Shows this weekend

March 4, 2011

As usual, I’m in a time crunch between work stuff.

As I mentioned Wednesday, Nashville’s Dead’s Freakin’ Weekend is happening all weekend, so go checkout their “Rundown” post about the lineups for that. If you aren’t inclined to see every night of the FW, here are some other shows I’d recommend.

FRIDAY:

The Nobility w/ Bravo Max, the Tendoor, and Overzealous @ the 5 Spot. 9pm, $5

The YEAH! Rock Block benefit show @ The End, ft. Kiddo. 9pm, 18+$5 donation (or however much you wanna give)

SATURDAY

Korean is Asian album release w/ Cortney Tidwell and The Lisps @ the 5 Spot. 9pm $5

Rocky Votolato w/ Matt Pond @ Exit/In. 9pm $12

The dudes at Nashville’s Dead have upped the ante this year for their Freakin’ Weekend… festival… for lack of a better term. Let’s just call it the Freakin’ Weekend from now on. If memory serves, last year’s was all house shows. This year however, they’ve “graduated” to full-on venues and the lineup is killer. They’ve taken over Exit/In, The End, and Springwater (and even an early show at Third Man Records) to bring you a nonstop rock n roll party that lasts 3 days this weekend- March 4th, 5th, and 6th. It’s safe to say that Infinity Cat acts such as JEFF the Brotherhood, PUJOL, and Natural Child are all “heavy hitters,” not to mention out-of-town acts like Ty Segall and Davila 666. For the full lineup and more info checkout ND’s post about it.

ND also has another treat for all the vinyl nerds out there: they’ll be doing a pop-up record store above the new Local Honey store on Belmont Blvd! It’ll be open from noon-5pm on March 3rd through 5th. They’ll have limited edition pressings and other hard-to-find stuff from Infinity Cat, Third Man, Nashville’s Dead, Turbo Time, Evil Weevil and more. For more deets checkout their blog post. Gonna be a good weekend y’all.

Last night was a blast. From the folkwave of Courtney Jaye to the dude-rock shredfest of Tyler Bryant, it was a night to behold. Overall however, it probably won’t go down as one of the most memorable Road To Bonnaroo nights. There just weren’t as many theatrics as there have been at past RTBs, but the quality of the music certainly was not lacking. At the end of the night, though, Chancellor Warhol (who I hadn’t seen until last night) ended up taking the prize. Warhol jumped on stage in a very Kanye-esque outfit, and proceeded to own the crowd. This guy is a phenomenal performer, though his opening song was the only one that really stuck with me. I certainly can’t disagree with the outcome.

Other artists/bands who really caught my attention were Evan P. Donohue and Heartbeater. If EPD’s performance wasn’t enough to win you over, then you need to have your head examined. This kid is a class act and has just the right combination of stage charm and hooky songs to be a genuine star. Just wait.

Heartbeater have switched out guitarists and added a keyboard player, and I love where they’re headed. They’ve got some new material that demands more sonic textures and the keys are fitting the bill perfectly. Bravo, fellas.

I can’t go without mentioning Tyler Bryant. The kid’s guitar shredding style falls somewhere between Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen (in style, not skill, but maybe he’ll get there one day), and he’s what… 20? 19? Despite his age, he somehow filled the stage with more testosterone than I’ve seen there in quite some time. Except for when he tried to do those “yeooowwww” screams and his voice cracked & went into the register of a 12 year old girl. Speaking of 12 year old girls, dude looks a little bit like Justin Bieber. Sorry… had to go there. It’s true. Give JB a guitar and rough him up around the edges and basically you have Tyler Bryant. Seriously though, if this kid learns to write good songs and not turn each show into a total wankfest, he could do something I might be interested in. Otherwise he needs to be the lead guitar player in a speed metal band. Unfortunately it’s rare to find that kind of technical prowess and truly good songwriting skills in the same person.

Let’s hope the next two RTBs get a little more theatrical and/or intense.

Some amazing and unique footage of Space Shuttle Discovery’s launch last thursday from an airplane window. The people on this plane got very lucky, as this is something rarely seen by the public. It’s one of those “right place, right time” deals. Be sure to pump it up to HD resolution.

(Via Bad Astronomy)

If you’re in Nashville and are a fan of local music, be sure not to miss tonight’s Road to Bonnaroo 8 off 8th at Mercy Lounge. This is the third year of RTB, and tonight’s lineup looks great. This event really brings out the best in these bands, as most will have some sort of trick up their sleeve. We’ve seen just about every type of gimmick you can think of at these events in the past two years. If you didn’t know, the bands’ scores are made up of 50% audience vote and 50% judge vote. Tonight’s lineup:

Evan P. Donohue
Courtney Jaye
Chancellor Warhol
Majestico
Heartbeater
Kink Ador
The Kicks
Tyler Byant

For more info on the bands/artists and sample mp3s, visit the Mercy Lounge calendar.

Not a lot of time today. Here’s a quick roundup of shows I recommend seeing this weekend:

FRIDAY:

Honestly there’s not much going on tonight that I personally am very interested in. Check out the Cream for more listings.

SATURDAY:

Heypenny’s A Jillion Kicks album release party @ Mercy Lounge w/ Natalie Prass, Action!, and Mikky Ekko. 9pm, $7 or $12 if you want the CD included.

For those of you in Murfreesboro, Ghostfinger and Heartbeater are at Grand Palace. Seems the ol’ GP is getting back into having shows every now and then. Good times indeed. Probably $5.

Lovedrug, The Kingston Springs @ The Basement, 9pm, 21+ $5

I should also mention that this coming Monday Feb. 28th is the first Road to Bonnaroo 8 off 8th at Mercy Lounge. Come out and vote for your favorite band and send them to Bonnaroo 2011! Lineup is Evan P. Donohue, Courtney Jaye, Chancellor Warhol, Majestico, Heartbeater, Kink Ador, The Kicks, and Tyler Bryant. It’s FREE and 21+.

Have a great weekend!

Tonight at Mai is the 4th (I think) installment of VITAL, the monthly series at Club Mai presented by Vitalic Noise. This month the dudes are trying out a whole new idea for the event- live bands. Mai is traditionally a full-on dance club, with just DJs providing the entertainment, but the VN guys have constructed a special stage that can be moved and disassembled quickly, so for this night they’ve brought in 3 bands- The Pass, Cherub, and Boss of Nova. In addition, DJs Vitalic Noise and Myrryrs will be spinning. It’ll be a good night, so head on down to 12th for a completely new experience at Mai.

In other local music news, songwriter and former Imaginary Baseball League frontman Aaron Robinson just released a new EP via Bandcamp. The songs stay true to his mellow, earnest style, and his crooning is a smooth as ever. The EP is a pay-what-you-want deal, but I do know that he personally invested money out of pocket to make these recordings, so if you can, show the man some support! Also, I strongly urge you to read his hilarious account of one of his songs inadvertently ending up as the soundtrack to a porno… over at Nashville Cream.

First and foremost, I must self-promote for just a moment. This Saturday night will be the 3rd installment of the new La Paz Late Night series hosted by myself (Burgers), Potamus, and Vitalic Noise. This month we’re doing a 90s theme and it’s going to be the most ridiculous night of unironic nostalgic pleasure you’ve seen in quite some time. We’ve got all the danceable jams you can imagine from the 90s, even a few “jock jams,” as well as lights and a projector that will be showing classic 90s films like Clueless and Reality Bites on the wall. We also have our usual cheap drink specials- $2 jello shots/$2.50 PBR tallboys/$4 margaritas. It’s a meager $2 to get in if you come in 90’s attire, $3 if you come in 2011 attire. DO IT.

Now for some other stuff to do this weekend:

FRIDAY:

Doug Stanhope w/ The Mattoid @ Exit/In. 9pm, $20

Jimmy Eat World w/ David Bazan @ the Cannery. 9pm, $25 adv./$27 DOS BUT I’M PRETTY SURE IT’S SOLD OUT.

SATURDAY:

Well duh. You’re coming to La Paz Late Night.

BUT, if you just can’t do unironic nostalgia thing, you could go see Cheap Time, D. Watusi, Slammers, and Fox Fun at Glen Danzig’s House. That’s only $2 and starts at 7pm.

Have a great weekend, but first enjoy this extremely dorky but hilarious video/song “Tonight I’m Frakkin’ You”. (Tip to the producer of the song: your vocals are way, way too loud in the mix.)

(Via io9)

Before we get to listings, I’ll share a bit of interesting news that I discovered today at You Ain’t No Picasso: the Forecastle Festival has been canceled this year. I never actually made it up to Louisville to catch it, but the festival boasted some pretty awesome lineups in the past, including Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins, Spoon, Devo, The Avett Brothers, The Black Keys, and many more. They’ve apparently partnered with AC Entertainment- the promoters responsible for huge things like Bonnaroo and Moogfest. So, we haven’t seen the last of Forecastle, it just won’t be happening this year. They are, however, still doing the Halfway to Forecastle show as a one-day, indoor/outdoor event and moving to July. Full details can be found on the Forecastle website.

Now for what’s going down this weekend in Nashville:

FRIDAY:

Well, honestly there’s not much tonight that really piqued my interest. But POWERBRRRD buds Little Viking are playing at Springwater with Clorange and Planet Ink. 10pm $5

SATURDAY:

Tapes ‘n Tapes w/ Oberhofer @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm

Electric Western’s 3rd Annual Valentine’s Party @ the 5 Spot. 9pm $8 TIX HERE Trust me, these dudes know how to throw a party. EW is the force behind the famed “Keep On Movin'” monday night boogie-downs.

I’ll go ahead and move past this weekend to point out that this coming Monday’s 8 off 8th lineup at Mercy Lounge looks to be one of the best in a very long time- Tristen, Shoot the Mountain, Andrew Combs, The Roses, Big Sir (not Big Surr), Oh No No, Dead Towns.

Have a great weekend!

Nashville has some newcomers worth taking note of: Anchor Thieves. Their debut album Prerequisite is available for free download at bandcamp. They are tagged with “alternative indie minimalist lo-fi rock pop” and I’d say that’s a decent approximation.

You probably could care less about this, but I made a mash tun out of a cooler last weekend, and this weekend I will be brewing my first all-grain batch of beer. Let’s hope everything works out.

Now, here’s what I think you should be doing this weekend:

FRIDAY:

Deerhoof, Ben Butler, Mousepad, Nervous Cop *update* Ben Butler & Mousepad, R. Stevie Moore @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm. Why this is a 4-band bill is beyond me. When you have a well-established touring band headlining, there’s really no need to have more than 2 openers, IMO. Turns out Nervous Cop didn’t play, Ben Butler & Mousepad are 1 band, and R. Stevie Moore opened, which was a pleasant surprise!

Cheer Up Charlie Daniels, Buffalo Clover, and Young Hines @ the 5 Spot. 9pm $5

SATURDAY:

Dr. Dog, Head & The Heart, Buried Beds @ The Cannery. 9pm $18 adv/$20 DOS.

Tokyo Police Club, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin @ Exit/In. 9pm $15.

Twin Tigers, Diarrhea Planet, Kingston Springs, Weakness @ The End. 10pm $5

Have a great weekend!

What to do this weekend

January 28, 2011

Not a lot of time today. Here’s a quick rundown of some good shows happening in Nashville this weekend.

FRIDAY:

Smith Westerns, Yuck, and Big Surr @ The End. 9pm, $5. Big Surr is the shit. Wasn’t impressed by Smith Westerns when I saw them at Exit/In a year or so ago. Yuck has really been growing on me with their shoegaze-pop.

SATURDAY:

Gentlemen Divers album release with Carter Administration and Hollow Ox @ fooBar.too. $5 9pm. Carters haven’t played in quite a while. It’ll be a good’n.

We Were the States, Jimmy Duke, The Riot @ The Basement. 9pm $5 21+

Natural Child, D. Watusi, Big Sir & the Greater Good, Paper Machete @ The End. 9pm, $5

Have a great weekend!