“So, you want to be a rock and roll star?/ Then listen now to what I say/ Just get an electric guitar/ Then take some time/ And learn how to play/ And with your hair swung right/ And your pants too tight/ It’s gonna be all right/ Then it’s time to go downtown/ Where the agent man won’t let you down/ Sell your soul to the company/ Who are waiting there to sell plastic ware/ And in a week or two/ If you make the charts/ The girls’ll tear you apart/ The price you paid for your riches and fame/ Was it all a strange game?/ You’re a little insane/ The money, the fame and the public acclaim/ Don’t forget who you are/ You’re a rock and roll star.” –“So You Want to be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” by The Byrds.It’s a cray song, jangly, jaded and succinctly arch in its proclamations about the rock biz. It was released on the pre-summer of love album Younger Than Yesterday but the single version was backed with “Everybody’s Been Burned,” which I suppose says something a bit darker about the outcomes of some musical trajectories. Nonetheless, it’s exciting stuff, filled with the wonder every band must feel as they sway and arch toward ascendancy. That’s a feeling I intend to transmit to you, dear reader, as you inch your way through this writ, searching for the source—embodied as musical experience, Burque style.
Show Up!: Thursday
Zines are a thing. Even in the age of social media, the printed page takes precedence as a fantastically rewarding media format. Hell, just check out the Alibi for proof of the latter statement. Anywho, Sister (407 Central NW) hosts a benefit for ABQ Zine Fest on Thursday, Sept. 24. Fronted by local artist-provocateur Marya Errin Jones, Zine Fest revitalized the community with its DIY sensibility and artistry.The sound behind Jones’ vision comes forward that evening in support of the fifth annual fest, to be held Oct. 10 at the Tannex and Graft. The bill is laden with some of Albuquerque’s grandest musical outfits. Constant Harmony, the multi-tentacled progeny of local sound recordist/studio wizard Lee Sillery will do a set. Sillery’s sister Jenny adds a haunting glow to Lee’s shoe gaze-worthy work with vocals reminiscent of a summer storm on the western horizon. If their part of the bill is like the tuneage on their latest release Peace Virus, audiences should come away pleasantly submerged in deep desert water. Punk rockers Rudest Priest—whose knowing nod toward OG outfits like Dead Milkmen and Icky and the Yuks is more affirmation than derivation—add speedy fun to the action. Neo-prog-rock soulsters Time Wound and the inimitable DJ Mello open. For only three bones and an ID that proclaims your 21+ status, you can support the scene in a fashion that knowingly acknowledges its papery yet rock solid foundation. Showtime is at 9pm.
Show Up!: Friday
The plutonic aftermath of a world gone metal will be on exhibit at Launchpad (618 Central SW) when The Skull visits on Friday, Sept. 25. Comprised of former members of doomsters Trouble, The Skull has a guitarist named Lothar, dudes. Listening to output such as For Those Which Are Asleep has an effect akin to immersion in boiling lead; it’s that hot, heavy and mind-melting. Joining The Skull on their rampage will be Nuevo Mexicano Hanta, infamous for a tremulous and growling record known as Unsanitary Coral Extraction. Sandia Man, a proto-metal Duke City ensemble whose caveman rock features fiery granite stones transformed into stunningly sludgy riffage is also on the night’s agenda. Prey For Kali, a terror-inducing trio from Burque opens the show with the darkly intricate invocations of guitarist Eric Paulk. Their rhythm section, Josh Vigil and Reuben Castillo, have been known to scare the bejesus outta Shiva himself, which is no mean feat. Tickets to a scene similar to that envisioned by Dante and guided by Virgil cost a mere $10. You gotta be 21+ and overwhelmed by sin to enter. The gate yawns wide at 8pm and the music begins at 9:30pm.
Show Up!: Saturday
After gleefully wrecking your eternal soul on Friday night, wouldn’t you like to fall into a trance as you dance away the following evening? The probability of such can be enhanced by the concert to be given by Dutch EDM arhat Ferry Corsten. He’ll be at The Stage at Santa Ana Star (54 Jemez Dam, Bernalillo) on Saturday, Sept. 26. Also known as System F and the Moonman, Corsten is notable for a progressive take on breakbeat-infused trance. His pre-millennial work delineated the Euro-trance faction of electronica; his later work with EDM outfits like New World Punx continues to demonstrate why the genre has conquered the known universe with glowsticks, tubes of Vicks Vaporub and a beat that is thick with glitchified yet ambient melodicism. Admission for this trippy trip to electro-land is $20-25. The gig goes down at about 9pm.
Show Up!: Tuesday
Fast forward to Tuesday, Sept. 29. By then you’ll be rested up. Perhaps enough so that you might fully enjoy the soulful sonic sojourns of post-britpop band Glass Animals and the low-fi exuberance of Hinds. They’ll be at Sunshine Theater (120 Central SW) that night. Like other Oxfordshire oddfellows such as Radiohead, Glass Animals supplements their rock and roll diet with wholesome doses of electronica and the occasional reference to R&B. Contrariwise, supporting ensemble Hinds, straight outta Madrid en España, portray rocanrol music as a gritty chunk of otherwise super-tasty bubblegum stolen directly from the mouth of Nico or Maureen Tucker. Let loosely brilliant pop gems like “Chili Town” and “Bamboo” ramble rockingly out the minds and instruments of Carlota Cosials, Ana Garcia Perrote, Ade Martin and Amber Grimbergen prior to indulging the lovely “Lotus Flower”-like tendencies of Glass Animals. Together, these groups may transport you to the other side of the pop pond. $17 is what a ticket costs here. Doors are at 7pm with aural activities to be activated at 8:30pm.
Show Up!:
With the variations available in our town’s realm of rock, who wouldn’t want to be a star, or a listener, for that matter? And speaking of variations, did I mention the Patti Smith Group does a version of that Byrd’s tune? It absolutely fucking rocks. You can listen to it online, but promise me a couple things, okay? First, that you’ll go check out the scene afterwards; second, don’t forget who you are: You’re a rock and roll star.
