Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: YAMATO + Something Fierce + Mean Jeans + The Moondoggies + Rose Windows + Lee Bains III + Ragged Hearts + Holy Ghost! + More

Yes, it is once more the weekend, starting off with tonight, Friday, October 25th. And trust me, alongside the usual Halloween-ish stuff, there are a ton of awesome shows going on this here weekend. Let’s begin, shall we?:

YAMATO – The Drummers of Japan @ Jones Hall
Okay, so I haven’t yet seen YAMATO, it’s true, but I’ve seen a few taiko ensembles before, and they’ve all been flat-out amazing. I can’t help but love that tidal wave of sound that comes washing out from the stage; it’s like few things I’ve experienced outside of a colossally heavy metal band.

Mean Jeans/Audacity/Something Fierce @ Mango’s
Hell, yeah. I’m always, always happy to see {Something Fierce} back onstage; with each release, they’ve grown tighter as a band and more mature in their songwriting, morphing from a gang of patch-jacket-wearing, streetwise pop-punks into a gang of, well, thoughtfully streetwise pop-punks. Okay, not quite — they’re actually more like a power-pop band with some seriously late-’70s/early-’80s British influences, and yes, they’re freaking amazing.

Plus, they’ve got a damn apt matchup going tonight, with headliners Mean Jeans, who kinda come at the power-pop/punk thing from the American side, with a sound that’s seriously reminiscent of The Ramones.

The Moondoggies/Rose Windows/Insko @ Fitzgerald’s
Up at Fitzgerald’s tonight, there’s a nice lineup from Sub Pop/Hardly Art, with The Moondoggies and Rose Windows rolling through some cool, ’60s-tinged folk-country. I will admit to being a little bummed that The Moondoggies don’t have quite the gospel thing going that they used to, but their sister-labelmates Rose Windows help make up for it with some excellent psych-rock touches.

Check out a couple of songs from both bands, below:

• The Moondoggies – “Midnight Owl”
  The Moondoggies – “Red Eye”
• Rose Windows – “Wartime Lovers”
• Rose Windows – “Native Dreams”

Austin Lucas/Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires/Ragged Hearts @ Rudyard’s
Over at Rudyard’s, then, there’s a show that’s slightly more on the rootsy, rough-hewn side of the folk-country spectrum, and it’s a damn fine one. Not only are Lee Bains & The Glory Fires pretty great, in a bluesy, back-country kind of way — last year’s There Is A Bomb In Gilead is freaking cool — but so are H-town’s own {Ragged Hearts}, who are phenomenal in their own right. Get over there and enjoy some gritty, down-home guitars and awesome melodies.

Holy Ghost!/Midnight Magic/Orthy @ Fitzgerald’s
Initial Kneejerk Reaction: “Oh, shit; not another retro-’80s synth-pop band. Seriously?” Modified Reaction After Listening: “Hang on, this isn’t bad; I’m reminded weirdly of the cheesiest damn keyboards ever danced to back in the ’80s — hell, that one part sounds like the Ghostbusters theme — but I’m liking it. Damn you, Holy Ghost!; what have you done to me?!”

Houston Scream Fest, featuring 8eTribe & Funeral Horse @ 1500 Elton (8-11PM)
YES. (Thus howls the voice in my skull.) Sludgy, messy, murky doom-metal dudes {Funeral Horse} playing at an honest-to-God haunted house. If that isn’t the definition of the word “appropriate,” I dunno what is. Be warned, however, that you do have to pay for the haunted house itself to get in and see ’em. I still think it’d be worth the price, mind you…

Galveston Island Oktoberfest, featuring Alpenfest, AlpenMusikanten, Midlife Crisis, Kevin Anthony, Das Ist Lustig, Kerry Christensen, The TubaMeisters, Fanfare!, & Deer Park Folk Dance Group @ First Lutheran Church (Galveston; free!)
Because I don’t care who you are or what you say, polka is awesome. (And no, I don’t even mean that ironically.)

Runners-Up:
Blaggards/Little Outfit @ Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar
Discoween!, featuring Disco Expressions & Little Joe Washington @ The Continental Club
Emily Wolfe @ MKT Bar (1001 Austin; 8-11PM)
Ashes of Babylon/Eagger/Bujie and The Highrise/Alvin & The Slick Punks @ Warehouse Live (Green Room)
Spirits & Skeletons HMNS Halloween Mixer, featuring Molly & the Ringwalds @ Houston Museum of Natural Science (5800 Caroline; 8PM-12AM)
Folk Family Revival @ Yaga’s Cafe (Galveston)
Sevendust/All That Remains/Eye Empire/Saturate/Elysian @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)