H-Town Rock

For the Weekend of May 21st - 24th, 2009

To be completely frank with our eleven regular readers, it bothers us a bit when we hear people whine about weekends such as this one, where there's so much going on that it's impossible to do it all. "Why can't people spread these great shows around more evenly across the whole of the week?" we hear people ask. Our retort is simple, "You don't hear people in Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, or New York City complaining about having an overabundance of weekend activity in their cities, do you? No, you don't."

We here at H-Town Rock are excited by the chance to make decisions about what shows we'll go see and which ones we'll unfortunately have to miss. It's the blessed reality of living in a city that's has seen its live music scene experience a resurgence in the past couple of years. It makes us happy to have choices. For instance, on a Thursday (that's right - a Thursday in Houston), we have the option of seeing Andy Rourke of The Smiths spin records at Warehouse Live, the garage-blues rock duo The Pack A.D. at Super Happy Fun Land, or the Midwestern indie-rock of Pictures Of Then at Notsuoh. Thankfully, Friday's a bit easier, as going to hear Spain Colored Orange and Ben Wesley at Mango's is a no-brainer.

For us, it's Saturday that provides the greatest difficulty to both our scheduling acumen and our pocketbooks as we want to be present for the Buxton/The Goods/Hollywood Black set at Notsuoh, but we also want to see Extra Golden at Walter's, Bolt at Rudyard's, Ghost Mountain at Super Happy Fun Land, and The Riff Tiffs and The McKenzies at The Mink. Inevitably, what allays our decision-making fears is the fact that all of these bands are active, thriving acts around town: if we miss these shows on this night, there will be plenty others. That's the beautiful part about living in a city with a worthwhile music scene - there's always plenty to do; so get out there and do something.

Thursday, May 21st
40 Under 40 and Battle of the Business Bands: featuring BTN, 33 1/3 RPM, Complete Wrecks, Algae, and Blue Screen at Warehouse Live (Ballroom)
Andy Rourke, Paul Ryder, and Jesse Murphy at Warehouse Live (Studio)
Brave Combo at Discovery Green
Courtesy at Mango's
Inner Lights, Slow Motion Rider, and Psychedelic Sex Panther at Rudyard's
Isis, Pelican, and Tombs at The Meridian
Jon Vezner at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
Letters to Cleo, Cruiserweight, and Carry The Storm at House of Blues
The Pack A.D., Searching for Signal, and Jeff Hull at Super Happy Fun Land
Pictures of Then and Devil Killing Moth at Notsuoh
Southern Backtones at Cafe Brasil

Friday, May 22nd
City Of God, Turncoat, Odis, The Mondays, and Cameren Meshell at Fitzgerald's (Upstairs)
Earle Brown Band and Sun Salvation at Dean's Credit Clothing
Earth Crisis, Walls of Jericho, Reign Supreme, Unholy, Blood Stands Still, Supremacy, and In the Storm at Javajazz
The Failed Attempt, Los Desconocidos, The Buzzkillers, and Always Guilty at Fitzgerald's (Downstairs)
Girl Shy: featuring Two Star Symphony at Discovery Green
India Arie, Laura Izibor, and Anthony David at Arena Theatre
Indigo Girls at Verizon Wireless Theater
Pierced Arrows, Orange Is In, and Dead Roses at Rudyard's
Queensryche at House of Blues
Quiet Morning & the Calamity, Robert Ellis, Elaine Greer, Dana Falconberry, and Sunset at Super Happy Fun Land
Reverberation: featuring DJ Black Slacks, Nam Jam, Psychedelic Sex Panther, Baby Jesus, and Andrew Lee at Boondocks
Shake Russell at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
Soulcase: featuring Magnetic, Journey Agents, We Are Halffnelson, and Mic Skills at The Mink
Spain Colored Orange and Benjamin Wesley at Mango's
Welfare Mothers, XYX, Footsies, Limb, Ratas del Vaticano, and Muhammid Ali at Notsuoh

Saturday, May 23rd
Band of Heathens at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
Buxton, The Goods, and Hollywood Black at Notsuoh
Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm at Cactus Music
DJ Mel, Squincy Jones, and Dayta at Boondocks
The Dollyrots, The Action Design, The Crazy Ivans, and Life Satage at Fitzgerald's (Downstairs)
Extra Golden and Grandfather Child at Walter's on Washington
A Flock of Seagulls, When In Rome, Dramarama, and Gene Loves Jezebel at The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Race Park
Harvey Milk, The Linus Pauling Quartet, Bolt, and Ghost Town Electric at Rudyard's
Heads of State: featuring Johnny Gill, Bobby Brown, and Ralph Tresvant at Arena Theatre
Maryana Sokol at Waldo's Coffee House
Metavenge, Revengance, Spin Alley, Avenger, and Mean Peace at Fitzgerald's (Upstairs)
Rainbows in Your Wildest Dreams, Giant Battle Monster, Ghost Mountain, and Footsies at Super Happy Fun Land
The Riff Tiffs, The McKenzies, Built By Snow, and Earnie Banks at The Mink
Saxon, Mercenary X, and DJ Mr. Castillo at The Meridian
Shack Up Dance Party: featuring Ceeplus Bad Knives at Mango's
Sheila Swift (VH1 Video Shoot) at Dean's Credit Clothing
Super Happy Saturday Afternoon Matinee Show: featuring 10th Grade Cutie, Knight Mare, The Redgraves, Eminent Hero, Sweet Wednesday, and Francesca at Super Happy Fun Land
Underworld: featuring DJ Chemist, DJ Mina, DJ Pthalo, DJ vvJames, and The Dead Bang at Numbers

Sunday, May 24th
Apple Miner Colony, Georgia's Horse, Maco Terr, and Everyone Only at Super Happy Fun Land
Battle of the Bands Finals: featuring Metalloyd, The Mind's Eye, Kemistery, On This Day, Dead Rotting Hood, The Bottom Four, Destroying the Delta, In The Name Of..., The Dark in Texas, Disfunkshun, Iron Pigs, Remembering Carthage, The Abyss, H.R.LABB, Red November, We Dance Like Zombies, Vindicate, Kevin Wesley Sullivan & the Southern Express, Skeptical, Third Ear, I, Human, & Kill Me Holly at Fitzgerald's (Both Stages)
The Business, Flatfoot 56, Roots of Exile, and Blackmarket Syndicate at Walter's on Washington
DJ Little Martin, Brotha Jibril, and Josh Dupont at The Meridian
Gavin Rossdale and Nico Vega at House of Blues
In Memoriam Fest 3: featuring Before There Was Rosalyn, I Am Ghost, Novista, Skyscrapers Walk Among Us, A Candle Lit City, Antarctica, Scoria, and As Blood Dries at Javajazz

---
Photo: Benjamin Wesley MySpace