“Time after time those fanatical minds try to rule all the world/ Telling us all it’s them who’s in charge of it all/ I’ve got a tricked out magic stick that will make them all fall/ We’ve got the power now, motherfuckers, that’s where it belongs/ You’ve got that right/ You know that it’s there/ They’ve got their weapons to solve all their questions, they don’t know what it’s for/ Why can’t they see it’s not power, just greed, to just want more and more?/ I got a plan and it’s here in my hand but it’s all made of rights/ We’re the enforcers, the sorcerer’s orphans, and we know why we fight … ” “The W.A.N.D.” by The Flaming LipsSince Weekly Alibi is devoting its feature this week to Zozobra—a look inside the people and processes behind the popular puppet—as well as a harbinger of the coming winter—I thought it might be fun to do a little bit of the same for the music section; you know what goes into the making of Show Up!, or something like that.First I drive down to my neighborhood 7-11 for a pack of frajos. Sometimes, I’ll run into someone I know, like the time Brian Banks shouted my name from outta his Mopar-made vehicle and nearly gave my fat ass a heart attack.Anyway, after that—and a Super Big Gulp with lotsa ice and a bit of iced tea—I head back to mi chante Downtown, where I can comfortably crawl through all the current data I have regarding live music in El Duque. It’s kinda like the Batcave except Bruce Wayne doesn’t have a half-pug chihuahua and a 1998 Mac Mini overseeing the whole affair.After about 2.5 hours of that—and about 1.5 grams of special herbal medicine—I usually come up with something interesting, like this:
Show Up!: Friday
Garry Blackchild
courtesy of the artist
One of the best things about the local community is its mutual affinity for everyone that’s genuinely part of the scene. That makes the whole thing pretty big, considering the number of performers and listeners and other peripheral participants in the area. When All Chola—a puro local outlet for merch that glorifies urban Chicana pop fashion by taking back the power of pride, rebellion and folk feminism with def designs and local referent—had a load of their merch stolen recently, all sorts of citizens came forward to pledge their support. The main result: a benefit concert on Friday, Aug. 31 at Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW). This big rock show, just in time to provide some forward momentum to some bitchin’ cholas as well as to bid summer hasta luego, Labor Day weekend style, yo, because it will totally rock! Featured bands include DJ Buddha Funk, hardened headbangers Sorry Guero, rustic and roguish singer songwriter Garry Blackchild and the always jamming like jambalaya Felix y Los Gatos. How can you go wrong with a ticket like that? It’s for a damn good cause. 8pm • $5 • 21+.
Show Up!: Saturday
SuperGiant
courtesy of the artist
No fooling: the boundaries containing the vibrant-as-a-nuclear-research-station in-the-desert music scene here in Burque seem to grow and grow. In this case they’re not possessed by radioactivity, though that cannot be definitively said for the surrounding environment. Anyway, avid local music listeners can get their fill of this seeping expansion by visiting a newish venue on the outskirts of Downtown, Dialogue Brewing (1501 First Street NW) on Saturday night, Sept. 1, for the inaugural iteration of 505 Live: A Showcase of Live Music and Live Art, a Mariposa Music production. Besides all sorta cray painting, sculpture and whatever else is hip in post-Postmodernism these days, a heap of super groovy musical performances are set to go down too. Get ready for tuneage by local luminaries SuperGiant, Mondo Vibrations, Da Terra Meiga, Innastate and Red Light Cameras that you can jam out to whilst viddying the best in new art or quaffing the joint’s most excellent brews. This all-day event has one admission price to encourage re-entry and further exploration, dudes, so make the most of the low admission price, it’s totally, like, an end of summer bargain! 2pm to 11:45pm • $5 • 21+.
Show Up!: Sunday
Since this is gonna be a long holiday, I heartily and communistically urge you all, dear readers, to take some time off to read about the history of this holiday, the labor movement, socialism and of course, if you still have time, some studies in 19th century European philosophy couldn’t hurt: Kant and Berkeley are my favorites, but go ahead and feel free to choose, even if it is Nietzche. Use the following musical messages to get you through the dense parts, folks.• All the News That’s Fit to Sing, Phil Ochs• The Times They Are A-Changin’, Bob Dylan• Double Nickels on the Dime, Minutemen• To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Show Up!: Monday
Dirty Brown Jug Band
Labor Day descends and summertime retreats thereafter, day by day. The nights get cool, the mornings come later. Before you surrender yourself to your own autumnal influences and tendencies, roll on down to Marble Brewery (111 Marble Ave. NW) for the brewery’s own special version of the inimitable American holiday. Besides a host of traditional Labor Day eats and treats, there will be plenty of beer to go around. How dang American is that? Plenty, with the sorts of entertainment on offer here. The mid-afternoon-to-late night festival includes rocked out sets by the Dirty Brown Jug Band, one of our town’s toughest yet totally tasty alt.country bands, Vintage Brew, a bluesy outfit that goes well with IPA and Scotty and the Atomics, another longtime local outfit guaranteed to get folks onto the dance floor with their soulfully funky blues-rock emanations. Does that sound like fun? I hope so, because the next break you get won’t come until Christmas. 3pm to 9pm • FREE • 21+.
