Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Eastern Sea + Wild Moccasins + the last place you look + Change For Kayla + Jealous Creatures + Ian Moore + More

Whoa. There are a whole slew of damn, damn, damn good shows happening tonight, Sat., July 12th, so many that I’m only going to be able to touch on a handful of ’em right now. Here goes:

The Eastern Sea/Wild Moccasins/Showers/Fat Tony (DJ set) @ Houston Makerspace (100 Hutcheson)
First up, there’s a great slate of bands playing to benefit the truly excellent Houston Makerspace, a workshop that lets artists and inventors work with wood, metal, cloth, leather, jewelry, and pretty much anything else you can imagine (there’s a new area being added for glassblowing and a blacksmith’s forge, for crying out loud). This place is absolutely vital to Houston’s creative scene, seriously.

I’ll admit, though, that I’m more sucked-in by the bands themselves. It’s been too damn long since I last saw The Eastern Sea, and holy crap, they’re one of the absolute best live bands I’ve ever seen in my life. Matthew Hines and his crew play music that’s warm and intelligent and energetic, all at the same time. They’re playing with tourmates (and native Houstonians) {The Wild Moccasins}, who’ve gone from being a bunch of freshfaced young indie-pop kids to being one of Houston’s tightest, most road-tested bands (and they’ve kind of incorporated some New Wave-ish sounds into the indie-pop sound, to boot).

Nava’s Birthday Show, featuring the last place you look, Another Run, The Soapbox Revolution, The Obvious, & Nava (acoustic) @ Fitzgerald’s
Happy birthday, Nava! It’s the official b-day show for the frontman of {the last place you look}, so expect the band to pull out all the stops tonight; it also happens to be the last-ever show with guitarist Derek Young in the band, sadly — it sounds like the band will continue to go on, in one form or another, but this is still a pretty major hit for the band. sigh.

But hey, that just means this TLPYL show will be even better, right? They’re a damn good band to begin with, mind you, one of the best post-emo rock bands I’ve heard/seen from anywhere, blending awesome melodies and yell-along vocals with raging guitars and thundering drums, and new EP Rip It Out is pretty much the best thing they’ve ever done.

They’re playing with a great lineup of opening bands, to boot, including fun, quirky alt-rockers {Another Run} and {The Soapbox Revolution}, about whom I’ve heard some great things. Get there early…

Change For Kayla Benefit, featuring Reign of Lies, Rest When We’re Dead, Ashes of Martyr, Cathercist, The Hero Must Die, Black Hole Caravan, Randabis, Twelve Years Driven, The Black 13, Killing Hope, Thorns of the Forsaken, Born and Raised, Destroy The Living, Pretorious, 5 billion and counting, Hemorage, & Beyond All Deception @ BFE Rock Club (4PM-2AM)
This show up at BFE Rock Club is already going on, I know, but it’s still well worth going to; it’s a benefit show for a brave teenager named Kayla Bundy, who suffers from autoimmune hepatitis and who needs help from all of us. She’s had to have a liver transplant, and since that tends to cost a whole heck of a lot of money, the kindly (yet often terrifying-sounding) bands involved are coming together to help her family cover the costs of the surgery.

It helps that there are some very cool bands playing, of course, like {Black Hole Caravan} or {The Black 13}; whichever reason gets you there, make sure you get there to help, alright?

PuraPharm/Luxurata/Obscured By Echoes/Jealous Creatures @ Fitzgerald’s ($8)
Another excellent, excellent lineup, this time over at Fitzgerald’s; it’s headed up by impressive, psych-goth rockers {PuraPharm}, who I’ve only seen once, at last year’s Yes, Indeed! fest, and they were pretty damn good. I’ve got to say, though, that my favorite on the bill is {Jealous Creatures}, who come off like a cross between Superchunk-ish indie-rock and Cowboy Junkies-esque atmospheric roots-rock. They pull it off amazingly well, and I’ve pretty much decided that frontwoman Sarah Hirsch is my favorite singer for any Houston-based band right now (and that’s a tight competition). They’re really damn good.

Ian Moore & The Lossy Coils/The Bluebonnets with Kathy Valentine @ The Continental Club
I’m a latecomer to the Ian Moore fold, having only seen him live once so far, but I’ve gotta say, he’s pretty damn impressive. He’s one of those artists who’s a songwriter’s songwriter, the kind who’s honed his craft to damn-near perfection, and who can actually talk about it credibly, as well.

Of course, that was my experience hearing the man play solo and acoustic — tonight’s show at The Continental Club is Moore with his “electric” backing band The Lossy Coils, and I’m told that’s a totally different, much more “rock” feel from the solo shows.

Epic Fest, featuring Saturate, The Lotus Effect, Amongst The Living, Metal Down, & Reckless High @ Acadia Live (8PM-2AM)
Already mentioned this show on over here, but heck, it’s worth a second mention. I dunno most of the folks playing at Epic Fest, I’m afraid, but {The Lotus Effect} are worth the drive all by themselves. If you’re at all into loud, metal-tinged, technical rock that’s simultaneously smart and epic, you need to hear these guys, and badly. Think Coheed and Cambria, Sevendust, Deftones, and Far, and you’ll be kinda close…

Lita Ford @ The Concert Pub North
Kiss me once. Kiss me twice. Kiss me deadly. C’mon, you know you loved that song; I sure as hell did, back in, um, high school. Kudos to Lita Ford for keeping the rock alive for all these years.

Runners-Up:
Pong/The Linus Pauling Quartet @ Rudyard’s
Curren$y/C. West/High Rollaz/Outpatient @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake)
Black Joe Lewis @ Saengerfest Park (Galveston)
Yngwie Malmsteen/Uli Jon Roth/Gary Hoey/Bumblefoot @ House of Blues
Not So Regular Show, featuring Gio Chamba, Krayze Music, Worst NightMare, Frankie 5X, Ethereal Blaq, Ephrem Paz, & Daniel Oviedo (Devil Killing Moth) @ Montrose Proper
Lionel Richie/Cee-Lo Green @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Only Beast/Vendetta Diabolique/Giant Kitty @ Notsuoh (free!)
Psych’d: In Spvce City II, featuring MLCBR, Spliff, Hi$to, Billy Black, Kona FM, Yakul, & Space Villains @ Mango’s ($7)
Honky/Snake Skin Prison/The Guillotines/Dead Man’s Ransom @ The 19th Hole (The Woodlands)