Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: When We Ruled H-Town + Sing Your Life + RACES (Rev’d!) + More

Oof. Heading into a freaking great weekend, and one that’s managed to creep up on me somewhat, I have to admit; I’ve been so wrapped up in other things this week (read: work + hanging w/family from London) that some of the biggest, most awesome things happening the next few days & nights caught me off-guard. Damn.

Before I go too much further, though, I just wanted to note that contrary to what the Shows list has been saying these past several weeks, apparently {The Wild Moccasins} are no longer playing tonight’s show up at The Continental Club, with Deadbeat Darling & a handful of other folks. It still sounds like a good show, don’t get me wrong — just don’t want to mislead anybody.

On to the rest for tonight, Friday, August 3rd:

When We Ruled H-Town DVD Release, featuring dead horse, Manhole, Tread, Wishbone Bush, Taste of Garlic, 30footFALL (as The Dead Kennedys), & Monster Soup (as The Ramones) @ Fitzgerald’s
Hell, yeah, it’s finally here — the long-awaited Houston ’90s scene documentary, When We Ruled H-Town, has arrived at last. And holy crap, am I psyched. Believe it or not, I missed out on most of this whole era of rock in our fair city, coming in at the tail end to catch people like {30footFALL} and {Dead Horse} and {Poor Dumb Bastards} when they heyday of the scene had already been & gone.

Still, I’m figuring I’ll see some familiar faces in there, once I can actually check out the film. Unfortunately, there was apparently a screening last night at the Rice Media Center, but I didn’t hear about it ’til today…argh.

At any rate, tonight’s Night #1 of a two-day extravaganza up at Fitz to celebrate the movie’s release, and it looks like it’s going to be awesome, with full helpings of old-school punk/metal/rock goodness from back in the day. Heck, the 30footFALL guys will now be playing both nights, it seems — they’ll be doing Dead Kennedys songs tonight, while Monster Soup does Ramones songs. Awesome.

Sing Your Life Acoustic Showcase, featuring Taylor Lee (Finnegan/The Literary Greats), Gilbert Alfaro (Spain Colored Orange), Blake Shepard (Electric Attitude), Arthur Yoria, Sydney Harkreader, Charles Peters, Brent Nettles, & more @ The Big Top (9:30PM-1:30AM; free!)
Whoa. Speaking of missing things, how did I now know about this ’til today? Damn, I’m more behind than I’d thought. I love the whole Sing Your Life series of showcases, just the general idea behind ’em, y’know? And beyond that, the folks playing tonight are all, all amazing. I’m a big Arthur Yoria fan, for one thing, and have loved pretty much everything Taylor Lee‘s been involved in, namely {Finnegan} and {The Literary Greats}. Check it out…

RACES/Saint Motel/Generation Landslide @ Rudyard’s
This one I was a little unsure of, at first — I’ve liked what I’ve heard of Saint Motel, but it hasn’t been a whole heck of a lot, unfortunately, and when I first listened to RACES full-length, Year Of The Witch, I was somewhat underwhelmed. Fast-forward a couple of weeks, though, and I can’t get the damn thing out of my brain. Excellent, low-key, beautiful roots-pop gorgeousness that’s like Clem Snide, The Arcade Fire, and Eisley rolled into one. (Full review on over here…)

Runners-Up:
Charles P. and the 10%/Eugene Swank/Holly Hicks/Sarah Hirsch (mem. of Jealous Creatures) @ Bohemeo’s
Kiss/Mötley Crüe @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Deadbeat Darling/Frontier Brothers/Deep Ella/Picture Book @ The Continental Club
Music Loves Fashion, featuring Los Skarnales & Tax the Wolf @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Blaggards @ Ashford Arms (13308 Westheimer)
Deceased/Krullur/Termination Force/Chocolate Crucifix/Cruxiter/Belligerency @ Walter’s (1120 Naylor)
The Elite Party, featuring The Houston Elite MC’s & DJ iPod Ammo @ Warehouse Live (Green Room)