Coming Soon: Lou Barlow Plays a Random H-Town Backyard, for You and 99 of Your Closest(-Ish) Friends

Got word of this a few days ago and have been meaning to post about it ever since… Lou Barlow, frontman of ’90s quasi-unwilling indie-rock icons Sebadoh, member of fellow iconic indie-rock band Dinosaur Jr., half of KIDS soundtrack heroes The Folk Implosion, and all-round sonic influence to God knows how many lo-fi-ish bands & musicians out there, will be playing in our already-sweaty city on the evening of Thursday, June 14th, to a fairly small audience in somebody’s back yard.

Barlow’s free of his band commitments right at the moment, so he’s out on the road doing a solo tour, with the goal of playing quirky, unique spaces/venues to small groups of people at “a reasonable hour” (meaning doors are at 7PM, and Lou will start playing at 7:30PM, come hell or high water). It’s a cool idea, and if it’s anything like the solo-in-odd-places shows I’ve seen Jonah Matranga and Ian Moore do in the past, it’ll be a pretty incredible, memorable experience.

What we’ve been told is that the venues Barlow’s playing are meant to be pretty small and low-key, with room for 50-100 people — no big clubs, no lounges, none of that shit. So here he’ll be playing an intimate-as-hell show in a back yard, taking requests for songs from his whole damn 30-year musical career — yeah, seriously. Holy shit, y’all. Getting him to play “Gimme Indie Rock” would be so freaking cool…

In between songs there will be stories and banter, undoubtedly, and if you’ve ever wanted to get up close to one of your musical heroes without worrying about some asshole crowd-surfing onto your head from behind, accidentally pouring beer down your shirt, or getting sucked into a fight/mosh pit unintentionally, well, here’s probably the best shot you’re going to get. (Although I have to say that if a mosh pit did kick off in said back yard with 100 or so people in attendance, that’d be pretty sweet…)

Of course, being that this is essentially a house show, you have to buy a ticket to find out where it is (crossing fingers it’s not in Katy or freaking Kingwood). Tickets start at $25 a person, which is pretty reasonable for the kind of show this is, although $50 will also get you a personally-autographed tour poster, and for $100 you can hang out with both Barlow and original Dino Jr. drummer/longtime compatriot Murph for dinner & general shooting the shit before the show.

Now, I know $100 isn’t small change for most people, me included, but considering we’re coming up on Comicpalooza, an event where people are spending $170 for an autograph alone from Tom Holland, that $100 for a real-live sit-down meal with two of the people who were there in indie-rock’s infancy seems like a freaking bargain. (Full disclosure: yes, I myself am shelling out $100 this weekend to get a photo with John Cusack. Don’t judge me, dammit.)

Anyway, head over here to get your tickets, and I’d recommend getting ’em fast — with something like this, they’re bound to sell out. Like I noted above, I’ve been fortunate to be able to attend a couple of shows like this one before now, and they’re hands-down among the most amazing that I’ve ever witnessed. Don’t miss out, alright?