Good Cause, Good Show

Yep, it’s gonna be a busy weekend, shows-wise. I’ll hopefully be able to post again before tomorrow PM & mention a few more, but I wanted to make a note of one in particular, the 3rd Annual Rockin’ for Rise Concert. It’s a benefit deal for the Rise School of Houston, which is an awesome, awesome, awesome non-profit preschool for kids with serious developmental disabilities — seriously, this is a place worth supporting.

Of course, it also helps that the bands are good, too. Day 1 is this Friday, March 2nd, and will be downtown at the Hard Rock Cafe (in Bayou Place; damn, forgot that place was still around. I miss the old Kirby location…). I don’t know any of the bands playing at the Hard Rock, unfortunately (Savage Evolution, Jonathan Dewveall, Truck, Another Day, 3 Kisses, Jadewood, MiGGs, & Carmen & Camille), but I’m sure some of ’em are worth seeing, at least. The show starts at 8:30PM; check the Rockin’ for Rise site to see who plays when.

Day 2, though, this Saturday (March 3rd, naturally), is the bomb. Friends and local alt-country-indie-rock heroes Bright Men of Learning are playing, as are Casino, who I like (and yes, Damon writes for SCR from time to time; wanna make something of it?), and Little Brother Project and Murder the Stout, both of whom I’ve heard good things about. There’s also Anubis, Lee Alexander, Prognosis, Carmen & Camille, PeteSimple, Seminole County, MiGGs, The Mighty Orq, Owen Plant, Smythe and Taylor, Mojo Yoda, and holy-fucking-crap, Trout Fishing in America.

Wow. I think this may mark the first non-Mucky Duck/-ridiculously expensive show they’ve played here in half a decade or so. A friend of mine introduced me to ’em back in college, and they’re amazing; it’s probably cheesy for some, and yeah, the jokes can get pretty bad (but they know they’re bad, which almost makes them good, right?), but Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood are damn good songwriters, whether they’re writing for kids or for a more adult audience. Plus, it’s early-early, like at noon, so if you have a kid, you could actually bring ’em. Don’t worry, even their “adult” material is pretty much kid-friendly.

(Once they’ve finished, by the way, stick around for the Bright Men and teach the wee ones how to fold their arms and do the unsmiling hipster head-bob, indie-rock stylee.)

Oh, and Day 2’ll be at the Last Concert Cafe (1403 Nance), up among the warehouses, and will start a lot earlier, as evidenced by Trout Fishing’s noon start time. Tickets are 10 measly bucks at the door ($8 in advance), although I’m not clear if that’ll get you in both days; you’ll have to check with the Rockin’ for Rise folks on that. Kids under 6 get in free w/an adult ticket purchase.

Should be a good one…