Liberty Lunch, Friday 23
Considering how indierock has become the rotting preserve of the
juiceless and
dull, I guess we should be thankful both these stellar outfits have
graduated,
albeit to the purgatory which lies between underground stardom and
mainstream
stardom. With My Brother the Cow, Mudhoney may have finally
turned in
their most focused, fangs-bared synthesis of Sonics-oid Northwestern
carport
rock, and Iggy Stooge destructo riffing. Clawhammer’s roots also lay in
’69
Detroit mayhem, though they wed said frenzy with the angular artblues
snort of
Captain Beefheart, and wiseass propulsion of vintage Devo. If this is
purgatory, then we should all be purchasing one-way tickets at the Ol’
Scratch
Airways desk. – Tim
Stegall
VICTOR ESSIET & THE MANDATORS
Flamingo Cantina, Friday 23
It’s a relief to find that Victor Essiet is a rasta from Nigeria
instead of
Jamaica, because I tire of the Jamaican carpetbaggers rolling into town
in
their ganja-cloaked buses and playing a by-the-numbers, 60-minute set.
When
asked if there was an opener, Flamingo owner Angela Tharp replied, “No,
Victor
likes to play a long time.” Let his high rasp and the Mandators’ sound
groove
do what they did to an adoring SXSW crowd: Get you high.
RIVER OF VOICES, RIVER OF LIGHT
Laguna Gloria Amphitheatre,
Friday 23-Sunday 25
In a recent conversation with jazz diva Tina Marsh, she lamented the
fact that
people’s minds and ear weren’t open to the complexities of jazz. Maybe
if we
marry it with multimedia they will come, she said. Well, the wedding’s
all
weekend. Joining Marsh and the CO2 collective is conceptual performing
artist
Sally Jacques, sculptor John Christensen, and dancers/choreographers
Mike
Arnold, Andrea Beckman, Mary Ganzon, and Carolyn Pavlik. Under the
trees and by
the lagoon of the Laguna Gloria Amphitheater sounds like the perfect
place to
witness this wondrous union.
PAM HART & SANDY ALLEN
Cafezino, Saturday 24
Did I say “jazz diva” (see above)? Few in Austin are as div-ine a
vocalist as
the smoky-voiced Hart, who returns to the stage after the birth of a
daughter.
With Sandy Allen on piano, Hart will take you down a path where divine
flowers
like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald flourish and
grow in
beauty.
HERMAN THE GERMAN & DAS COWBOY
Austin Outhouse, Saturday 24
In this town of fair-haired Stratocaster knight-errants, it’s easy
to overlook
a shredder on the caliber of Herman the German. Last peeked at in the
Steven
Soderbergh’s The Underneath, the Kaiser of the rockabilly-surf
guitar
will jack-boot you into submission, and leave you begging him for a
second
album.
YELLOWMAN
Aussie’s, Sunday 25
Billed as the “Austin International Reggae Festival,” this all-day
bash at
Aussie’s starts at 1pm, and continues into the evening with Jamaica’s
rasta
prophet Yellowman, and his island mates Sagitarius Band. In-between –
besides
the lazy all-consuming groove – are Tony Express from Nigeria, One
Destiny and
Seventh Sinse from San Antonio, and locals Urban Roots, One Destiny,
and Dogon
Sirius.
FILTER, DIE CHEERLEADER
Emo’s, Monday 26
What you’ve got here is the Offspring. Not in the musical sense, but
in the
way Filter’s Emo’s gig was booked well before “Hey Man Nice Shot” broke
big on
radio and MTV – just as the Offspring’s “Come Out and Play” exploded on
the eve
of their Emo’s line-around-the-block-fest. Suddenly ex-NINer Richard
Patrick
(whose brother, Robert was the Terminator in T2) is the hot shit. You
need to get there early anyway, so why not catch opener Die
Cheerleader, a U.K.
femme fatal trio (plus a dude) that aims closer to L7 than Elastica,
and falls
somewhere between with their new Human Pitbull (Henry Rollin’s kennel)
release
Son of Filth.
ABRA MOORE & MITCH WATKINS
Cactus Cafe, Wednesday 28
It won’t come as any surprise to fans of Poi Dog Pondering that Abra
Moore’s
Bohemia Beat (Jimmy LaFave, Michael Fracasso) debut Sing is all
things
feminine – that’s Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Edie Brickell, etc.
etc. –
and is as stirring and soulful an Austin release as you’re likely to
find.
Accompanied by guitarist Mitch Watkins, Moore should stir you too. So
will the
price: Nada, free.
AUSTIN SYMPHONY’S CHILDREN’S DAY
Symphony Square, Wednesday 28
You didn’t ship the kids to summer camp? Oh my. Fortunately, Symphony
Square
is there for you – through August 2 as a matter of fact. Every
Wednesday at the
Red River outdoor space, the Children’s Day Art Park swings into action
with
music and fun for the kids. This week it’s the Austin Symphony Brass
Quintet
doing the honors, and beginning at 9:30am, the “Instrumental Petting
Zoo,”
which allows the young ‘uns to play orchestra instruments, swings into
action.
Info: 476-6064.
ESQUIVEL!
Continental Club, Thursday 29
Okay, so it’s not the 76-year-old Mexican love doctor, and father
of the
lounge craze (which he started in the Fifties) who’ll be at the
Continental.
Instead, it’s a slide show and video greeting presented by his label
Bar None,
which has chosen Austin as one of a handful of cities to host a release
party
for Music From A Sparkling Planet, the follow-up to the
hallucinogenic
lounge sounds of Space Age Bachelor Pad. Cocktails are from
8-9pm,
followed by the lounge sounds of the Naughty Ones, Useless Playboys,
and
Euripides Pants.
ALSO PLAYING
Friday: Little Sister, Sixty Six, Steamboat
Saturday: Bluerunners, Bill Carter, Antone’s
Sunday: Rich Harney Trio, Elephant Room
Monday: Breedlove, Antone’s
Tuesday: Kris McKay’s Too Many Guitars, Hole in the Wall
Wednesday: Ted Roddy & the Talltops, Broken Spoke
Thursday: Bob Brozman, Steve James, Cactus Cafe
This article appears in June 23 • 1995 and June 23 • 1995 (Cover).