1) Get educated about what’s up with the local hip hop scene on Thursday night RICH Underground showcase at MASS. From 8 to midnight, catch these MCs: $enpai, Todd Faroe, Dutch, Slightdrip, Braxo, TV, Jvel, MVCK T, Galax C Boy, and Chubbz. Cover is $10, show is 18+, doors are at 7pm. I’m pleasantly surprised to find a $enpai video, seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P9lmjx3G94
2) Welp, here’s another one at MASS that’s pretty bangin’: Friday night, catch Mind Spiders, Def Rain, and the Fibs. A Mind Spiders track (“Furies”) came up on a Spotify playlist the other day, and the comparison that came to mind is if DEVO were a contemporary band and decided to write their own soundtrack to Doom II or some other iconic first-person-shooter. And actually, now that I think about it, this whole bill is kind of a post-punk soundtrack to some sci-fi action movie or video game, or maybe even a contempo reboot of The Crow; Def Rain is basically like scary, industrial rap and the Fibs’s dark romanticism makes them a stand-in for the Cure, and if you’re familiar with The Crow’s soundtrack (i.e. in your mid-30s to late 40s), these comparisons will make more sense. Otherwise, just take my word for it that this show is not to be missed. All three of these acts are exciting. Show is 18+, starts at 9, is $10, and its doors open at 8. Def Rain is the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QX3Jn9OMDQ
3) Also on Friday: Wicca Phase Springs Eternal at Ridglea Room (6025 Camp Bowie), the performance name of Scranton, PA-based producer Adam McIlwee, an emo rapper who is part of GothBoiClique, an underground hip hop collective best known for the late Lil Peep. McIlwee’s openers include Fantasy Camp, Lil Zubin, and JPDREAMTHUG. I didn’t know anything about his sub-genre until my friend told me it was like soundcloud rappers rhyming over “Adam’s Song” by Blink-182. Guess that makes sense in a general way. Show is all ages, tickets are $15, show starts at 7pm. Wicca Phase Springs Eternal has been pushing this “Corithianax” single, so here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asNZCVlvCec
4) Wow, here’s a classic Fort Worth lineup: Spoonfed Tribe and Pablo and the Hemphill 7 at Lola’s, with newish post-punk band Phantomelo opening. The only way this party could be more throwback is if it were at the Ridglea Theater, Sally Majestic was playing first, and George Bush was somehow President again. Anyway, if you’re unfamiliar with the two bigger bands, Spoonfed blends tribal rhythms with heavy rock, and PH7 is a reggae band, and all three of them put on engaging, groove-oriented shows. I’m just speculating here, but I bet that if you smoked weed out of a translucent acrylic Graffix bong and blew the cloud out on the last Spoonfed downbeat of this show, you’ll open a mystic time portal or something. Doors are at 8, show is all-ages, and cover is $10. Spoonfed Tribe is truly a sight and sound to behold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umO4yHroCY8
5) Homegrown Fest is on Saturday in Dallas at Main Street Garden Park (1902 Main). It’s in its ninth year, and per usual, it features and almost-all-Texas lineup: Explosions in the Sky, the Black Angels, Alvvays (hailing from Toronto, they’re they geographic outliers), Roky Erickson, Ume, [DARYL], Medicine Man Revival, Duell, Vodi, Acid Carousel, and Sad Cops. General admission to this all-ages event is $42, it’s all-ages, and it starts at noon. Freak out with this Black Angels video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U9B244Z3go
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 at 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 (for one last show on 5/11/2018), Son of Stan (SOS rides again this summer), Darth Vato (we appear a couple times a year). 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.
