Tuesday, January 28:
La Luz/Pure Bathing Culture (Three Links): Since 2012, Seattle’s La Luz has gained a lot of national attention for an almost perversely retro style of surf-pop. Whether it’s their vocals, guitar sounds, or visuals, one gets the feeling they don’t exactly appreciate living in our modern era. Except for how easy it is to research the old days, of course. See the video below to get an idea of La Luz’s safe but highly appealing music:
Wednesday, January 29:
F*cked Up/B L A C K I E/Mountain of Smoke (Club Dada): The popularity of Canada’s F*cked Up—a hardcore act that’s all surface-level threat, but ultimately harmless—along with an extremely low ticket price ($3), should make this one of the most well-attended shows of the week. F*cked Up may be the draw here, but don’t underestimate Houston’s B L A C K I E, the genre-splicing noise and rap act otherwise known as Michael LaCour. LaCour’s penchant for confrontational live performances should be in rare form for such a hyped-up event.
Friday, January 31:
Kelly Rowland (Medusa): Twenty bucks seems like a steal to catch this still well-known Destiny’s Child alum. I’m wondering about how long the performance will actually last, but it’s worth a try for die-hards. Those are easy to come by in this DC-proud state.
Saturday, February 1:
Dām-Funk/5-D/JT Donaldson/Tony Schwa (The Crown and Harp): It’s good to see Dām-Funk finally enjoying the sort of career trajectory he’s always threatened to pull off. Though his early work was quite grabbing, it was somewhat relegated to the obscure world of limited-edition cassette releases with Nite Jewel and the like. While that has its place, it’s nice to see him spread out and collaborate with an artist as well-known as Snoop Dogg, as they did on last year’s 7 Days of Funk, which has found his once lesser-known brand of underground funk flirting with mainstream success. A trio of great local DJs as openers make this a solid event to have an old-fashioned, actual good time, what with the dancing and the drinking and all of that.
Planned Parenthood Benefit Show (The Crown and Harp): Part of the bar proceeds go to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, which seems just about constantly under threat. You can also make an extra donation, should you so choose. Frauen, Cerulean Giallo, Jenny Robinson, and Air Darla will all perform, so expect a lively evening that alternates between moody, technical, and boastful.
Sunday, February 2:
Layzie Bone/Mo Thugs/Fab Deuce (Hailey’s): It’s been rumored that Hailey’s will be moving toward more dance-oriented events as opposed to live music, and hip hop has always straddled those two worlds. But a name like Layzie Bone might make Hailey’s a venue to contend with in the area regarding rap shows—if they keep ’em coming, and with even more current acts. We’ll see.
Image: La Luz. Credit: Angel Ceballos, courtesy of Hardly Art.
