Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: Dinolion’s RASHOMON Debut Screening + BowiElvis Fest + More

Alright, y’all; running late for today, Saturday, January 6th, but I’d be seriously, seriously remiss if I let the stuff happening this evening just slide past, unmentioned. Because it’s neat stuff, truly:

Dinolion’s RASHOMON Film Screening, featuring Black Kite, Merel and Tony, Miears, Whit, Two Star Symphony, The Wheel Workers, football, etc., Pitter Patter, King Finn, Guilla, Danna, LIMB, Traci Lavois Thiebaud, & The Mustn’ts @ BETA Theater (6701 Capitol; 7:30PM)
Okay, so while there are other things happening tonight, I’ve got to confess that it’s these first two that I really want to talk about. First up is a quirky yet compelling-sounding thing put on by Dinolion, a production trio comprised of BETA Theater founder/The Mustn’ts member Jeromy Barber, ex-By the End of Tonight/current-LIMB music-maker James Templeton, and poet/writer Traci Lavois Thiebaud.

The group has put together some truly amazing stuff in the past, including the weird-yet-sweet video for {Hearts of Animals}‘ “Sea Babies,” but their latest creation, “RASHOMON,” named for the classic Akira Kurosawa film of the same name, looks to be something pretty different:

Rashomon Teaser from Dinolion on Vimeo.

It is a music video, apparently, but not for one band or musician — rather, it’s a collaborative effort between 14 different local musicians/groups, including The Mustn’ts, LIMB, Thiebaud, Miears, Black Kite, Two Star Symphony, The Wheel Workers, King Finn, Pitter Patter, Merel & Tony, Guilla, DANNA, & football, etc.

The idea is that all of these disparate musicians are performing different pieces that all focus on the same story, about a group of people who spend the night in an abandoned house. That’s where the Kurosawa film comes in, I’m assuming — that film was the story of the same murder, as seen/recounted by three different characters, all of whom see and describe different things, forcing the viewer to make up their own mind as to what really happened.

It’s a very cool idea, to me, to take that filmmaking “trick,” retrofit it to the realm of music, and then film the whole thing. And given the general awesomeness of the bands involved (anybody who knows me knows that the list above encompasses a large chunk of my favorite H-town bands/musicians/people), I can only imagine the end result is an extremely neat thing to witness.

Happily, witness it you can — tonight is the debut screening of Dinolion’s RASHOMON, up at The BETA Theater at 6701 Capitol in the East End. Tickets are a measly $10, and I’m told the doors open at 7:30PM, so you’ve still got a little time. Get on up there…
 

BowiElvis Fest, featuring Pecos Hank, Tomar and the FCs, Bayou City Funk, Nick Gaitan, Clay Melton, Sherita Perez, Opie Hendrix, The Wheel Workers, & Ganesha @ The Continental Club
And here’s the second of the two “big” things going on tonight — from yours truly’s perspective, at least. It’s the return of the 9th Annual BowiElvis Fest, celebrating musical icons David Bowie and Elvis Presley (derr), who happen to share a birthday despite being pretty far apart in time and in style.

That last bit said, though, I feel compelled to note both musicians were pretty groundbreaking in their respective times, with Elvis taking rock ‘n roll into the mainstream and (supposedly) shocking audiences with his hip-shaking and Bowie playing with gender long before it became an accepted thing and making it cool to make honestly weird music. Granted, both also kind of went off the rails at points in their respective careers, but hell, that’s what making music’s all about — if it was all going to work and be brilliant, no matter what you tried, then where’s the fun?

To celebrate The King and The Thin White Duke, then, the Splice Records crew has once again brought together a stellar cast of folks, spread across two stages at The Continental Club and Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge. Some will be playing their own stuff, and some will be paying tribute to Elvis and/or Bowie, but all of ’em promise to be pretty dang cool.

The full lineup is over on the FB event page, but some people we here at SCR like a whole lot will be there, including Pecos Hank (aka Hank Schyma of the Southern Backtones, storm-chaser & videographer extraordinaire), Bayou City Funk, Nick Gaitan, The Wheel Workers, Sherita Perez, and Ganesha.

Beyond the music, as well, there’ll be costume contests, food, burlesque courtesy of Dem Damn Dames, and yes, Bowie face painting, because how could you not do that? This sounds like a hell of a lot of fun, y’all.

And hey, if you’re in Austin, rather than down here in Houston, you’re in luck — BowiElvis Fest now encompasses two whole cities. The Austin incarnation happens next weekend, Fri., January 12th, up at The Continental Club…

Before I go, here’s a quick clip of Pecos Hank from last year’s BowiElvis Fest; enjoy:

Runners-Up:
U.S. Bombs/Revels/Johnny Rioux and the 713/Liberty and Justice @ White Oak Music Hall
Merel and Tony/The Woe Woe Woes/Pitter Patter @ Satellite Bar
Big Freedia/Boyfriend @ White Oak Music Hall
Los De Verdad/Bottom of the Food Chain/All Gonna Die/Broke Off @ Rudyard’s
Mantra Love/Small Chair/Los Bloos @ Avant Garden