Main Street Block Party, Tomorrow in Midtown

Holy wow, y’all. Tomorrow (Sat., January 28th) marks the 2nd-ever installment of the Main Street Block Party, a heavyweight pile of bands and musicians all spread out across a bunch of Midtown venues, including The Continental Club, The Big Top, The Mink, Natachee’s, & The Pachinko Hut.

First up, parking’s going to be hell — if it was me, I’d park at the Fannin Park & Ride and take the METRORail up to Midtown and avoid all the mess…

Now, beyond that, there’re a ton of awesome bands playing, including some cool out-of-towners like What Made Milwaukee Famous, Empress Hotel, and England in 1819, along with a bunch of great locals — Featherface, The Gold Sounds (who’ve been laying real low lately, unfortunately), Cavernous, Muhammad Ali, and Prairie Cadets, for five, plus the return, albeit temporary, of the awesome Paris Falls to H-town.

And hey, while we’re at it, here’re a couple of samples from said out-of-towners, free to download & enjoy:

England in 1819 – “The Air That We Once Breathed”
Empress Hotel – “Bells Ring”

Beyond that, there’s a whole slew of folks I’ve heard good things about but have yet to actually hear/see a whole lot of yet, like The Handshake, Second Lovers, Twenty Eleven, March to the Sea, Screwtape, Guilt Party, & Howler. This is one of those kinds of festivals where you can just roam from bar to bar to bar to bar and back again and stumble across your five favorite new bands in the process.

Here’s the full schedule (the most recent version I’ve seen, anyway):

THE CONTINENTAL CLUB:

9PM-1AM — Fredsta & DJ Kat NYC
1:20-2AM — Empress Hotel
12:20-1:05 — Tax the Wolf
11PM-12:05 — What Made Milwaukee Famous
10PM-10:45 — The Handshake
9:05-9:45 — Caddywhompus
8:15-8:50 — Featherface
7:20-8PM — The Literary Greats
6:35-7:05 — The Gold Sounds
5:45-6:15 — Prairie Cadets
5:00-5:30 — The American Heist
4:20-4:45 — Jim & The Toms
3:10-4:05 — Electric Attitude
2:30-3:00 — Vox & Hounds
1:45-2:15 — PAPAYA
1PM-1:30 — Unicorn Milk

THE MINK (BACK ROOM):

1:20-2AM — Power Trip
12:20-1:05 — Venomous Maximus
11:30-12:05 — B L A C K I E
10:45-11:15 — Fight Pretty
10PM-10:30 — A dream Asleep
9:15-9:45 — Cavernous
8:30-9PM — Odessa
7PM-7:30 — Vivian Pikkles & the Sweethearts Über Alles
6:20-6:45 — Purple
5:35-6:05 — Lola-Cola
4:55-5:20 — Casinos
4:05-4:30 — Muhammad Ali
3:25-3:50 — White Crime
2:40-3:10 — Harold Borup
2PM-2:25 — ???
1PM — Gnome Chomsky

THE BIG TOP:

1:20-2AM — Mills
12:20-1:05 — Brains for Dinner
11:35-12:05 — Second Lovers
10:45-11:20 — Bang Bangz
10PM-10:30 — The League of Extraordinary Gz
9:20-9:45 — Twenty Eleven
8:40-9:05 — Screwtape
8PM-8:30 — Driver F
7:15-7:45 — Bending Villa
6:30-7PM — Guilt Party
5:40-6:15 — Another Run
5:05-5:35 — England in 1819
4:20-4:45 — Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man
3:30-4:05 — Don’t Poke The Bear
2:45-3:15 — B L A C K I E
1:40-2:15 — The Dead Revolt
1PM-1:25 — Shadow Hound

NATACHEE’S SUPPER & PUNCH:

9:15-10PM — Chase Hamblin
8:30-9PM — Poor Pilate
7:45-8:15 — The Live Lights
7PM-7:30 — March to the Sea
6:15-6:45 — New York City Queens
5:30-6PM — Howler
4:45-5:15 — Vipers
4PM-4:30 — Paris Falls
3:15-3:45 — Fox & Cats
2:25-3pm — Square and Compass
1:40-2:10 — Frank Freeman
1pm-1:25 — Brett Hollis

THE PACHINKO HUT:

1:35-2AM — Abstract Cannon/{Danny Watts}
12:45-1:30 — Puppet
12:-12:35 — Daphne
11:15-11:45 — Richie Roc
10:15-11PM — INSERT CREDIT[S] (w/Special Guests)
9:30-10PM — {Art Institute}
8:45-9:15 — Dirty & Nasty
8PM-8:30 — iLL LiaD (w/special appearance by Houston Underground legend Point Blank The Bull)
7:20-7:45 — Blvd Night
6:35-7:05 — {Renzo}
6PM-6:25 — Disfrutalo!
5:15-5:45 — Wayword
4:30-5PM — Spastic Fit
3:30-4:15 — Punk Rock Project
2:45-3:15 — Amorette
2PM-2:30 — Gut Radio

THE MINK (TICKETING AREA/DJ SETS):

1AM — DJ Pharmer
12AM — DJ Sinik (Underworld) & MC Buda Love (Purple Gang/Murderland Collective)
11PM — BMC (Texas Bud)
10PM — DJ Athena
9PM — Rob Bass (Texas Dub)
8PM — Panchitron
7PM — DJ N9NE
6PM — Mr. Castillo
5PM — Ceeplus Bad Knives
4PM — Best Legs
3PM — Damon Allen
2PM — Stephen Farrell

Anyway, it’s going to be one hell of a show, believe it; snag a ticket for $15 apiece, which honestly isn’t bad given the lineup. Stop on by the Midtown ‘hood tomorrow, eh?