1) Renegade Voices Collective presents a poetry slam at Shipping and Receiving (202 S Calhoun) on Wednesday night. I popped into this once before, when I was taking a break in the middle of a double bartending shift, thinking I could grab a drink away from my job for 30 minutes, completely unaware that the place would be packed with slam poets and the people who enjoy slam poetry. Fun fact: when I was in my early 20s, living in California’s Central Valley for a year after graduating TCU but before moving back here, I used to go to slam poetry sessions pretty often and really dug the artform, and I was sort of puzzled a couple years later when I read some article showering poetry slams with a hefty layer of snark. Anyway, the event goes from 7-10, and it’s all-ages, with a $5 cover to support the folks who put this thing together every month. Get there early to sign up. Main rule for performances: no nudity.
2) If you miss your chance on Wednesday to emphatically slam some poems, drop by Shipping on Thursday, when Chris Allen Curtis and Ed Rogers, two people about whom I know nothing, host Wide Open Mic. This event isn’t devoted specifically to slam poetry, but that and most of the other forms of performative, solo, live expression are encouraged, again excluding any nudity. No naked folks songs, plz. All-ages, goes from 7:30-11:30, and is free.
3) Thursday night at MASS (1002 S Main) Riffamania launches its second season of insult comedy duels, so expect to see your favorite wacky jerkwads taking the piss out of each other from high atop MASS’s stage. No cover, but Riffamania main-main Lee Power Littlefield encourages attendees to bring dollars to chunk at the performers. R-rated, 18+, starts at 10pm. This an interview with a couple Riffamania characters:
4) Friday night at Magnolia Motor Lounge (3005 Morton), catch David Beck’s Tejano Weekend, with Graham Wilkinson opening. Beck used to sing in Sons of Fathers and is in indie band Blue Healer, and his Tejano Weekend project sounds pretty fun: classic Tejano-inspired songs sung in English. Doors to the 21+ show are at 7:30, cover is $10, and music starts at 9:30. Here’s a video of David Beck’s Tejano Weekend:
5) For nearly 40 years, The Toasters have brought the joys of second-wave ska to aficionados of flat caps and checkered prints all over the world, and they’ll be landing again at Lola’s to hit you with their biggest hits. Rob “Bucket” Hingley, the band’s frontman and sole remaining original member, likes to talk shit about many things, and last time The Toasters played Lola’s, he took aim at Texas beers. At first I was like “Haha, okay guy. We all know what sucks about Texas.” But then he kept going on, and I started to be all “How ’bout you STFU and play ‘Pool Shark,’ huh?” Local support comes from Sally Majestic and Boss Riot. Show is 18+, starts at 8, and cover is $12. Here’s a live performance of my favorite Toasters song, “Weekend in L.A.”
