1) There’s a Laugh Your MASS Off show at MASS (obviously so, and its address is 1002 S Main) featuring headliners Paul Varghese and Seth Cowles, with opening sets David Griffin and Monna. There’s no cover, but donations are welcome. Show is 18+, and the comedians start throwing out jokes at 9pm. Here’s a Seth Cowles bit from a couple years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp5vX4TnPSo
2) Tin Panther (937 Woodward) has a show on Thursday night headlined by Squanto’s stressful, glitchy electro-pop, with CHEW, an experimental rock band from Atlanta in the middle, and Ryker Hall’s neo-emo solo act in the opening slot. Cover’s $5, show is 21+, and the music starts at 9pm. Check out CHEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR9K7SuyBxo
3) Dallas-based Hand Drawn Records has a two-night showcase on Friday and Saturday; Friday night’s half is headlined by hard-psych band Royal Sons, with Cut Throat Finches, Shadows of Jets, and the Sideshow Tragedy in the preceding slots. Doors are at 8, Sideshow Tragedy starts the music at 9, and cover is $8. Show is 18+ though if you’re younger than that, you can go if you bring a parent or cool aunt or uncle to chaperone you. Lola’s owner Brian Forella is in this recent Cut Throat Finches video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI26muXxG3A
4) Part II of the Hand Drawn Records showcase at MASS happens on Saturday, and it’s featured attraction is Ansley’s full-band performance in support of her debut album’s release. She’ll have vinyl copies for sale, and you’ll want to grab one if you’re a fan of piano-driven indie pop along the lines of Death Cab for Cutie, Regina Spector, and Jenny Lewis. Also on this bill: Ween-worshipping pop punks Meach Pango, the intergalactic dance-rock of Vodeo, and Beatty, aka Stephen Beatty, frontman of Un Chien. Show details are the same as the previous night’s installment of this program; presumably there will be more bourbon samples, as well. Here’s the video for Ansley’s first single, a song called “Lucky Smoke.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxS_UXgYzTo
5) Also on Saturday: Doc’s Records (2628 Weisenberger) has a local music showcase in the afternoon, starting at 3pm with Tame… Tame and Quiet, Vogue Machine at 4pm, and Siberian Traps at 6pm. I played (as part of Son of Stan) with Vogue Machine once, at this shit-show bill at the Aardvark a couple years ago, and I think I would’ve enjoyed them more if I hadn’t been irate about what turned out to be a quintessentially Aardvarkian experience: too many bands, no guest list, no band comps, no payout, a schedule that ran behind, and a car (belonging to one of the Vogue Machine peeps, as it happened) that got towed. On top of that, I broke the grounding prong off a power cable in one of the on-stage outlets, which was like one final tap in the balls of a thoroughly crummy night. At least nobody got robbed. Maximum blecch, and I think enough time has gone by that I can be honest and say that I don’t really miss the Aardvark one bit. Wow… just relived that memory and I actually laughed to myself a little, despite unearthing that fossil of long-buried rage. Is that what therapy feels like? Because talking about it feels therapeutic. But also: Vogue Machine plays droning, trippy synthpop that’s pretty cool, and they make for an odd but satisfying transition between TTxQ’s angular post-punk and Siberian Traps’ sun-soaked indie-pop. Anyway, here’s Wonderwall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym1qG2QSidU
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, as well as Off the Record, which is a bar/record store that hosts DJs several nights a week. Since I’m on the subject of warning you against what may be perceived as icky self-promotion and/or conflicts of interest, I play bass in the following bands: Son of Stan and Darth Vato.
