Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Craig Kinsey Video Premiere + You Ain’t Punk + Soundgarden + MeltFest + Ian McLagan + The Dead Rabbits + More

Gah. Late, I know — sorry about that, folks; Family Time wins out — but I didn’t want to let today, Saturday, August 16th, slip completely past without pointing up a few of the good stuff going on. Here we go:

Craig Kinsey Music Video Viewing Party @ Lowbrow (1601 W. Main; 9PM)
It’s not strictly a show, it’s true, but dammit, this is music-related and very, very damn cool. Excellent roots-troubadour {Craig Kinsey} — whose new album I reviewed a little while back over here — is holding a viewing party tonight up at Lowbrow for his brand-new music video, filmed over at Avant Garden. The filming sounded like a hell of a good time, so I’m psyched to see it all coming together. Kudos to Craig, Zenfilm, Brittany Holland, Sarah Gregory, and the rest of the crew; now, get on up there and check out the video, alright?

You Ain’t Punk, featuring Bury the Crown (as Operation Ivy), Hell City Kings (as Turbonegro), Blackmarket Syndicate (as Rancid), Texas Mod Crushers (as Social Distortion), Donkey Punch (as Circle Jerks), The Swamps (as Black Flag), The Guillotines (as The Pagans), & ASS (as The Cromags) @ Fitzgerald’s
Of course, you can’t necessarily watch a video all night long, right? The best bet, to my mind, would be to hit up Lowbrow for a while for Craig Kinsey’s shindig above, then adjourn on over to Fitzgerald’s, where the latest edition of the damn-near-legendary You Ain’t Punk show series will be rolling on its merry, rowdy way.

This time around, we’ve got cool-ass, heavy-drinking metal-punks {Hell City Kings} as Turbonegro, one of my absolute favorite punk bands ever, {Blackmarket Syndicate}, as Rancid (which, yes, makes a whole hell of a lot of sense), long-running punk rockers {Donkey Punch} as Circle Jerks, and {The Guillotines}, about whom I’ve heard good stuff for a while now, as The Pagans. Head up to Fitz and pretend it’s the late ’70s/early ’80s all over again.

Nine Inch Nails/Soundgarden/Dillinger Escape Plan @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Yeah, yeah — what can I say? I’ve been a fan of Soundgarden since college, and 2012’s King Animal surprised the hell by sounding like the band had barely missed a step since Badmotorfinger and Superunknown, even 20 years down the road. Not that they haven’t evolved, mind you, but that the years haven’t toned ’em down much at all; that’s a damn good thing, in my book.

I’ve never been nearly as much of a Nine Inch Nails fan, to be honest, but even still, I’ve got a ton of respect for Trent Reznor and his mutating vision of what NIN should sound like (and yeah, hearing “Head Like a Hole” live again would be fun). Plus, prog-hardcore/metal band Dillinger Escape Plan is pretty badass on their own merits, so that’s an added bonus.

MeltFest 2014, featuring Daed, Make, Melted Eyelids, Charity Ann, Shadow Family Music, Krayze Music, Jeremy Carswell and the Nypmhs, Wayword, Three Birds and a Stone, The Trimms, Purple, Space Rhino, “Downer,” Disfrutalo!, Don Dino Bonaparte, InZurgo, The Dirty Seeds, Dadsmom, Sullivan’s VEssel, Feral the Earthworm, Justice All Ah, Sid of Arc’, Sun Thieves, K-Rino, En Sane, Blunt Cutta, Funeral Horse, SDC Productions, Subtle Chemist, Mr. Peabody, Insert Credit(s), Kapoot, Frankie5X, South East Juggalos, Jon Black, Magna Carda, Band Nerds Music, & Illuminist @ Last Concert Cafe/EastDown Warehouse/Dance Party Warehouse (2PM)
This one’s been going on all day, it’s true, but it’s still well worthwhile to head up to the North Downtown ‘hood around the Last Concert Cafe and EastDown Warehouse (not sure where “Dance Party Warehouse” is, but I assume it’s nearby). MeltFest is a veritable cross-section of Houston’s lesser-known (but still good, or at least promising) musical acts. Not sure who’s playing when, but if you can swing it, definitely catch {Funeral Horse}, {Wayword}, and {Dadsmom}, then hang out and discover somebody new, right?

Ian McLagan & The Bump Band/Mikey and the Drags @ The Continental Club
There’s a nice one over at The Continental Club tonight, too, with icon Ian McLagan — who some might know as the keyboardist for Small Faces back in the ’60s, who’s a bona fide legend, and who’s lived in the Austin area for something like two decades by this point. He’s a pretty incredible musician, even still, and we’re pretty privileged to have the guy living in the neighborhood, so to speak.

Beyond that, I’m happy as hell to see up-and-coming garage-popsters Mikey and the Drags on the bill, too — the band started out as kind of a side-project-type thing, it seemed like, but on this past spring’s On The Loose!, they demonstrated that they’ve honed their sound into something truly remarkable, a fiery, wound-up, gritty slab of noise that owes as much to McLagan’s own Small Faces as it does to The Sonics and The Ventures. Pretty damn appropriate match-up, if you ask me.

The Dead Rabbits/Calamity Cubes/Rachel Kate @ Da Pub (Pasadena)
Finally, folks out on the east side near the Pasadena ‘hood can get over to aptly-named Da Pub, where local Celtic-folk-punks {The Dead Rabbits} will be holding court. I really, truly like this band a hell of a lot, way more than I’d initially figured I would; they’re probably the closest thing Houston has to Chicago’s Tossers or Boston’s Dropkick Murphys, and a nice shift from the folkier side of the H-town Celtic music scene.

Runners-Up:
Chris Isaak @ Arena Theater
Joe Hertenstein, Sandy Ewen, & Damon Smith @ Vinal Edge (239 W. 19th; 7PM)
ElectroDubTrapStep XVIII: Superheroes vs Villains, featuring Surain, Kaito, Parker Clark, Albert Fix, 2t0ne, DJ Ambition, Mitch Fu, & Proto-J @ Stereo Live
End of the West/Johnny Raygun/A More Perfect Union @ Rudyard’s ($8)
Submission: Dance Party Art Show Pop Up, featuring Ceeplus Bad Knives, Mr. Castillo, Damon Allen, Kris Hex, DJ Skully, & Breye 7X @ Numbers
The Goodnight Summer Tour, featuring Brothers Grymn, The Soapbox Revolution, Deep Ella, Joseph King, Vanilla Sugar, Satellite Brigade, Little Ghost, Kayce Laine, Nava, & A Bitter Season @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Seabrook Music Festival, featuring 12 Stones, Dorydrive, Flatbroke, The Holophonics, Alvin and the Slickpunks, Lions May Cry, The Band Hennessy, Jimmy Shadeux and the Steeltoed Soul, Fear The Poet, D.M.L. Cartel, Soulfiya, Travel Be, Marc Borde, Vincente Castaneda and Drew Watkins, Showdow Hound, Reverend Rich and Andy Sobolik, Bruce Courtney, Chris J. Hardy, Sean Guidry and Jessie Watkins, & School of Rock @ Rex L. Meador Park (Seabrook; 11AM)
Sounds of Texas Music Series, featuring Dave & Phil Alvin with The Guilty Ones @ Crighton Theatre (Conroe)