edited by Christopher Gray
IRMA THOMAS / BOBBY BLUE BLAND
Antone’s, Friday 29/Saturday 30
It’s a Labor Day weekend coup bigger than the one that almost rode Newt out of D.C. on a rail. Friday, the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Her Royal Majesty Miss Irma Thomas, struts her stirring gospel/R&B stuff with a little help from resident shouter Lou Ann Barton. Saturday, Memphis maestro Bobby Blue Bland returns to croon some more legendary window-steaming love ballads with Blues Boy Hubbard & the Jets. Some fine soul in Antone’s hole.
SUGARHILL GANG
Liberty Lunch, Friday 29
In the time of short attention spans, it’s hard enough imagining any song 12 minutes long, let alone one as crucial as the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” Taking disco back to the streets, and now “Rapper’s Delight” back to the clubs, the NYC pioneers have reportedly added other hip-hop touchstones (“The Message,” “The Breaks”) to their live act — headed for the Lunch the second time this year. Soul Circus opens.
POCKET FISHRMEN, BOXCAR SATAN, BUZZKILL, TALLBOY
Emo’s, Friday 29
How punk are the Pocket FishRmen? Even Maximumrocknroll can’t stand ’em. No word as to how MRR feels about New Jersey’s Buzzkill, an Alternative Tentacles band formerly known as Butthead, but someone else called them “punk as fuck.” (Huh-huh … I said as.) Local pipe bombers Tallboy and visiting San Antone rowdies Boxcar Satan round out the in-yer-face fun.
DRAIN S.T.H.
Voodoo Lounge, Saturday 30
The Cardigans aren’t Sweden’s only Sabbath fans. Drain S.T.H. — the initials are so nobody confuses them with King Coffey’s turntable weirdness — get good & heavy on Horror Wrestling, the perfect album for 3am on a school night: plenty of pile-driver guitars, earthquake drums, and pissed-off neighbors. But isn’t that what metal is all about?
GENERATION TEX
Waterloo Park, Sunday 31
Generation Tex? Sounds like Sports Illustrated‘s “This week’s sign the apocalypse is upon us.” To be fair, this $5 all-day gathering sounds okay, considering the lineup: Dallas hillbilly savants Old 97’s, Austin guit-steel guru Junior Brown, New Orleans rockers Royal Fingerbowl and Tiny Town (with two ex-Subdudes), local siren Kacy Crowley, Lafayette shakers Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Cha’s, our Gourds, and the Nerk Twins. That’s worth a little verbal agony. But still … Generation Tex? Whatever.
LEGENDARY PINK DOTS
Back Room, Tuesday 2
Bookending a fascinating career with early Eighties outtakes (Under Triple Moons) and a brand-new LP (Hallway of the Gods), Amsterdam’s Legendary Pink Dots employ electronic and orchestral sounds to anchor leader Richard Ka-Spel’s engrossing lyrics. What issues forth can be caustic Skinny Puppy-like chaos (Ka-Spel was a frequent SP collaborator) or music as soothing as Brian Eno and mushroom tea.
ZEKE, NASHVILLE PUSSY, REO SPEEDEALER
Electric Lounge, Tuesday 2
With a blink-and-you-missed-it set at SXSW ’97, Seattle’s Zeke doesn’t waste much time. Plowing through entire albums in less time than a Seinfeld episode, the punk power hitters drag fallen-power-line melodies, bulldozer rhythms, and stopwatches down Lounge way for a bracing, though probably brief, big rawk show. Nashville Pussy and REO Speedealer open.
MATTHEW RYAN
Continental Club, Wednesday 3
Although Matthew Ryan’s A&M debut Mayday isn’t due until later next month, there’s already been plenty of hype surrounding this Pennsylvania singer-songwriter. And even though he’s an unabashed Dylan disciple, Ryan’s not just counting wallflowers — he’s penning tunes with truly substantive emotional, lyrical, and melodic content. Could this be a 1997 version of Joan Osborne’s sneak-peek gig at the Continental in 1995? — Andy Langer
DAVID ALLAN COE
La Zona Rosa, Thursday 4
A “surprise guest” (last-minute replacement) at Willie Nelson’s July Fourth Picnic this year, outlaw supreme David Allan Coe had the baking masses seeing Hank Williams’ ghost in the July Texas sun. Dapper as ever in his trusty black duster, the man who wrote and lived “Take This Job and Shove It” christens La Zona Rosa’s remodeled concert area with long-haired redneck antics and whiskey-friendly sounds.
CRASH WORSHIP
Voodoo Lounge, Thursday 4
Tired of keeping those repressed urges in check? Try some Crash Worship. Mixing tribal therapy, performance art, and a lot of drums, the traveling troupe’s shows — often held in warehouses and fields, ending in flaming processionals — purge the audience from the inside out, inspiring both exhilarating release and the incontrovertible desire to bang on things.
ALSO PLAYING
Friday: Stretford, Hormones, Los Tigres Guapos, Bates Motel; Jon Dee Graham, Earthpig, Flipnotics; Dale Watson, Broken Spoke
Saturday: Sap, Starfish, Dragsters, Blue Flamingo
Sunday: Charlie Robison, Libbi Bosworth, Backyard
Monday: South Austin Blues Jam, Saxon Pub
Tuesday: Jeff Buckley Tribute, The Ritz
Wednesday: Seth Walker, B-Side
Thursday: Ron Brown, Sullivan’s Ringside
This article appears in August 29 • 1997 and August 29 • 1997 (Cover).