Thursday, November 21, 2013

Weekend Plans



It's a typical weekend in Austin, which means there are a ton of good shows for you to catch. For my money, there is better stuff happening tonight than on Saturday night, which is kind of bizarre but that's just the way the dice land sometimes. Or roll? I don't know, something about dice. Let's do this!

Tonight is all about Red 7's outside stage. Technically, Dead Confederate are headlining but I'm all about Equals and Residual Kid. Both of whom share tonight's bill. You can buy tickets online right now or you can roll the dice and pay at the door. That's your call.


Equals - Live video via YouTube

Friday night there are actually too many good shows so we're just going to stay home in our jammies and listen to Debbie Gibson records instead. No? Not feelin' that? More of a Tiffany fan? I feel that.

Chvrches play Stubb's Friday night, which is sold-out but you can also see them for free at 5pm inside Waterloo Records. There's a great local line-up at Mohawk featuring Boyfrndz, Growl, GoldSpine and TAFT

Friday night also has Besnard Lakes stopping by Red 7 with Elephant Stone in tow. If you like psychedelic music then this is the only place for you Friday night.


Elephant Stone - Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin video via YouTube

Oh shit you guys, Cass McCombs is in town tomorrow night too! How the fuck are we supposed to sort all of this out? The only thing that makes me weary of the Cass show is the crowd. I feel like if people talked through his set I might stab them in the eyes with brooches Oedipus-stylee.

I don't really have a segue from that Oedipus reference but I wanted to mention that if you're down with dance music, The Juan MacLean will be at Kingdom Friday night as well. It's like show-a-polooza on Friday.

On Saturday I'm presenting you with two choices, Built to Spill at Stubb's or head to Holy Mountain for Walker Lukens, Roger Sellers, Royal Forest & She Sir.

Sunday is the Lord's day but he is going to share it with Charli XCX who will be performing two sets. First you can catch Charli at Waterloo Records. That set starts at 5pm and I can't imagine what that will entail. A few hours later she'll take the stage in Austin's best sounding room, The Parish. I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend this show but I really want to. I love Charli, love the Parish, love free street parking, one love.


Charli XCX - SuperLove video via YouTube

Charli XCX Photo Credit: Angelo Kritikos

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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Show Preview: CHVRCHES



Chvrches return to Austin Friday evening playing a sold-out show at Stubb's. This is the group's second post-SXSW appearance and I'm excited to finally catch a full set. I saw them perform during SXSW but it was a day party at Stubb's so I didn't catch a full set and I didn't give them my full attention. The last time they were in town they played the Mohawk, which I'm sure was incredible but I had planned a vacation to my home-state of Maine. I know, my life is so hard right? I was bummed though. I bought my plane tickets and booked a hotel room long before the show was announced. We also missed The Postal Service with Ra Ra Riot in Cedar Park that week. *sad face*

That brings us back to this week. You can catch a live performance from Chvrches this evening on Jimmy Kimmel live. That's the Jimmy that's on ABC. For those of you with tickets, Chvrches are playing at Stubb's in two days. I really like their record, The Bones of What You Believe. If you didn't get tickets to see them this week, you should still check out their record. I think you'll enjoy it.


Chvrches - Gun video via YouTube

Thanksgiving approacheth, which means best-of-the-year lists are nigh as well. For me, it's the blurst time of year. I love it but it stresses me out. If I'm being real the lead-up to SXSW is way blurstier than this time of year though. Regardless, as soon as we get our first cold front I start to stress out about the records I still haven't listened to. There are records that I loved this year that will definitely be on my lists but then I have to think about how to "rank" things and which lists they will appear on. With that in mind, it's nice to get to see Chvrches again because I've been thinking about The Bones of What You Believe and how it compares with some of my other favorites this year. It will definitely be on my Best Albums of 2013 list but I don't know where or what company it will keep.

Arrive early on Friday for Basecamp. If you're down with sexy R&B vocals matched with chilled-out grooves topped lightly with skittering beats then you're going to love Basecamp. I'm a sucker for most things indie-R&B so I'm just hoping it's as impressive live as it is on record.


Basecamp - Rydia video via YouTube

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