H-Town Rock

For the Weekend of January 8th-11th, 2009

Good afternoon everyone. We hope that all of our readers have enjoyed the week so far. This is especially true for all of our schoolteacher friends who are beginning their first full week back in the classroom with the little darlings. Returning to the grind of the school day after two weeks off can be tough for both teachers and students. Luckily for the adults, there's plenty to do this weekend around Houston to help them take their minds off all those papers that must be graded and the fact that Little Timmy still hasn't learned how to sit still during Language Arts. Hopefully, some live music and a few stiff beverages might assist relieving that stress headache building behind the sinuses.

Thursday, January 8th
The Kickback and Free Radicals at Notsuoh
Lotus Effect at Rudyard's
Michael Hardie and Beetle at The Continental Club
Songwriters Night: Featuring Idgy Vaughn, Amy Speace, and Danny Schmidt at McGonigel's Mucky Duck

Friday, January 9th
Initially, we were going to poke a bit of fun at Sister Hazel, mostly because it's easy to mock the cheesy "alternative" bands that were popular in the mid-'90s. However, we really couldn't pass up the chance to harass Céline Dion (and it's difficult to know where to start). At first, we wondered whether or not Céline was risking too much by leaving the safe confines of the Vegas residency she's held since 2003 to get back on the road for the "Taking Chances" tour, but it seems that $236.6 million is a fairly hefty sum to accrue as a touring artist, even in this depressed economy. In the end, what we are left with is the chance to cheekily deride those folks who find musical pleasure in Céline's slickly produced, emotionally exploitative, and lucratively popular romantic ballads. Thus, when we investigate such evidence as "It's All Coming Back To Me Now," "Because You Loved Me," and "My Heart Will Go On," it seems that 200 million people (in terms of records sold worldwide) can be wrong. Do yourselves a favor, fans of decent music: get out to Rudyard's for Alpha Rev or join our crazy roommate at Fitzgerald's for Project H.

Alpha Rev at Rudyard's
Céline Dion at Toyota Center
The Gourds at Cactus Music
The Gourds and Molly and the Ringwalds at The Continental Club
Hunger Project Benefit: Featuring Sybil, Skyblue72, The Tiles, and Gina Chavez at Walter's on Washington
Junior Brown at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
Sister Hazel and Nelo at House of Blues
Versecity, Mind Body Soul, Project H, and From Guts To Glory at Fitzgerald's

Saturday, January 10th
OK - we get it. We watch Metalocalypse (Murderface is our favorite character). Metal is supposed to be brutal, but we do not understand why metal bands have to concoct such atrociously offensive names to represent their art. We've seen many of these groups in action and enjoyed their music (Kerry King of Slayer is a joy to watch shred on stage), but those ever-present death, dying, and destruction-themed monikers will always be a bit confusing to us. Whatever happened to aggressive (but non-bloody) names like Pantera?

Graham Wilkinson and the Underground Township and Spain Colored Orange at The Continental Club
Kristine Mills at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
Necrofaith, Marzi, Within Chaos, Ethreal, Rotting Devastation, and Lycophile at The Meridian (Red Room)
Ram Herrera at The Meridian (Main Room)
Taste of Garlic, World's Most Dangerous Band, and Trian Woodburns at Rudyard's
Truck, Full Service, Free Bleeder, and Detorist at Fitzgerald's

Sunday, January 11th
Austin Collins and Waylon Paine at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
LaShell Griffin and Jeff Majors at Groove Restaurant