1) After its usual insufferably-hot-months-of-summer hiatus, Friday on the Green (1201 Lipscomb) returns this weekend for its season finale, and the big stage will be melted down with guitar rock after a buoyant, energetic head-fake courtesy the blues-influenced Tex Mex zydeco outfit Squeezebox Bandits. Texas-fried psyche rockers Royal Sons are the headliners, preceded by the sunny, trippy pop of the Hendersons, and the roots-rock-referencing Cut Throat Finches. Squeezebox Bandits kick the evening off at 6pm. Be prepared for conversations about nice weather, because it looks like it’s gonna be a perfect fall night! As always, the show is free and fun for kids of all ages – even grandpa! Here are Squeezebox Bandits covering JJ Cale:
2) Hard-chargin’ garage blasters Mean Motor Scooter’s album release is Friday night at MASS (1002 S Main); you can read more about it in this week’s Hearsay, but the show is also loaded with powerful gems, not unlike Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet: Dreamy Life’s OG indie garage-fathers War Party, KXT-favorites Henry the Archer, and Kyoto Lo-Fi, who I’d file between Velvet Underground and the Pixies later material, though someone else might think they sound a little like the Strokes, or a hundred other bands. Click their link and form your own opinions, why don’t you? Also, seeing as how MASS is but a few blocks away from Magnolia Green, why not stroller over there after you catch Royal Sons? The 18+ show is $6, and with this Mean Motor Scooter video, my sales pitch is complete:
3) Here’s your plan for Saturday night: go to the show at the Boiled Owl Tavern (909 W Magnolia). Anchored by Def Rain’s big, bangin’ beat-storm, the show marks the debut of Zach Edwards’ (Ice Eater, Oil Boom, Son of Stan) new solo project in the middle slot, an angsty, industrial-colored rock band called All Clean. All Clean is crewed by some familiar faces (especially if you’re a fan of Vodeo and/or Panic Volcanic), and VVOES vvarm up the night with their signature sound inspired by the Smiths and Fender equipment – there’s plenty of reverb wetness, but not so much you need a towel. Show is 21+ and cover is donation-based. This Def Rain video is an oldie but a goldie:
4) Fort Worth bartender and music fan Tim Lane is going through a pretty serious rough patch, healthwise right now, and so his friends are throwing a benefit called For the Love of Music on his behalf on Saturday night at the Grotto (517 University) that features music from Cody Main, Simone Nicole and Clay Anderson, Alex Rhea, Levi Ray trio, Joint Efforts, and Neptune Locals; as well as free BBQ from Dickie’s, live spray painting, and a raffle. The show starts at 6pm, and the cover is donation-based. You can also help out Tim at this gofundme link. Check out Neptune Locals from August at the Grotto:
5) Team to Beat Show of the Week Alert: this Sunday at Shipping and Receiving (201 S Calhoun) is the release of Dreamy Life Record’s Group Therapy Vol. 4. Like the comp it is celebrating, the show features something like 10,000 bands (more like 18, which is still a ton), all of which are affiliated with the Fort Worth indie label in one way or another – some of the bands already have releases out on Dreamy Life, some are friends with the people who run the label – and who also have a song on the tape, which, along with a digital download code, is included with the $15 price of admission. The bands kick off at 2:30 pm with Antirad’s terse, furious, hardcore assault; other highlights that’ll pique your interest: Movie the Band at 4pm, Acid Carousel at 5pm, Bitch Bricks at 6pm, Bulls at 7pm, Loafers at 8pm, Sub-Sahara at 8:30pm, Pearl Earl at 10pm… Honestly, all the bands are pretty bitchin,’ and the ones unlisted (most of which start at the bottom of the hours) are worth your time, too. Sealion closes the night out, and besides all the music, there’s a midway with a dunking booth, arm wrestling station, dart sniper, and bean bag toss, plus a raffle for sweet prizes from Ephemera, the Boiled Owl, and more. I promise that any given hour of this show will be better than getting day drunk and full of eggs benedict at brunch. Do that next Sunday and catch some live music on this one. Have you watched this Acid Carousel video? It’s for “Higher Than the Beatles.”
FULL DISCLOSURE/WRITER BIO ALERT: per editorial suggestion, in addition to writing about music and other shit for the FW Weekly, I am an investor in a venue/bar called Main at Southside, colloquially known as MASS. I also bartend there, as well as the Boiled Owl Tavern, a bar that also hosts shows a few times a month. And, since we’re on the subject of warning you against what may be perceived as my own icky, unseemly self-promotion and/or conflicts of interest, I play bass in the following bands: Oil Boom, Son of Stan, Darth Vato. Sometimes I talk about one or more of those entities in this space, but I assure you that it has very little to do with my own vested interests; it just happens that the aforementioned venues and bands are part of the Fort Worth music scene, and this music scene is something I care very passionately about, as I have been part of it since 2002.
