Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Keep Calm//Fight Cancer + Brand New Hearts + Hoofprints + The Caldwell + Papermoons + More

Late, I know, especially after going MIA last Saturday & Sunday — sorry, but birthday stuff took precedence, and then we were stuck staying at somebody else’s house all this week, away from the Wifi, due to some home renovation stuff. Really couldn’t get back on the SCR horse ’til today, Friday, September 6th, I’m afraid…

But hey, it’s not too late to go and do some awesome things happening tonight; it’s actually a little on the light side this evening, as far as I can tell, but that’s probably largely due to the first show on this list:

Keep Calm//Fight Cancer Event Benefiting Pam Robinson, featuring The Tontons, The Suffers, New York City Queens, The Wild Moccasins, Featherface, Second Lovers, & The Manichean @ Walter’s
Damn. Meant to post about this last week, but y’know… This is definitely the biggie of the night — hell, probably the weekend. It’s three nights of fundraiser shows over at the “new” Walter’s location on the edge of downtown, with some of this city’s best bands — present and past — joining forces to help out Pam Robinson.

If you’ve been to see a show at Walter’s, or at any of a slew of other clubs she’s owned over the years, mostly on the now-trendy Washington strip, including Silky’s and (I think) Fat Cat’s/Mary Jane’s, well, you’ve benefited from Ms. Robinson’s awesomeness. She’s given a home and a chance to nearly every band going in this city at one time or another, and fighting it out for years in an area of town where she could’ve easily sold out and turned her “Pamland” string of bars into faux-cool nightclubs like the ones currently lining Washington.

But she didn’t, preferring instead to keep Walter’s and its kin (though they were whittled down over the years to just Walter’s) low-key and unpretentious and punk. I’ve lost count of how many incredible bands I’ve seen at her venues over the years (Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings & The Hold Steady, for two), and I’m truly, truly grateful for all her hard work at keeping those places open for all these years — I mean, c’mon, nobody makes a killing booking punk bands, at least not in this town.

Unfortunately, Ms. Robinson’s currently fighting Stage 4 cancer and is apparently just starting to undergo chemotherapy, which isn’t cheap by any means. She needs our help, folks. That’s why all these great, great band — {The Tontons}, {The Suffers}, {New York City Queens}, {The Manichean}, {Featherface}, {Second Lovers}, & {The Wild Moccasins} are all among my absolute-favorite music-makers in Houston and elsewhere — are giving their time & talent to help out.

Like I said above, this is late in coming, so the show’s already underway, but there’s still plenty of time to get over to Walter’s & join in. The tickets are $10, which is cheap as hell, especially for such a good cause. Get on out there.

Keiko/Big Wonder/Hoofprints/Brand New Hearts @ Fitzgerald’s
Obviously, there’s never just one thing happening here in H-town, and while the Keep Calm//Fight Cancer benefit’s definitely got the limelight, there’s some good stuff happening up at Fitzgerald’s tonight, too. I’m totally unfamiliar with the headliners, but I do know both {Hoofprints} and {Brand New Hearts}, and they’re absolutely freaking amazing, both of ’em.

The former are straight-up old-school emo that’s damn near impossible to dislodge from your skull, like the best things the sadly-departed Stadium once did (which makes sense, considering guitarist Ramzi Beshara used to be in that band). They’re debut, Secretly Destroying Honesty, is one heck of a little pile of songs.

Then there’s the latter, which has quickly become one of my favorite bands from anywhere in recent months. Brand New Hearts are full-on power-pop, the kind yours truly learned to love way back in college with The Posies and Teenage Fanclub and Sloan, and they do it astoundingly well. I’ve been listening nonstop to their self-titled debut cassette lately, and I’m loving the damn thing. Check out a review of it over here.

The Caldwell (record release)/Papermoons/Poor Pilate/B.E. Godfrey @ Fitzgerald’s
Last but certainly nowhere near least, there’s the other floor at Fitz, which tonight houses a similarly-awesome slate of folk-pop-ish people, like rambling roots-pop outfit {Poor Pilate} and downcast troubadour {B.E. Godfrey}, both of whom you really should check out.

What really grabbed my eye about this show, though, are the names at the top of the bill. I’ve been hearing very, very good things about recent arrivals {The Caldwell} lately, and the little taste I’ve gotten of the group’s thoughtful, jaunty Americana has been a cool change; I desperately need to see ’em soon. And holy crap, it’s been far too long since Houston expats Papermoons have graced a stage down here. I dearly, dearly miss hearing the duo’s fragile-yet-warm take on indie-folk…come back more often, you guys, please?

Runners-Up:
NobleMotion & My Education @ The Hobby Center
Krewella/Seven Lions/Candyland/Surain/Phon @ Stereo Live
Buckcherry/Girl on Fire/the last place you look/The Last Hour @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Patrice Pike/Driver/Picture Book @ The Continental Club