Cool shows this week: Pinche Gringo and more!

(Pinche Gringo, Saturday at Slim's) THIS WEEK'S SHOWS Friday, Nov. 28: The Proclivities with Hammer No More the Fingers, The Pour House The Proclivities make snappy, happy, head-bopping pop. Hammer No More the Fingers kind of make snappy, happy, head-bopping pop too, but they get a little crazier in the process. I imagine them wearing blazers and being from some bleak English town, but instead they're from Durham, so I guess they got the bleak part honest. Friday, Nov. 28: Blankface (reunion show) with I Was Totally Destroying It, Local 506 I don't know the first thing about Blankface, but apparently they're having a reunion show, so if you missed them, this show is for you. IWTDI is going to be the biggest band in America within six months. After hearing "Done Waiting," I can't figure out why they're not the biggest band in America right now. Saturday, Nov. 29: Jucifer with Black Skies, Volume 11 Despite my love of loud, heavy rock, Jucifer has always left me cold (see my earlier post about Caltrop and how they DON'T rely on sludge for sludge's sake). Black Skies, will melt your ears and have you begging for more. Saturday, Nov. 29: Thad Cockrell with Bright Young Things and The Moderate, The Pour House One of the best alt-country songwriters around, and with with a beautifully smooth, sweet voice, Thad deserves to be a lot more well-known than he is. SHOW OF THE WEEK! Saturday, Nov. 29: The Loners with Pinche Gringo, Slim's The Loners always pack the house, and put on a great show. I don't know what to make of Pinche Gringo. Pinche Gringo is awesome, sloppy, lo-fi garage rock from the drummer for The Spinns, who apparently moved to Mexico, formed a band, and then brought the band back with him. Monday, Dec. 1: Annihilation Time with Double Negative, Logic Problem, Tooth and Sir Arthur & the Royal Knights, Volume 11 Annihilation Time is hilarious, offensive and rockin all in equal measure. I just can't figure out how Sir Arthur fits into this. NEXT WEEK'S SHOWS Wednesday, Dec. 3: O'Death with Megafaun and Prayers and Tears (Perry solo), Local 506 Dec. 4: FKON, Tir na Nog Dec. 5 Magic Babies with Static Minds and The Huguenots, Slim's Static Minds are formerly Suburban Sweethearts, now with Andy Kerr of The T's on guitar. Saturday, Dec. 6: Viva la Venus, Dive Bar Saturday, Dec. 6: American Aquarium, The Pour House Dec. 6: Death Metal Fest, Volume 11 I waiting for Volume 11 to send out more info on this Death Metal Fest. Or maybe it would just be better to go and be surprised. , Saturday, Dec. 6: Reservoir 4-year anniversary party With Transportation, Fin Fang Foom, Caltrop and Monsonia Dec. 6: Goner with Here Lies, Slim's Now here's an odd double-bill: Angry synth-rock (Goner) and death metal (Here Lies). Should be a fun night. Saturday, Dec. 6: Actual Persons (Living or Dead) with Basalt and Roxcetera, Bull City HQ Sunday, Dec. 7: Chip Robinson, Sadlack's Monday, Dec. 8: Off with Their Heads and Dear Landlord, Bull City HQ UPCOMING IN GENERAL Saturday, Dec. 12: Old Habits Mayhem Holiday Bash, The Pour House Dec. 13: Nikki Meets the Hibachi (Early); Dirty Little Heaters with The Loners (late), The Cave Monday, Dec. 15: Trekky Records presents Christmas at the Cradle With the Trekky Yuletide Orchestra, which now has its own CD. Saturday, Dec. 19: Chatham County Line Holiday Ho Down, The Pour House Dec. 20: Evil Wiener Christmas show, The Cave Sunday, Dec. 20: Pinche Gringo with Dirty Little Heaters, Local 506 Dec. 20: Patty Hurst Shifter, Slim's Thursday, Dec. 25: Terry Anderson's 9th Annual Christmas Throwdown, The Pour House Dec. 27: Colossus with Hellrazor, Slim's Colossus is a must-see for Judas Priest fans. Hellrazor describes themselves as "breakneck heavy metal" on their myspace page, and that pretty much describes the music I've heard by them. Wednesday, Dec. 31: Urban Sophisticates, The Pour House Check out the footage my former colleague Rob Roberts got of Urban Sophisticates a couple of years ago. Wednesday, Dec. 31: Kerbloki, Red Collar, Hammer No More the Fingers, Local 506 Jan. 9: North Elementary CD-release party, Cat's Cradle With guests Kingsbury Manx, Erie Choir and Popular Kids (stand-up comedy) Jan. 14: Viva La Venus, Lactose Quervo and HOW, The Pour House Jan 16: Transportation, Slim's I have, until now, not been aware of Transportation, but when I googled them, I found reviews by esteemed local critics David Menconi, Ross Grady and Grayson Currin. Apparently they're a soft-ish pop group from Chapel Hill, with a CD out on Demonbeach. CORRECTION: This CD is on Fractured Discs. Jan 21: Vic Chesnutt, Local 506

The Cover Up is now Raleigh Undercover

This happened a few days ago, but due to holiday traveling and birthday revelry, I'm just now getting around to it. David Menconi has the details about the final name for the event on his blog , and the event even has its own facebook page.

Thanks to Dirty Little Heaters and Sir Arthur!

(Dirty Little Heaters) Thanks so much to everyone who came out to Slim's last night to help me celebrate my birthday! I had a blast, and I was so excited to introduce Dirty Little Heaters and Sir Arthur & the Royal Knights to several of my friends who hadn't seen them before. Both bands totally rocked, but Sir Arthur in particular were tighter than I'd ever seen them before. They need to wear those ruffled shirts at every show!

   

 

Sir Arthur & the Royal Knights from Mann's World on Vimeo.

(Sir Arthur & the Royal Knights)

New record label: Misbehaved Records

Kim Gray of Subdivision 67 (and easily the hardest-working woman in Durham rock) has a new label called Misbehaved Records, and The Virgo 9 is her first signee! I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with this.

Confab over the Cover-up

I just found out about all this brouhaha last night. Apparently Tir na Nog, along with some local rockers/music fans, wanted to hold The Great Cover-Up this year, or early next. A spirited discussion ensued over at New Raleigh (a blog that I need to start reading since they seem to like using my photos) over whether or not the owners of Kings approved or even if the whole idea was even appropriate.

This morning I received an e-mail from Steve Popson, which I assume was sent to everyone on his list stating that the Kings owners are not involved in the event, and request that Tir na Nog not use the names "Great Cover Up" or "Cover Up" but otherwise wish the charity event success. (Full disclosure here: I'm involved with The Beehive, which is the charity organization that will be benefitted.)

My take: The owners of Kings don't want their name used. OK. Tir na Nog shouldn't use that name. But there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't host a similar event (Lincoln Theatre did over the summer, and I didn't hear anyone complaining about that). And anyone who insists that "friends of Kings" won't go is just being plain silly. I consider myself to be a good friend of Kings, and I look forward to the day when they finally re-open, but I'm also looking forward to this new event, which sounds like it will be a lot of fun.