If there's a silver lining here, though, it's that only about half of these gigs are taking place at venues that can hold more than a couple hundred people. So, with any luck, all of these shows will be well-attended.
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Thankfully, though, the Drag the River date isn't the only area gig worth checking out this weekend without ties to Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest. There's at least one more worth mentioning—although you wouldn't necessarily realize it, based on the bill alone.
That's Lefler on the right, no doubt wondering what the crap he's doing on a beach in winter.
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What, the names Tom Gabel, Ben Nichols, Chuck Ragan and Tim Barry don't ring a bell? They should. They are, respectively, the lead singers for punk act Against Me!, alt-country act Lucero, punk act Hot Water Music and punk/hardcore act Avail. Together, these four front men are teaming up for a traveling show of solo, acoustic performances that stops at The Prophet Bar on Saturday night. (Odd note: Drag the River member Jon Snodgrass took part in an earlier leg of the trip).
"It's just a really rad idea," Gabel explains over the phone from a tour stop in California. "It's a totally unique setup, and it has a certain looseness to it. Mistakes are laughed at. We're basically just hanging out and drinking and backing each other throughout the night."
For fans of Gabel's Against Me!, there's an added bonus: In addition to a number of Against Me! tracks, Gabel will also be performing some songs from his excellent, politically charged, just-released solo disc Heart Burns. Originally, the seven songs that make up the new disc were intended to appear on the next Against Me! album.
"I was just writing songs as I always did," Gabel says. "But I wanted to get the album out before the election."
So he rushed the disc to an extent—although the album doesn't suffer from it—and recorded it without his normal Against Me! supporting cast. And though he's performing these sometimes in-your-face political tunes after this past week's presidential election, Gabel isn't worried that the songs will lose their impact.
"I just said, 'Fuck it. I gotta write about something I care about,'" he says. "And it's not like this is the last election to end all future elections."
No matter what the pundits may have said.
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Oh, and speaking of outlandish punditry: Apologies to Stephen Benavides, who I called a "no-name" back in August when I blogged about his taking over some booking duties at The Door and The Prophet Bar.
The guy's carrying his weight—and fulfilling his promise to try and change the stigma surrounding the venues he now books.
In the coming weeks, the combined venues will host performances from storied alt-rock act Fishbone, lauded hard rock outfit King's X, power poppers (and Dashboard Confessional tourmates) Plain White T's, death metal act Job for a Cowboy, hip-hop/electronica duo 3oh!3, as well as a shared bill from local favorites The Theater Fire and Dove Hunter and, perhaps most shocking, a concert from hip-hop legend Ice Cube.
Dunno how much of this Benavides is specifically responsible for, but talk about a surprise.
