of the three tonight will get to open for the Rockstar Mayhem Festival at the CWMP on July 11th, where they’ll share the stage with the likes of Slayer(!), Anthrax(!!), and Slipknot (meh).

I dunno {Cronophage} at all, sorry, but I like what I’ve heard so far from {Legion}, and {Carry the Storm} are flat-out badass, so it seems like a decent lineup. (Although I am sad more of H-town’s metal bands aren’t on there…)

Runners-Up:
The Jig Is Up @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Slim Thug/Future @ Arena Theater