Around happy hour tonight (Thursday) on the patio at Central Market (4651 W. Fwy., 817-335-1373) you will be able to marvel at Chatterton, the superb Fort Worth alt-country quartet fronted by veteran songwriter and beard enthusiast Kevin Aldridge. The band will be joined by Dallas’ answer to The Eagles at their most countrified, SouthBound Lane. The show is free, and the patio will be well ventilated, I promise. Also, I recently discovered that CM offers a mondo assortment of bottled beer from which you can make your own six packs. I’ll take three Molsons, two Labatts, and one Moosehead, please. Thank you!
On Mon., July 13, at Rock Star Sports Bar (7120 S. Fwy., toward Burleson, 817-293-2606), one L.A. Guns is playing. “One” because there are two bands that go by the name “L.A. Guns.” There’s the L.A. Guns that includes two of the early-’90s sleaze-rock band’s original members –– frontman Phil Lewis and drummer Steve Riley –– and there’s the L.A. Guns that includes one original member, namesake guitarist Tracii Guns. Which group is more authentic? Who cares. The original members in both bands have probably had more acrobatic sex, snorted more coke, and destroyed more fifths of premium hooch than any 50 people you know and are worth seeing just for pure spectacle’s sake. Mix in two local openers –– throwback hair-metalists Aska and Revengeance –– and you’ve got yourself one serious people-watching party. The best part: All three bands actually rawk. The Tracii Guns incarnation is the L.A. Guns that’s playing, BTW.
A different though no less spectacular show will take place on Sunday at the Chat Room Pub (1263 W. Magnolia Ave., South Side, 817-716-8057). Fort Worth’s folky Theater Fire, Grapevine’s marching-band-y Mount Righteous, and an outfit called Good Afternoon and Good Night are playing. Cover charge is $5.
Friday at the Longhorn Saloon in the Stockyards (121 W. Exchange St., 817-386-5962) sorta marks the official return of Collin Herring, the alt-country singer-songwriter who relocated to Austin a while back and recently returned home to the Fort. He’s been gigging around town a little but hasn’t, as far as I can recall, played a venue as roomy as the Longhorn. Joining him will be a San Antonio band of Texas Musicians by the name of Emory Quinn. Cover charge is $6 over 21, $9 under.
Saturday at Hailey’s (122 Mulberry St., Denton, 940-323-1160), catch Disco: Hate (a.k.a. indie-rock singer-songwriter Casey Colby), Bob Fante (an outfit fronted by Eaton Lake Tonics’ Tony Ferraro), and Manned Missiles, an indie-bubblegum band (which isn’t a bad thing) from Lewisville and Denton. Cover is $6-9.
Also on Saturday: an avant-rock night featuring Hentai Improvising Orchestra, The Underground Railroad, and Harry Has a Head Like a Ping-Pong Ball at Lola’s Saloon-Sixth (2736 W. 6th St., in the West 7th Street corridor, 817-877-0666). Cover is $6-9.
And on Sunday, alt-country singer-songwriter James McMurtry is playing a free show at the Longhorn. Doors open at 8 p.m. Details here.
