Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Business + The Western Civilization + Red Wanting Blue (MP3s!) + Will Hoge + The Lotus Effect + Artery Final Show + More

Well, it may be late on a rainy/drizzly/nasty Saturday (November 23rd, for those keeping score), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of cool things happening. Here’s my list:

The Business/The Stand Alones/Black Coffee/Los Gritos/Room 101 @ Walter’s ($12)
Yussss. In-your-face, unapologetically old-school Oi!/streetpunk, courtesy of some of the dudes who invented the damn thing, The Business. Three-plus decades on, it’s amazing to see these guys still doing their thing, seriously. And hey, they’re playing not only with cool-ass local noise-punks {Black Coffee}, whom I love, but also NOLA-via-H-town ear-destroyer Room 101, who also happens to be pretty entertaining/intriguing in his own right. All together, it’s kind of an oddball bill, but hey, I’m good with it.

Will Hoge/Red Wanting Blue @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
Not sure how late this’ll start, but hopefully you still have time to head over to the House of Blues and catch curly-headed, whiskey-voiced Americana dude Will Hoge, who’s damn good in a Steve Earle-/Lucero-ish vein, and openers Red Wanting Blue, who’re even better. They’re rootsy Americana, too, but more on the “rock” side of things, coming off almost like Eddie Vedder fronting the Gin Blossoms — and if that makes sense to you at all, well, take a listen:

Red Wanting Blue – “Stay on the Bright Side”
Red Wanting Blue – “Audition”

The Western Civilization (acoustic) @ Pearl Lounge
Holy shit, seriously? I’d heard a rumor that two of the main people behind {The Western Civilization} — one of my all-time favorite bands, from here or anywhere else — Reggie O’Farrell and Rachel Hansbro, might’ve been writing some new songs together, and I couldn’t help but be psyched, yet skeptical. But then this popped up today; it’s being labeled an “acoustic” performance, but hey, I’ll take it. These folks ruled when they briefly exploded back in 2007-2008, and damn, their one album, Letters of Resignation, still rules even now. Please-please-please let this be a real-live reunion-type thing?

The Lotus Effect @ Acadia Bar & Grill
Ah, yeah — fans of straight-ahead, guitar-heavy, prog-rock-tinged alternarock, if you don’t already know who {The Lotus Effect} are, you definitely need to. They’ve got a new album coming out very, very soon, which I’m totally psyched about, but in the meantime they’ve re-released their, um, “special” cover of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reinder,” “Bad Rudolph,” to tide us all over.

It’s a cool, reggae-gone-metal track, not least of all because the proceeds from it go to the Ronald McDonald House Houston, which is a very worthwhile cause to be supporting.

Check out the video below, then buy it at the iTunes link above (oh, and go see the band at the Acadia Bar & Grill, too):

The Umbrella Man @ The Artery (final show!)
Alright now, don’t get me wrong, here: Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man are a damn fine band, one that’s well, well worth checking out if you have any opportunity. For me, though, the real draw is the fact that tonight’s show will be the last ever at venerable artspace/venue The Artery. I’ll admit that I can count the number of shows I’ve seen at the place on one hand, but still, they’ve all been damn memorable (especially that Junior Varsity show from waaaaay back in the day), and it’s sad to see a place with a 25-year history close its doors.

Runners-Up:
Pasadena Napalm Division/Black Standard/Epic/Epic Death/Hail Beast @ BFE Rock Club (11528 Jones)
Houston Art Crawl, featuring The Witherees, Vox Vocis, Afternoon Power, Pinky Leider, Muzak John, & Demonic Hen @ Super Happy Fun Land (10AM-10PM)
Project Armageddon/Hogbitch/The Well/PuraPharm @ Fitzgerald’s
Ray Wylie Hubbard @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Room 101/Zoofeelia/Rapeworm @ 4331 Tulane
Steve Vai @ House of Blues
Chance The Rapper/DJ Rashad/Spinn @ Warehouse Live (sold out!)
Sara Hickman @ Dosey Doe Music Cafe (Conroe)
B.B. King @ The Grand 1894 Opera House (Galveston)
The Invincible Czars/The Wheel Workers @ Da Pub (Pasadena)