In addition to the Top 5, don’t forget Dia de los Toadies this weekend at Panther Island Pavilion or Friday on the Green with Telegraph Canyon, Patriot, and Salim Nourallah at Magnolia Green Park on the Near Southside. Keep checking the Weekly’s Facebook page for any delays or cancellations due to rain. UPDATE (3:38 p.m.) Friday on the Green has been canceled and rescheduled for Sept. 19.
1.) This week’s No. 1 show will also be in the top spot next week for two reasons, and I think they’re both legit. 1.) It’s a benefit for a great musician and great dude, and 2.) while it takes place next Saturday, I want you to know about it now in case you need to rearrange your dance card to be able to attend.
Southern Train Gypsy bassist Duane Smith was recently diagnosed with cancer, and to receive treatment he will relocate temporarily to Houston with his wife. As you can imagine, this is going to be expensive, so to help him raise some certainly much-needed ka-ching, his bandmates have whipped up a stupendous bill for Saturday, Sept. 20, at The Grotto (517 University Dr., 817-882-9331).
Headliners Oh Sleeper are from Fort Worth, have toured the world, and have nearly 223,000 “likes” on Facebook, but you’ve probably never heard of them because they’re Christian. Well, Christian-ish. Some turnover among their ranks has resulted in the inclusion of –– gasp! –– nonbelievers. (Weirdly still, Oh Sleeper is no longer on Solid State Records, the major Christian label to which the band belonged for years.)
“Christian shmistrian,” I can hear you grouse. “Are they any good?!”
In short, yes. They’re good. Very good.
That the humble Grotto will not be big enough to contain Oh Sleeper’s legion of fans –– and fans of the other acts on the bill: The Me-Thinks and The Hanna Barbarians’ Blake Parish and Kris Luther in addition to Smith’s band, Southern Train –– is a reality that The Grotto should seriously account for.
Hopefully, Oh Sleeper’s followers know a good cause when they see one.
Minimum donation at the door is $10. To donate virtually, visit Smith’s GoFundMe campaign.
Best of luck to you, Duane, and, as always, “Go, Steelers!”
2.) After Friday on the Green winds down tomorrow night, head over to Lola’s Saloon (2736 W. 6th St., 817-877-0666) for what will undoubtedly be a righteous party. California’s Sea Lions, Dallas/Fort Worth blues busters Oil Boom, and Fort Worth transistor-radio punks War Party will open for souped-up-yacht rocker Son of Stan, a.k.a. singer-songwriter Jordan Richardson, who recently returned to Fort Worth’s sandy shores to spread roof after spending several years grindin’ and dinin’ in flashy L.A.
Cover is $10.
3.) War Party will be back onstage Monday, this time at The Boiled Owl Tavern (909 W. Magnolia Ave., 817-920-9616) and this time with Sealion, the Dallas punk outfit with which War Party recently toured the West Coast, and San Francisco’s Couches.
No cover! Tunes start at 8 p.m.
4.) Fort Worth psychedelic surf-punks Fungi Girls, two Denton acts –– Mink Coats and Blessin’ –– and Fort Worth’s answer to Ozzy-era Sabbath, FOGG, roll into Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios (411 E. Sycamore St., Denton, 940-387-7781) on Friday.
Cover is only $1-3.
5.) Duane Smith’s benefit won’t be the only one happening at The Grotto this month. On Saturday, one of the most interesting bills of all time has been put together to raise money for a young girl battling ependymoma, a disease in which cancerous cells form in tissues in the brain and spinal cord.
There will be hip-hop, courtesy mainly of Big Cliff, Chicago native Kyeyote, and Wrex Washington. And, naturally, there will be rock and metal, courtesy mainly of Cerebral Chauffeurs and a reunited Addnerim.
Proceeds from the $10 cover will go toward the girl’s medical expenses.
