Sunday, October 12, 2008

Shows you should probably give a damn about.

Sunday, Oct. 12: Man Man at the Heirloom in Danbury, with their labelmate Tim Fite and post-Wesleyan/current Brooklyn duo Bottle Up and Go. Man Man got to me during a period of my life when it felt like everything was falling apart, because that's what their music is about. Read my preview of that show in the Fairfield Weekly here. I picked up a copy of ShowPaper at the Quiet Life/Citay/M.T. Bearington show, and its horoscope section told me Man Man and the Heirloom was my lucky show... so maybe you should come out.

Monday, Oct. 13: Fucked Up at the Heirloom. They're doing with hardcore exactly what should be done with hardcore. Read my briefer writeup of the show in the Fairfield Weekly here.

Wednesday, Oct. 15: The Elephant Six Holiday Surprise tour stops by The Space in Hamden. If the semiotics of the phrase "Elephant Six" means anything to you, you'll understand why this matters. Read my preview of the show in the New Haven Advocate here.

Friday, Oct. 17: The Urinals, Estrogen Highs and Guilty Faces at Cafe Nine in New Haven. The Urinals are the punk band that later morphed into 100 Flowers, and The Minutemen covered their song "Ack Ack Ack Ack" (The Minutemen cut off one "Ack"). With two of New Haven's great garage-punk bands also on the bill, I dunno how you can go wrong, or at least not if you're interested in feeling inspired to throw a chair through a window... ever. (Note: Please don't throw a chair through Cafe Nine's window. Wouldn't be cool. Wait 'til the afterparty, then please invite me to said afterparty.)

Sunday, Oct. 19: Gringo Star at BAR. Gringo Star is one of my absolute favorite retro-rock bands extant, and they incorporate elements of psych-pop, garage rock and early rock'n'roll into beautiful, exuberant pop songs. I've been listening to an advance copy of their upcoming album, All Y'all, all day. In my heart of hearts, I'd say it's perfect -- hooky, garagey, trenchant. They've been through New Haven a zillion times and this is absolutely one of those times you should see them again. Wait 'til the next issue of the Advocate -- you'll see something more in-depth about them there.

Tuesday, Oct. 21: The Griefs at Cafe Nine. This is, personally, one of my favorite garage bands working right now, led by a guy who used to play lead guitar in The Greenhornes. Their album Throwing a Tempo Tantrum is full of quick, catchy, post-British-Invasion rock songs. Their song "Whenever You're Around" was actually my MySpace profile song back in the spring... and strangely, I still feel the same way.

Friday, Oct. 24: I'm playing a birthday party, with or without my whole band. This one's personal.

See you around, or you're a sucker.

1 comment:

Kristin Dombrowski said...

Aww Brian, I am totally going to depend on you to keep me in the New Haven music scene loop.