1) Here’s a description from the invite to MASS’s Friday night show: “A night of experimental Art, punk, doom + gloom and maybe a little moonbathing to celebrate the dark fall skies of Fort Worth.” The show, entitled Feeding Death/Cheating Life Vol. 1 is being promoted by the mysterious Def Bref, and its lineup, headlined by Pinkish Black, showcases two gloomy, artsy, out-of-town bands: Phoenix, AZ’s Sorxe, described as “Heavy ,gooey, technical and transformative like a dab stuck on the claw of a werewolf,” and Atlanta, GA’s Dead Register, whose description starts with the word “Doomgaze.” Show is 18+, cost $10, and doors are at 8pm. MASS is found at 1002 S Main. The invite teases a TBA, as well. This is the official video for the title track off Concept Unification, the album Pinkish Black put out earlier this year:
2) If you think the Post’s bookings are heavy on “person with an acoustic guitar,” their Friday night bill handily dispels that erroneous notion, as rapper 88 Killa headlines a show with trip-pop artist Yokyo and jazzy R&B singer Xavier II in the opening slots. All-ages, doors are at 9, Xavier II starts the show at 10. $10 cover. Enjoy this smooth Xavier II jam:
3) Friday night and noon to close on Saturday, Lola’s (2736 6th St) will be the place to be, as it hosts Fort Worth Rock Assembly VII. If you’re unfamiliar with this thing, local bands work up tribute sets to their favorite artists, and then gather at Lola’s to celebrate popular music in non-stop covers, which often reveals the uncomfortable truth that maybe you did like a Korn or Collective Soul song at one point in your life. Whatever reaction or emotion a tribute set of say, Toad the Wet Sprocket (performed by the Matthew Show at FWRA VII, incidentally) elicits in you, the two days of local bands costuming themselves as famous ones is a lot of fun. The Friday night portion is DFW focused, starting with Sol Shifter as the Toadies at 8pm, followed by Tame Tame and Quiet as UFOFU, Hightower Band as Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, and the Pour Brothers as Old 97’s. Saturday’s show starts 1pm with the School of Rock doing a set of covers; that day’s highlights include Meach Pango as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (3pm), Wrex as Outkast (9pm), and Danni and Kris as Heart (midnight). The shows are all-ages, and cover is $12 per day or $24 for both days. Here’s a video of a midi version of a Deftones song:
4) Shipping and Receiving’s Saturday night show stars Siberian Traps in the role of “Band Releasing New Album,” which you can read more about in this week’s music feature. The Traps play in the middle between openers Polydogs and anchors Son of Stan. Cover is $10, doors are at 8, music starts at 9, indeterminate age restrictions. Shipping and Receiving is located at 201 S Calhoun. Here’s a guy named Drew wearing an Adidas ballcap and a neatly trimmed beard teaching you some easy vape tricks:
5) An additional option for Saturday night: throwback-country acolyte and multi-instrumentalist, honky tonk hero Simon Flory at the Twilite Lounge (212 Lipscomb). Flory’s music is basically made for people who spend a lot of time reading savingcountrymusic.com, except for maybe those Johnny Cash superfans who also have a Social Distortion skeleton tattoo that’s probably old enough to have a masters degree. What would that tattoo even study? My guess is probably history, with a focus on the mid-to-late 20th century, but I’d bet Information Sciences is just as likely. In any case, it’s nice to see the subdermally inked iteration of an icon of ’80s SoCal punk rock has furthered its education and has made a nice life for itself. Hopefully that Social Distortion skeleton tattoo isn’t buried under student loan debt! Simon Flory and his band get the C&W swingin’ around 9:30. 21+, and I’m pretty sure it’s a free show. Here’s an idea I just had based on this Simon Flory song where he sings with Summer Dean: why don’t those two make a Summer & Simon album? Anyway, here’s that video:
