Happy hump day! Tons of shows to check out tonight! Start your weekend early and head out on the town!
FIDLAR with The Orwells @ The Drunken Unicorn
FIDLAR is a punk band from Los Angeles, California consisting of Zac Carper, Brandon Schwartzel, Elvis Kuehn, and Max Kuehn. The band’s name is an acronym for “Fuck It Dog, Life’s a Risk,” a skate mantra from singer Zac Carper’s former roommates. In 2012, FIDLAR was named one of Stereogum’s 40 Best New Bands of 2012.
The Orwells are an American rock band from Elmhurst, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, consisting of Mario Cuomo, Dominic Corso, Matt O’Keefe, Grant Brinner, and Henry Brinner. Their debut album, Remember When, was released on August 7, 2012 through Autumn Tone Records. Their first EP entitled Other Voices was released on June 24, 2013 on National Anthem Records. On September 10, 2013, The Orwells released their second EP, Who Needs You, also on National Anthem. We interviewed Matt O’Keefe last week and you can check that out here.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.
Online and phone sales close at 4pm today!
Mudhoney with Cheap Time @ The Earl
Every now and then, a combination will go beyond “appropriate” or “good” and result in something that forever alters the universe. Just imagine a world without chocolate and peanut butter, Doc Martens and a leather jacket, Beavis and Butthead, and of course, Mudhoney and Sub Pop. April 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of both Mudhoney and Sub Pop Records, and there could be no better band to represent the label, past, present and future. Nirvana, Saint Etienne and Fleet Foxes are swell, but no other group has consistently kicked as much ass as Mudhoney, nor has anyone come close. Through two and a half decades, sarcastic grins remain implanted on their grizzled faces, even as empty bottles and the sneakers of a stage diver fly inches from their heads. Along with this milestone celebration, Mudhoney have bestowed Vanishing Point upon us. It’s not their first album. Or third. Or seventh. Vanishing Point is Mudhoney’s ninth studio album, a truly remarkable feat for any band, but almost statistically impossible in their case, as we are talking about a band whose 1988 debut Touch Me I’m Sick b/w Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More was such a volatile and desperate single that it’s miraculous the band made it through a weekend, let alone another year. In an age where only the newest of the new can survive (and even then, only for a few weeks at best), what could the decades-old Mudhoney have to offer? What could they possibly have left to say?
Doors open at 8:30pm.
Tickets are $17 in advance and $20 the day of the show.
Sean Hayes with The Blank Tapes @ Eddie’s Attic
“Before We Turn to Dust,” San Francisco based songwriter Sean Hayes’ newest release was written and recorded in the same year he became a father. You can hear the love and struggle throughout. In one moment Hayes is singing “you may spend all your money before you turn to dust / but you’ll never spend all your love.” In the next moment, reminiscent of Bill Withers’ classic “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone,” he flips it with his line “I miss her when I’m gone/ but I’ve got to make my money” and goes on to intone “bring it home, bring it home, bring it home/ to my lady and my baby.” There is something raw and down-home about this music. Simple and straightforward the piano, guitar, drums, bass, occasional horns and back-up singing surround his warm, vibrato-laden voice that leads the way, down “side street alleys” or to “that spot with the jukebox where we can sing your favorite tune.”
Doors open at 6:30 pm.
Show starts at 8:00 pm.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
Online and phone sales end at 5pm tonight.
Cody Canada & The Departed with Adam Hood @ Smith’s Olde Bar
Cody Canada was 16 years old when he made his way from Yukon to Stillwater, Oklahoma. He had been searching for some inspiration; a place to call home musically. What he found was a creative nirvana of musicians who were generating the music that would stay with him for the rest of his life. “It was like the greatest place on earth, “ Cody recalls. “I met Tom Skinner, Scott Evans, Bob Childers, Jimmy LaFave, the Red Dirt Rangers and they were all playing this really, really good music. It was kind of in that same vibe as the Allman Brothers and The Band. But what came out of it was really diverse. There were more country acts like Jason Boland. The All American Rejects were the rock guys. Then you had the whole Red Dirt hippie thing…I didn’t even know what Red Dirt was until somebody told me. I got turned on to it all and it’s stayed with me ever since.” During the 15 years that Canada was front man for Cross Canadian Ragweed, he successfully tapped into those influences on each of their nine albums. Four of those nine charted on Billboard’s Top 10 Country Albums over the course of the years, thousands of albums were sold and the band played to sell out crowds across the country helping to spread “red dirt” music. But the one thing that Canada wanted to do in honor of his musical heartland never came to fruition… until now.
Tickets are $15 in advance and online and phone sales end at 2pm today!
Doors open at 8:00 pm.
Earth, Wind & Fire @ The Fox Theatre
Read our article for more information.
City and Colour @ The Tabernacle
So says Dallas Green, otherwise known as City and Colour. He’s not really talking about confessionals (though that might happen, too) but truthfully incarnated music: organic songwriting, natural process and sincere moments captured in the studio. Captured—not manipulated. For his fourth LP, The Hurry and The Harm, Green not only wanted to present an honest album, but an honest version of himself. To do so, he had to leave some things behind, confront others and let the rest simmer. It’s no surprise, really. City and Colour’s music is exactly that: peace, in wild things. There’s a calm, dulcet tone to the songs, the melodies crafted to provide restlessness amidst a sonically complex journey that both soothes and rustles. The record’s first leaked track, “Of Space and Time,” showcases Green’s voice as it dangles in his own special kind of falsetto, set to a chugging drumbeat and subtle strum. “I’m roaming through the hills all alone,” he sings. “I’m trying to find my direction home.” Maybe he didn’t know it at the time, but home is City and Colour—it’s not simply a “solo” project from an otherwise accounted-for band member, but is Green, his primary entity, and his honesty.
