1) Team to Beat Show of the Week Alert: it’s actually on Sunday at Shipping and Receiving, so be sure to read all the way to the bottom of this list, as the four shows preceding it are themselves worthwhile and sure to make you think about opportunity costs as they relate to socializing at bars.
Anyway, item numero uno is this tonight’s (Friday, if you’re reading this Saturday) Dreamy Life Records and Music happy hour (found inside the Fairmount Community Library on Allen and 5th) features recent Fort Worth Weekly Best New Artist award-winners WWoes, plus free growler beer (as opposed to keg, can, bottle, or beer-bong) courtesy the Collective Brewing Project. In the wake of the past two weeks, I think everyone could benefit from hearing a local indie rock band in a comforting environs of a neighborhood library while enjoying some free beer. Dreamy Life’s happy hours last from 6-8pm.
2) The other free thing that’ll fire up your drunken “I love y’all” circuits tonight is the very last Big Mike Night at the Mule. That’s a full title for a thing – Big Mike Nights have been a regular feature for the Mule, and the lovable dive on Camp Bowie and Locke is closing for good next weekend, so this will be one of those historic nights people talk about years from now – assuming we are still legally allowed to talk about things in the past that are outside whatever the Trump Imperium’s Official History of the United States of Planet Earth says happened. Jokes aside, I look forward to seeing the setlist Big Mike will post following the show, because for all the requests slung at the man (often called a “human jukebox” for classic rock tunes), what makes one of his shows better than another is what he’s decided to play. You (and certainly I) may have assailed cover bands and artists for lacking creativity or whatever for not playing original music, but that’s not really true. Big Mike’s sets are like mixtapes, reflecting his own thoughts and feelings relative to a given moment in time; I can’t make it to this show, but if I could and he started to play “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” I’d probably have to go outside so nobody could see me cry. Get to the Mule early, because it’s sure to get packed. This video is of Mike at the Mule covering Merle Haggard about a year ago:
3) Shipping and Receiving is host to Trio Fest on Saturday night, and it’s not entirely comprised of rock ’n roll bands. A joint venture by Austin-based promoter Solstice and local promoter Red Empire, the fest features an eight-band lineup starting at 5pm with the Bobby Dade trio (blues, soul, R&B), culminating with Jefferson Colby in the headlining spot. In between are Toast Party from Austin (rock), Teenage Sexx from Waco (bummer rock), Denton’s halfsleep (math rock), Panic Volcanic (loud rock), Roar Shack (they call themselves “slacker wave”), Nervous Curtains from Dallas (synth punk), and Jefferson Colby (alt-rock). In true festival form, there will be food trucks and art vendors, and the event is all ages, with a $10 cover.
4) There’s a female-fronted band called Harlow from out of town playing tonight; if you are old enough to have watched VH1’s Bands On the Run, you might think it’s that Harlow, in which case you might be disappointed – this Harlow comes from Detroit and formed three years ago, rather than from Los Angeles and the late ’90s/early aughts. Regardless, they’re an alt-rock band headlining an Elmo Jones Production show at Diamond Jim’s. Ever heard of that place? It’s on Southwest Parkway in Arlington, which is basically the border between Tarrant and Dallas counties. There’s a few interesting bars there, as it happens, and Diamond Jim’s is one of them. Should you go, you’ll marvel at how you never knew there was a huge concert venue way over there. This being an EJP show and all, there are no fewer than six bands, and the show starts at 7pm with a $10 cover. The other bands, in order of penultimate to first, are: Koppur Thief, Blonde Sabbath, Gypsy Queen, Passion for Vengeance, and Bunnifly. This is a clip of the Harlow from Bands on the Run:
5) Finally, per the heads-up in item number one (thanks for making it all the way down here, btw), Sunday night’s show at Shipping and Receiving is a don’t-miss-it type of thing because it features Gil Trythall, one of the pioneers of electronic music. In his 80s, Gil is a composer and former music professor who not only wrote one of the first electronic music textbooks, but who also knew Bob Moog, as well as for being sorta famous for coming up with a pair of experimental, electronic country albums in the early ’70s.
The story of those goes like this (from online record store Forcedexposure.com): “In 1971, experimental music composer Gil Trythall was commissioned by Athena Records to record a Switched On Bach for ‘country folk.’ The resulting 1972 album, Country Moog is certainly unlike anything ever heard before (or since, for that matter). Equal parts virtuosic musicianship, bizarre musique concrete effects and just plain entertaining, the original album spawned a sequel, Nashville Gold, and was cited by Bob Moog as one of his favorite Moog recordings.” You can find more of Gil’s audio-video compositions are on his YouTube channel.
It goes without saying that Gil’s performance is likely to be unique to any other one you experience this year, but the show is also a visual art installation – Gil himself is a video artist, as it happens – with sights and sounds coming from Bobby on Drums, Fever Dream Interactive, AFTV, Vogue Machine, M, Shelby Orr, Squanto, Evan Henry, and Kenneth Jones. Cover is $10; the event starts at 4pm in S&R’s Tilt Room. Here’s a video commercial for it: https://www.facebook.com/grant.ring.9
