Tonight: Black Congress + Mucky Duck + Wild Moccasins + Otep + Murder the Stout + More

It’s Wednesday, March 17th, and I’m running out of time, as always, which sucks, because there’s a crapload of stuff going on tonight, most of it good. I’ll try to write up what I can, though, for those few brave souls out there who actually read this shit with any regularity…

Black Congress/This Moment In Black History/Sun God/Sexycrimes @ Mango’s
For me, Black Congress fills that void left when the Fatal Flying Guilloteens dissolved into a puddle of sweat and bile (which is appropriate, given member Roy Mata‘s Guilloteen pedigree); they’re that band that feels like they’d rather be punching you in the face just to see what happens than actually playing the show, but they thankfully restrain themselves and channel it into the pounding, knife-edged spazz-rock they make, instead.

St. Patrick’s Day Festival, featuring Clandestine, Greg Trooper, Teribus, The Irish Gypsies, The Irish Session Players, Marybeth McQueen, Martin Burniston’s Irish Singalong, Jim Mackenzie, & O’Maoileidigh Irish Dancers @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
What? How the hell did I do that? I somehow completely left today’s ever-awesome St. Patrick’s Day show at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck off the shows list, and I didn’t even realize it ’til just now…argh. The party’s already been going full-blast at the Duck since noon or so, though, with my help or not, and it’s a ball, I swear. Lots of excellent, excellent music from local folk icons Clandestine, Greg Trooper, Teribus, The Irish Gypsies, & more, plus dancing, plenty of beer, and tons of good food, all for a relatively-measly $16. It’s not too late to get over there, eh?

The Wild Moccasins/James Husband/Unwed Sailor/Common Loon @ Rudyard’s
Damn, I almost forgot about this one, which is a shame, because The Wild Moccasins deserve every mention I can give ’em. They really are up there at the top of the heap in our little scene, and I can’t wait to hear the new stuff they’ve been working on; so far, I’ve heard new track “Skin Collision Past,” and it’s damn cool, edgier and funkier and more post-rock than anything they’ve done to this point. The shift is very good to hear, in my opinion — much as I love the candy-shiny pop stuff, nobody can eat a diet of nothing but sweet stuff forever…

Otep/Bury Your Dead/Destrophy/Through the Eyes of the Dead/Deep 6/All The Way To The Bank/Waverly Hills/Perfect Disease @ Rocbar
Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I happen to think raw, heavy-as-hell metal band Otep, led by eponymous frontwoman Otep Shamaya, is pretty damn cool. Not that keen on their newer, more poppy stuff, but the heavier, more grind-/thrash-influenced music’s great, esp. considering Shamaya’s ridiculously versatile voice.

Barely Blind/Irival/Conditions/Fighting for Adella/Jerusalem/Sound We Sleep @ The Junction (8302 N Eldridge Parkway)
I really, really wish I’d paid more attention to Barely Blind when they were still hanging ’round these parts; their 2007(?) album The Way We Operate was (and still is) a pretty impressive chunk of smart, sarcastic, yet not annoying post-emo pop-punk, and it’s one that finds its way into my player fairly often even now, three years on.

Murder the Stout @ The Bull & Bear Tavern (11980 Westheimer)
Believe it or not, a coworker & I hired Murder the Stout to play a company happy-hour party for St. Patrick’s Day a few years ago, and beyond being genuinely nice folks, they also happen to be a damn cool Irish/Scottish folk band. They beat the hell out of the Michael Flatley (ick) videos the folks who put on today’s St. Pat’s Happy Hour deal, that’s for damn sure. Funny anecdote: my boss originally balked, thinking “Murder the Stout” was about killing large-ish people, instead of a nice pint of Guinness. Ah, Susan… (And hey, it looks like bassist Jay Brooks, of Middlefinger, Clouseaux, The Suspects, & a billion other bands, is now playing with these guys; very cool.)

SXSW Overflow Fest, featuring Maud in Cahoots, The Zut Alors, Born Empty, Blissed Out, At Versaris, Holy Liars, Vio/Miré, Liz Isenberg, & Aa @ Super Happy Fun Land
Yep, yep, yep — more SXSW Overflow Fest. See here for more…

Runners-Up:
Houston Press St. Patty’s Day Ballyhoo Bash, featuring Sideshow Tramps, Come See My Dead Person, & DJ Dave Wrangler @ House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room)
SoundLib, featuring Lil Tiger, Cashless, & Simiyu @ 1701 Commonwealth (10PM-2AM; free!)
The Wave Pictures/Slow Club @ The Orange Show (8PM)
St. Patrick’s Day Party, featuring Blaggards, Allen Oldies Band, & The Mighty Orq @ The Continental Club
Mayer Hawthorne & The County/Nikki Jean/Andrew Green @ Warehouse Live (Studio)
Free Radicals @ Avant Garden
St. Patrick’s Day Comedy Party, featuring Letters to Voltron, Ramey O’Brien and the Blarney Stoners, & Wiggins and Rizk @ Fitzgerald’s
Felix Cartal/Damon Allen/GRRRL Parts/Go Go Garcia @ The Mink
Dead Confederate/Churchill/Tax the Wolf @ Warehouse Live (Green Room)
Lazlo/The On Fires/Finnegan/Frank Freeman/Michael Coffeman/David Lascoe @ Walter’s