Yr. Early Weekend: Dead Prez + Searching for Signal + Illegal Wiretaps + Ghost Storys + Witherees + More

Trying to get a little bit of a jump on things this week, especially since there’s some very, very cool stuff going on tonight (Thurs., August 18th, that is)…

Foremost on my list, at least, is the Dead Prez show going off (like a pipebomb, naturally) up at Fitz — I’ve been a fan for a good decade now, and I’m glad to see the duo’s still going strong in a time when hip-hop feels like it’s nearly the most vapid and get-shit-minded that it’s ever been. It doesn’t hurt that {Hollywood Floss} and V Zilla are opening, too, ’cause they’re both pretty great.

Fitz has a damn good lineup on the other floor, too, with El Ten Eleven, The Globes, and — best of all — Austin/Houston outfit {Searching for Signal}. I reviewed their latest, As If Nothing’s Changing, a little while back and was pretty impressed by their gently-drifting, swaying shimmer-rock that hangs between Spiritualized and Athlete.

Then there’s {The Illegal Wiretaps}, whom I like quite a bit, playing over at The Mink, and at Mango’s there’s a gang of rockabilly guys, including The Chop Tops and local boys {The Ghost Storys}, and at Jimmie’s Ice House (which I think is that laidback bar at Studewood & White Oak), {The Witherees} — who I need to hear at some point soon — will be serenading the Heights crowd.

Here’s the full list:

Dead Prez/Hollywood Floss/V Zilla @ Fitzgerald’s
El Ten Eleven/The Globes/Searching for Signal @ Fitzgerald’s
The Chop Tops/The Rocketz/The Strikers/The Ghost Storys @ Mango’s
The Illegal Wiretaps/Only Beast/Sonar/Sean K. Smith @ The Mink
The Witherees @ Jimmies Ice House
Houston Fringe Festival, featuring Sobers & Godley, Tina Mullone, & Milo & Shyla @ Super Happy Fun Land
Vision, featuring Cuba Gooding Jr., Kiyoshi, & Tangled Shadows @ Numbers