Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Los Skarnales (20th Anniversary!) + H-Town Beat Down + Resistance is Fertile + Springboard South + DevilDriver + More

Late, late, late, I know, but hey, better that than never, right? Sorry for the quiet recently; I feel almost like I’ve had to decompress and refocus somewhat after FPSF, so I’ve been staying away from things musical in recent days. I’m getting back on the horse, though, so don’t panic just yet.

And hey, it’s now Friday, June 20th, and while it’s a relatively sparse night, what is going on is very cool. Here we go:

Los Skarnales 20th Anniversary CD Release Show, featuring Los Skarnales, The Jungle Rockers, Reyno Sabanero, & Heart & Soul Sound System @ Fitzgerald’s
Holy. Fucking. Shit. And: hell, yeah. I cannot believe {Los Skarnales} have been around for 20 years — two decades, people, of Latino surf-ska-cumbia-punk-rawk. These guys are among Houston’s bona fide legends, and anybody who says otherwise has no freaking idea what they’re talking about. I’m happy as hell to see them getting to celebrate this milestone (even though yes, it makes me feel old as hell), and if you’re at all into ska, salsa, surf-rock, or anything in-between, Fitzgerald’s is where you need to be tonight. Big, big kudos, Skarnales — y’all deserve it. Vatos Rudos forever, indeed.

93.7 The BEAT Presents H-Town Beat Down, featuring Kendrick Lamar, Trey Songz, J. Cole, Future, Trae that Truth, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, & Z-Ro @ BBVA Compass Stadium
Okay, okay — if you aren’t already at this show, yeah, you probably aren’t going. But you probably should be, because that’s quite a lineup. I’m “eh” on some of the out-of-towners, but hell, it was damn cool to see {Slim Thug}, {Paul Wall}, and {Z-Ro} on the same stage at FPSF (as part of the epic “Welcome to Houston” slate), and I’d love-love-love to see it a whole lot more often. These three guys are all awesome, and they can hold their own against anybody, seriously.

Resistance is Fertile III: Benefit for the Last Organic Outpost, featuring Texas Soul, Space Villains, The Bloodsucking Fiends, The Snow Indian, & Krayze Music @ Harrisburg Studios (6719 Harrisburg; $6)
Get out to this one, too, if you can — it’s a cool, cool benefit-type deal called “Resistance is Fertile,” which goes towards starting and establishing an orchard at neat urban-farming outfit Last Organic Outpost. I’ve been meaning to check out the place for a while now, and it’s great to hear they’re expanding. Plus, the bands sound pretty cool, especially local loud-folkies {The Snow Indian}, who I’m liking a fair bit. Go support ’em, eh?

Springboard South, featuring Big Shane, Aries Marquis, Bel-Ami, Bigg Fatts, Cooper Freshley, Elle Gie, Love Dominique, Darian, DeWayne Jackson, Naoki, Uché, Drastik, Dr3amz, Wayne Brezz, Whitney Wright, Duck, Envy Hunter, Express, ian a. louis, Ike Allday, Jon Black, Karma Jonze, KeeM the FranchiZe, Krumwell, Len Knox, Lyve, Marcus J, Miss Myi, OneHunnidt, Prime Example, Read Richarts, Sonee Black, Stoppa, Team Next, TeN Shogun, That Boy Zarius, Tim Ned, Tony Del Freshco, Twenty Eleven, & Wazeer @ Warehouse Live
I’m gonna be honest, here: I’m still not quite clear on the whole concept behind the annual Springboard South set of shows. I thought originally that it was something religious, but it seems like it’s expanded quite a bit this year, with bands and musicians coming together from all different genres, which is cool to see. I dunno a lot of the folks playing, but I do know — and like — rapper {Jon Black}, for one, and I’ve heard good things about {OneHunnidt} and {Twenty Eleven}, both.

Plus, the whole thing’s apparently meant to be a combo festival, conference, and trade show, with sessions for musicians and bands to learn how to do stuff like write contracts, brand themselves, do promotion, etc., and connect with all sorts of music-related businesses and services, from recording and mastering companies to booking agents to radio promoters. Which is pretty damn neat, if you ask me; when I was in a band, many moons ago, it would’ve been extremely useful to have somewhere to come and not only listen to cool music but learn about how to run the band more efficiently.

DevilDriver/Whitechapel/Revocation/Carnifex/Rivers of Nihil/Fit For An Autopsy @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Finally, down southeast-ward in Clear Lake, at The Scout Bar, there’s a nice-looking (well, “nice” maybe isn’t the word, but you get my meaning), heavy-ass lineup of metal going on tonight. I’m not real familiar with most of the bands playing, but I like what I’ve heard from Whitechapel, and I like metalcore mainstays DevilDriver a whole heck of a lot. Most recent album Winter Kills was one of the better metal albums I heard, with the band’s crunching, thundering, spot-on cover of AWOLNATION’s “Sail” acting as the icing on the cake.

I’ve gotta say, by the by, that I finally got to visit the Scout Bar down in Clear Lake recently, for the (utterly mind-blowing) Winery Dogs/Charm City Devils show, and I was very impressed with the place. The sound was massive, and surprisingly, so was the crowd. Metalheads, this place should be your home.

Runners-Up:
#TBE2014 Black Friday, featuring Tank, Kid Capri, & Biz Markie @ House of Blues
A Fistful of Soul @ The Big Top
Blaggards @ Ashford Pub
Matt Wilhelm Panty Party, featuring Whit, Belvoir, Pitter Patter, & Octopoodle @ Notsuoh