Wow. This weekend is nuts-o busy, huh? And, really, we've already covered most of the big events in advance, so, lucky me, this'll be a fairly short Good Friday...
First, as always, the show's we've hyped already in the blog or in print.
On tap for tonight: Man Man, The Boom Boom Box and Giggle Party take to The Lounge for an already nearly sold-out show; Acid Mothers Temple will trip everyone out at Hailey's in Denton; and Franz Ferdinand and Born Ruffians will play to an already actually sold-out crowd at the House of Blues.
On Saturday, The Von Ehrics will release their latest--and fairly impressive--new disc, Loaded, out to a crowd at the Double Wide; at Denton's Fra House, Tre Orsi and Drink to Victory will join The Make Believers at its final show, which is also doubling as Dust Congress' CD release show; The War on Drugs, PVC Street Gang and On After Dark will take over the stage at Hailey's in Denton; The Kills and The Horrors will bring their acts to the Granada; and Robert Gomez will release his newest disc to a crowd at a "secret location".
On Sunday, Lamb of God, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, God Forbid and Municipal Waste will tear the top off the Palladium Ballroom.
But there's plenty of other big shows happening on this massive weekend, including one pretty major event that I stupidly blanked on when planning this week's coverage... so as opposed to tackling the best shows of the weekend chronologically, let's get this Saturday event out of the way first, before jumping to share the rest of the best Friday, Saturday and Sunday have to offer...
The Second Annual M2S2, featuring RTB2, The Orbans, The O's, The Crash That Took Me, Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights, Something in the Wheel, Nicholas Altobelli, Clint Niosi, Johnny Beauford (of Bravo Max), Jayson Wortham (of Dove Hunter), Emil Rapstine (of The Angelus), Blackland River Devils, Zound Sounds
Saturday, April 25, at Life in Deep Ellum/Mokah
This free--FREE--show kicks off at noon on Saturday at the intersection of Malcolm X and Taylor Streets in Deep Ellum, with a cash bar provided by the Double Wide. In addition to the above performers, you'll also see a DJ set from DC9's own Jeff Liles during "Ear Candy" (an art exhibit of music-themed visual art pieces), and video clips featuring yours truly, Quick's Hunter Hauk, The King Bucks' Danny Balis and many others discussing the state of the local music scene. There's even an official after-party down the road at Sankofa at midnight that will feature a set from Hoyotoho. Oh, and there'll be some raffles, too.
Co-presented by Life in Deep Ellum and the Carter Albrecht Music Foundation, the event is mainly being thrown as a celebration and as an appreciation of local live music--but any proceeds earned in this, the event's second year of existence, will go back into these two organizations, both of which aim to support the local live music community.
I'm a true bonehead for not mentioning this in the print edition this week, as this is truly an event meant to support the local scene, and anyone with a stake in wanting to support the scene would do good to stop on by, hear some great bands and converse with other interested, invested persons in the scene. Already, M2S2 is planning its third annual event for 2010, so this is something we can expect to continue down the road. My recommendation, though? Get in on the ground floor, and stop in on Saturday. Hopefully, I'll see you there.
The Secret Handshake, First Class Fever, Disco Curtis, Castillan
Friday, April 24, at The Door
In this week's print edition, I reviewed the new disc from Luis Dubuc's The Secret Handshake, My Name Up In Lights, and though I'm not yet convinced that Dubuc's reached his full potential on this new effort, I do think that the disc's got some good songs and that Dubuc's got a phenomenal ear for pop hooks and danceable tracks. This event at the Door is serving as his CD release show before he heads out on a full-on promotional tour of the States.
Texas Country Jam featuring Eleven Hundred Springs, Tejas Brothers, Deke Dickerson and Jesse Dayton
Friday, April 24, at The Double Wide
The Double Wide's shutting down its parking lot and hoisting up an outdoor stage for this show, which is sure to draw pretty much every country fan in the region out to the edge of Deep Ellum this evening. Featuring Eleven Hundred Springs, which cleaned up every category for which it was nominated at last year's DOMAs, and Tejas Brothers, which shared the prize for Best New Act, this event should be jam-packed. Expect a drunken good time, with a whole bunch of long-haired hippie freaks in attendance.
Matthew and The Arrogant Sea, Florene, Nervous Curtains
Friday, April 24, at City Tavern
Featuring the best all-local, non-festival lineup of the weekend, this City Tavern bill features some of the more experimental acts of the region. Each of these acts pretty much does everything it can to avoid easy genre classification, but that doesn't mean MATAS' psyched out folk rock, Florene's experimental electronica or Nervous Curtains' dramatic piano-based rock isn't interesting. In fact, it's just the opposite. These are some of the most talented players around town.
Ugly Mus-tard, Crashsight, Lame., Polly Wants A Popgun
Saturday, Aprl 25, at Curtain Club
Back in December, after a lengthy hiatus, Ugly Mus-tard reunited with its original lineup. Turns out, it wasn't just a one-off deal as so many of these reunions tend to be. COnsider this your warm-up for next weekend's Slow Roosevelt reunion.
Stereo on Strike Label Launch Party
Saturday, April 25, at Fallout Lounge
With four EPs set for release this summer, it just makes sense, I guess, that Wanz Dover decided to create his own label to host his releases. This show at the Fallout Lounge, which will feature a DJ set from Dover as well as a few other DJs, is serving as the kickoff for what should be a quite busy summer for the eclectic musician.
Kashioboy, Bryce Isbell, Fizzy Dino Pop, Yeah Def
Saturday, April 25, at Hailey's in Denton
A few weeks back, Daniel Rodrigue used his Denton-centric North of the Dial column to profile chiptune artist Kashioboy and to talk about the surge of interest in the genre in the little D. The piece also mentioned DJ Yeah Def's intentions to start holding regular chiptunes nights around town to draw on all the interest, and, well, this is the first in the series of shows Yeah Def has put together.
Ryan Bingham, The King Bucks, The Rustlanders
Sunday, April 26, at the Granada Theater
Austin's Bingham has the best cigarette-burned and whiskey-soaked voice in music this side of Lucero's Ben Nichols. Only, instead of taking his music down the relatively rocking route that Lucero's goes, Bingham takes his music into a more touching, alt-country realm, where he straddles the line between the rocking and the heartbreaking. But because it's not quite country and not quite rock 'n' roll, it seems his fantastic 2007 release, Mescalito, went criminally unheard--and that sucks, 'cause Bingham's a hell of a talent. Now on the road to support his sophomore effort Roadhouse Sun, due out in early June, this show should make for a perfect way to cap off your weekend: a whiskey in one hand, a cigarette in the other and a guy who's had too much of both on stage before you.
...see you out there. And if you've got another show you wanna let people know about, drop its info in the comments.
