Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Suspects + Bayou Blues Fest + Murder By Death (MP3!) + The Adicts + The Hates + More

Coming up on Saturday now, September 21st, and there’s a ton of stuff going on; here’s where you might maybe want to be at some point:

The Suspects/La Skandalosa/Here Come The Girls @ Mango’s ($7)
What can I say? I’ve loved this band since I was in college, and here they are, popping back up yet again for another show. {The Suspects}, for me, are pretty much the definition of what a ska band is, without any hyphenation or anything like that; they’re an awesome damn band, the equal of pretty much any “big-name” ska band I’ve ever seen (well, okay, other than The Skatalites; sorry, y’all). Even now, when I hear “Caffeine” or “3-Eyed Fish” or “Goodbye Brown Eyes” or “The Dance,” I feel a big, goofy smile come creeping across my face, and my feet start moving of their own volition.

Think I’m exaggerating? Take a listen for yourself:

Bayou Blues Festival, featuring Bobby Womack, Betty Wright, Lenny Williams, & Clarence Carter @ Reliant Arena
I have to tell you, I damn near spit my drink all over my computer when I saw the lineup for this year’s Bayou Blues Festival. I mean, Bobby Womack‘s great, as is Betty Wright, but Clarence Freaking Carter?! Are you fucking kidding me? It kills me that I won’t be able to go to this, because that means I’m missing out on seeing the guy behind “Strokin'”, otherwise known as The Best Goddamn Party Song ever. sigh. Dang kids’ birthdays.

Murder By Death/Larry and His Flask/Rodeo Queen @ Fitzgerald’s
Another good lineup at Fitzgerald’s tomorrow night, this time with murky, dirge-y, countryish Indiana band Murder By Death, who’ve toned down their sound these past few releases, it seems like, to come across more like Gothic death-folk than anything else. On last year’s Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, there’s a down-in-the-holler bluegrass sound to it, for sure, and frontman Adam Turla‘s Johnny Cash-esque baritone, and a lot of orchestral, almost baroque touches, and occasionally even a more straight-up, Springsteenian rock track like “Straight at the Sun.” It’s intense, dark, moody stuff, and I’m liking it quite a bit.

Check out a track from Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, below:

Murder By Death – “Lost River” (MP3)

The Adicts/The Hates @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
And then, last but not least, there’s this show way, way, way down in Clear Lake, where The Scout Bar plays host to a pretty impressive double-bill of old-school punk rock. There’s ’80s Brit-punks The Adicts, who were (and still are) one of the strangest, most distinctive bands you’re likely to ever witness — imagine a cross between The Joker and the droogies from A Clockwork Orange, and you’ll be close.

For me, though, the better part of the bill’s the early part, where H-town’s own punk icons, {The Hates} will be blowing away the south-of-Houston crowds for the first time in a good long while, I think (maybe ever?). They’re flat-out badasses, and if you’ve never seen Christian Kidd and his cohorts live, you desperately need to.

Runners-Up:
Another Run/Catch Fever/Austin Smith/Shotgun Funeral @ Warehouse Live (Green Room)
The Caldwell @ Cactus Music (3PM)
Earthdance Houston 2013, featuring Lee Alexander & more @ Baker Common Plaza (Smith & Preston; 4-7PM)
Blaggards @ Olde City Pub
Mama Tried/Clayton Deguere/Willy Collins Band @ Walter’s
Houston Fine Art Fair, featuring David Dove & Jawwaad Taylor @ George R. Brown Convention Center (6-7PM)
Morgue City/Vanilla Sugar/The Abyss/Opulent @ Rudyard’s
Kaela Sinclair/Joanna Barbera/Jessie Frye @ Avant Garden
Pearland International Festival, featuring Gary Michael Dhal Band, Mango Punch, The Noize, The Lotus Effect, Sanni M’mairura, XPRYNZ, Modulation, Young Harmonies of Houston, Grupo Kache, Enzian Buam, & Ziyon Gospel Group @ Independence Park (Pearland; 11AM-9PM)