Decisions, Decisions What’s Going On This Weekend
By David H
Photo by Jon Weiner
Sometimes life is hard. Okay, well, this isn’t as difficult as decisions that face the poor and impoverished. I’m talking about where to go and what to do when there are more than one great option at your disposal. This weekend in Houston offers up some great options where you, the patron will have to make a decision on which to attend.
On Thursday you have two options, help the homeless, or rock out to psychobilly. The Heart & Harmony Benefit at Walters, featuring Sarah Golden from that terrible NBC show “The Voice” is happening on Thursday. I sincerely detest reality shows, competition shows, and pretty much everything that isn’t on Adult Swim, personally. But, this is for a good cause in healthcare for Houston’s homeless. The tickets are $100.00 & $150.00 each, so not going is completely understandable.
The other offering for Thursday, isn’t as admirable; but it sure looks like fun. The Nekromantix make their return to Houston, I would guess with newer members than the last time they came through; led by founding member Kim Nekroman. The Nekromantix put on a great live show, they’ve been around for a quarter of a century, and Kim’s bass is a giant coffin shape. If that’s not enough to get you interested in slicking back your hair and hot rodding over to Fitzgerald’s, then the female led rockabilly outfit 13 Black Coffins and the sleeze induced sounds of The Freakouts should help. The doors are at 8:00 and the tickets range from $13.00-$17.00.
On Friday, the decision is simple; go to Superchunk. Superchunk is one of the greatest indie rock bands in existence. They’re touring on the heels of two amazing albums, 2024’s Majesty Shredding and 2024’s I Hate Music; both great examples of their indie cred. I got to interview Mac from the band who started twenty five years ago alongside starting the independent heavy hitting label Merge. You should go just to thank him for releasing some of the best music in the past twenty plus years. Waxahatchee will open things up with her hauntingly gorgeous sound. The doors are at 8:00 and the tickets are between $16.00 and $20.00 at Fitzgerald’s. I would strongly suggest buying before the doors open as this show has a strong chance of selling out, or getting close to.
Saturday is a tough decision on all accounts, even for me. I will attempt to make both shows, which can be done, if you don’t mind going by yourself. Wild Moccasins are playing over at Numbers for FREE, brought to you by Free Press Houston. This is the album release party for their new and fun sounding album, 88 92. The lineup is pretty solid in the list of openers that will warm things up. Local mainstays Young Mammals will definitely amp things up with their infectious sounds. Last year’s “Build a House” was easily one of my favorite songs of the year. The pop and sing song stylings of Houston’s Young Girls and a thumping DJ set by Bagheera, round things out. It’s an all ages show, so expect a line with a 9:00 door time.
Also on Saturday, over at Fitzgerald’s; the incredibly ingenious and pop laced goodness of Into It. Over It., comes to town. This guy, I seriously can’t tell you how rad he appears to be. In 2024 he made an album of fifty two songs that were written over the course of a year, appropriately titled 52 Weeks. Then, in 2024 he lived in a different city, including Brenham; writing a song in each released as Twelve Towns. The new album, Intersections is as immediate and easy to love as a release gets. I love when someone gets creative in a world of sam ol’, same ol’ and Into It. Over It. is definitely creative, and worth checking out. The jazzy emo core sounds of Connecticut’s longest band name recipients The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, and the pop tunes of Brooklyn’s A Great Big Pile of Leaves are onboard as well. Houston’s own Football, Etc. open the show with an 8:00 door and a cover of $10.00-$14.00 downstairs at Fitz; this promises to be one of the better emo shows to make its way to town in quite some time.
On Sunday, you can soldier on over to Fitzgerald’s to check out Russian Circles. I don’t really know what they call their music, but I can say that they bring it live. With a mix of industrial, emo, and punk electronica, Russian Circles is worth making it out just to see once. You should at least make it out for the Canadian metal noise rock openers KEN Mode, who promise to rip us all a new one. Virginia’s metal doom act, Inter Arma get things started. Doors are at 7:00 and the tickets are between $13.00 & $17.00.
Of course, if you were lucky enough to grab tickets, Queens Of The Stone Age will be rocking the walls of Bayou Music Center (formerly Verizon Wireless) as well on Sunday. Though it’s sold out, the rumor is that some tickets are getting released on the day of the show. The doomy and gloomy electronic goth folk style of Chelsea Wolfe open the show. The doors are at 8:00 and tickets range between $39.50 and $45.00.
It’s not a bad thing to have decisions, just a tough thing sometimes. This weekend will definitely either have you making the rounds, or possibly missing out on something. In the end, they’re all great options; and in Houston, it’s great to have too many than no options at all.
