Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Houston Beer Fest + The Energy + Young Mammals + Etcetera + Keeton Coffman + Saint Arnold 20th Anniversary + More

On into Saturday now, June 7th, and there’s a pretty damn large pile of stuff going on, large enough that yours truly can’t cover all of it. I’ll hit as many as I can, though; here goes:

2014 Houston Beer Fest, featuring Slightly Stoopid, Juicy J, The Dirty River Boys, Mad Men Crew, DJ Young Streetz, Honey Island Swamp Band, T-Bird and the Breaks, Zsu, Black Pistol Fire, US Royalty, The Scorseses, Roosh Williams, Wandering Bufaleros, The Breton Sound, Swimming With Bears, Action Bronson, We Were Wolves, Amongst The Living, Shotgun Funeral, King Finn, Second Lovers, Re’Al, Vessel, & Celestial Centerfold @ Sam Houston Park (Downtown; 12-10PM)
At the top of today/tonight’s pile — and already underway, I’m afraid — is the 2014 Houston Beer Fest, which brings together excellent music and even more excellent (or so I’m told, at least, by people who are far more beer afficionado-like than myself) brews from all over, and lets them hang out together in Sam Houston Park downtown. I may not be a beer drinker, generally, but I’m psyched to see this festival continue.

They’ve recruited some damn impressive big names this time around, too, including Action Bronson and Slightly Stoopid (not that I’m saying I like the latter, mind you; they’re just kinda bigger-time than I’d expected Beer Fest to bring this year). There’s also some very cool folks I happen to like thrown in there, like rockers Black Pistol Fire, our very own Americana-folk-pop outfit {Second Lovers}, Beaumont transplants (and all-round badass rawk dudes) {We Were Wolves}, and cool-sounding band {King Finn}, about which I’ve heard very good things. Plus, the madness continues with even more beers & bands tomorrow…

Mark Aid: A Call To Armes, featuring The Energy (final show!), The Secret Prostitutes, Young Mammals, Turbokrieg, & Hamamatsu Tom & The House Heights Lawn Shitting Ensemble @ Fitzgerald’s ($5)
Second on the list is an excellent cause, truly; Fitzgerald’s is hosting a benefit show tonight for Mark Armes, local filmmaker and scenester extraordinaire. I dunno the details — I’m guessing the mention of a traumatic kickball incident in the event invite is at least halfway a lie — but Mark’s a good dude, and he deserves help.

Besides, this will apparently be the last-ever show for {The Energy}, whom I’ve liked and will miss, wild-eyed indie-popsters {Young Mammals}, and the always-awesomely-named Hamamatsu Tom & The House Heights Lawn Shitting Ensemble, who get extra-super bonus points for referencing “Public Enemy No. 2” this time around (and who are a blast in general). All for $5; can’t beat that, right?

Donovan Wolfington/Pope (mem. of Harts of Oak)/Etcetera (formerly football, etc.)/Gato Guapo @ The Summit (3536 Navigation; $5)
Also for a mere $5
I dunno the headliners, Donovan Wolfington, I’m afraid, but I do know a bit about two of the other people on the bill, namely Pope and Etcetera. See, a while back sublimely-promising band Harts of Oak kinda-sorta disintegrated and moved off to New Orleans, where they reformed as Pope and continued releasing cool music. Sad to see ’em go, but hey, I’m glad they’re doing cool stuff, even now.

Then there’s Etcetera, who you might know by a slightly different name… It seems that the ladies/dude in football, etc. have decided to scrap the “football” part in the name and retain the “etc.,” lengthening their name a wee bit but keeping that old-school emo-indie-rock awesomeness intact. I was kind of wondering when the name change would happen, honestly; it didn’t seem like they’d be able to continue the whole football motif forever, y’know? Whatever they’re called, they’re great, and you need to see/hear them, period.

Keeton Coffman/Jana Gilmore @ 13222 Lake Mist Court (Cypress; 7-10PM, $7)
On a little more chilled-out side of things is this show out in the Cypress ‘hood, where utterly mindblowing singer/songwriter {Keeton Coffman} — formerly of The 71’s and now even better out on his own — will be playing some kind soul’s house. Seriously, if you haven’t yet checked out Coffman’s most recent EP, Stumble On Love, you need to; it’s one of the absolute-best things I’ve heard in the past year, from anywhere at all. Note of caution: again, this is somebody’s house. It’s not a bar, it’s not a garbage can, and it’s not your house, so don’t be an asshole, alright?

Saint Arnold 20th Anniversary Party, featuring Hayes Carll, The Suffers, The Niceguys, Sideshow Tramps, & DJ Dave Wrangler @ St. Arnold’s Brewing Company (5-10:30PM)
The other beer-related thing going on this evening is up at Saint Arnold, where the now-venerable H-town brewery is celebrating being around for 20 freaking years. Holy crap, now I feel old; I remember standing in line at Kinko’s behind a guy who was getting copies made of the labels for one of their first (I think?) beers…

Anyway, they’re celebrating in style, with a slew of excellent bands/musicians, including rocksteady heroes {The Suffers}, awesome hip-hop crew {The Niceguys}, and longtime scene ramblers {The Sideshow Tramps}, all of which I’ve seen and can attest to as being utterly great live. Here’s the catch, though: apparently this thing’s already sold out. So if you haven’t already gotten your ticket, well, you’re out of luck. Sorry…

The Wandering Bufaleros/Handsome Ransom @ House of Blues
I swear, swear, swear, there’s going to be a real-live review of last month’s Madness on Main Street festival up in this here space not too long from now; honest, it’s going to happen, dammit. But since it hasn’t yet, I wanted to take a moment to virtually high-five {The Wandering Bufaleros}, who turned out to be one of the most entertaining bands I caught that night. They’re a quasi-supergroup, actually, with people from damn near every Americana-ish band in town popping in at some point, and they’re a hell of a lot of fun in an Old 97’s-meets-Traveling Wilburys kind of way.

Runners-Up:
PuraPharm/Casual Strangers/The Wheel Workers/Only Beast @ Fitzgerald’s
Waterparks/DWHB/Crimson Arrow/Tracks in Motion @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Punk Rock Prom, featuring Narcos, Talal SS, Silver Blueberry, Leather Daddie, & Garbage Dump @ Mango’s (free!)
25th Annual Accordion Kings and Queens, featuring C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, Flavio Longoria, Rio Jordan, Conteño, Los Halcones, Mark Halata & Texavia, Ginny Mac, Michael Ramos, Aaron Salinas, Garrett Neubauer, & Randall Jackson @ Miller Outdoor Theatre (6-11PM)
Against The Grain/Hell City Kings/Supergrave/The Guillotines @ Rudyard’s
Tech vs. Tube, featuring FLCON FCKER vs. After Nations, Total Unicorn vs. In Casino, & more @ The Alley Kat ($5)
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult/DJ Toxic Rainbow/ERASEtheVIRUS/Provision @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
The Broken Spokes @ House of Blues (Crossroads Stage)