For the Weekend of July 2nd - July 5th, 2009

Queue the mother lode. It's the Fourth of July weekend, so we're certain there will be a plethora of booze, burgers, brats, and of course, bands. We'll avoid traveling back in time to 6th grade choir [yeah, we said it, we have no shame] and skip the Arena Theatre show tonight. We plan to fill our slow jam quota at Walter's instead, where Austin's The Wooden Birds will be stopping, but if you've got other plans you can catch them at Cactus this afternoon.

If you're a disgruntled youth, then we expect you to be in the sweltering Texas sun at Sam Houston Race Park on Friday. As tempting as the sweat of a few thousand teenagers sounds, we'd rather just dance our ass off at Boondocks. It's been a while since we've seen Dave Wrangler in action.

Saturday is the big day. There's a festival/showcase/etc. for you somewhere in all of that mess, so find it and go. We don't really care where you wind up, but if you're keen on buying us a beer or burger, plan on hanging out downtown for the Texas Heat Music Festival. Afterward, we'll drag our sure-to-be sunburnt and drunk self to Super Happy Fun Land for The Tontons [two words: seriously good], but we think that show at The Mink will be pretty sweet as well. Then on Sunday, post-brunch and mimosa-drunk [at Rivas they're bottomless], we'll head back downtown for THMF to catch, among others, Warbler PL, Ben Wesley, The Gold Sounds, Bird Peterson, and Female Demand.

It doesn't matter who you see, but for the love of music, go see something this weekend! Let us know in the comments where you're going to be.

Thursday, July 2nd
Biz Markie [DJ set] at House of Blues
Boyz II Men, Eric Benet at Arena Theatre
DJ Shortee at Charlie's Big Top
Freddy Steady Five, Beetle at The Continental Club
Gifts From Enola, Irepress, Crash Burn Legacy, A Cinematic Lie, Tate at Super Happy Fun Land
Happy Fish String Band at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
Itchy Hearts at Notsuoh
Light As Ether, Condiment Sandwich at Rudyard's
Los Skarnales, The F-Bombers, L.D.V., FCAB at Fitzgerald's [downstairs]
Micky & The Motorcars at House of Blues
The Wooden Birds at Cactus Music [5:30pm]
The Wooden Birds, Other Lives, News on the March at Walter's on Washington

Friday, July 3rd
Belleville Outfit at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
Demi Lovato, David Archuleta at Reliant Park
El Gato Negrito at Avant Garden
Generation Landslide, Dr. Rick & The Bunners at Last Concert Cafe
Hamilton Loomis at Dan Electro's Guitar Bar
The Hates, Midnight Creeps, Impugned, Moto at Fitzgerald's [downstairs]
Jazmine Sullivan, Ryan Leslie at House of Blues
Left Lane Cruiser, Restavrant at Rudyard's
Redial, Grrrl Parts, & Dave Wrangler at Boondocks
Rosie Flores, James Hyland, Molly & The Ringwalds at The Continental Club
Rozz Zamorano Trio at Charlie's Big Top
Van's Warped Tour at Sam Houston Race Park featuring lots of bands.
Vercity, Forsythe, Deadbolt Zen, ROTO at Fitzgerald's [upstairs]
We The Granada, Daytes, Giant Battle Monster, Barkus Sly & The Golden Egg, Serum Fantis, TEF at Super Happy Fun Land

Saturday, July 4th
Beyonce at Toyota Center
Carl Hayn & The Holdouts at Rudyard's
Cellcyst, Decimation Theory, Cavernous, Dreaming of June, The Goods, Chin Xaou Ti Won at Warehouse Live
Come See My Dead Person, Erase The Virus, Digi Dancers, Morgue City, We Are Halfnelson, Flawlessly Inadequate, I.O.N. at Numbers
DertyBird, Wayward Sons, Grizzly, Miss Leslie, Buckshot at The Continental Club
The Drafted, 13 Black Coffins, & more at The White Swan
The Footsies, Behind Buildings, Kevin Kendrick, Jono Foley, The Handshake, The Cadences, Clement Danger at Super Happy Fun Land [matinee show, starts at noon]
Little Brother, YokoMono, For The Most Part at Fitzgerald's [downstairs]
MacAdams, Big Jim's Wife at Last Concert Cafe
Psychedelic Sex Panther at Charlie's Big Top
Robert Ellis, DJ Paramour, Holy Fiction, the Psychadelic Sex Panther, Urbane Guerilla and more at The Mink
Texas Heat Music Fest at Jones Plaza [click link for performance times]
The Tontons, Caddywhompus, Giant Princess, Limb, sIngs, Brains For Dinner at Super Happy Fun Land, Rainbows in Your Wildest Dreams [night show]
Ty Segall, The Moonheart, Southern Backtones, Welfare Mothers at Mango's

Sunday, July 5th
A Static Lullaby, Vanna, Asking Alexandria, Motionless In White, Tides of Man at Javajazz
Exterminating Angels at Super Happy Fun Land [early show, 5pm]
Texas Heat Music Fest at Jones Plaza [click link for performance times]
Yppah, Soft Black, Werewolves at Super Happy Fun Land [8pm]

Photos: Ian Peska [The Wooden Birds], Dave Wrangler MySpace, Marc Brubaker/Click. Wind. Repeat. [The Tontons].