I can see you in the morning when you go to school/ Don’t forget your books, you know you’ve got to learn the golden rule/ Teacher tells you stop your play and get on with your work/ And be like Johnnie-too-good, well don’t you know he never shirks/ He’s coming along… – “School” by Roger HodgsonAnd you’re coming along too … psyched or stoked or whatever as you journey to one of several concerts in the Albuquerque area guaranteed to satisfy your quasi-spiritual ethical obligations as well as those more earthly urges you feel whenever the music plays.
Show Up!: Thursday
If you dig the distillation of jazz and soul through the hip-hop sieve employed by innovators like J Dilla and Pete Rock, then have I gotta show for you. Black Milk, dudes. He’ll be bringing his Motor City, electro-tastic flow to Sister (407 Central NW) on Thursday, August 4. A prolific performer and producer responsible for a series of recordings and performances that demonstrate rap’s overwhelming superiority to rock during the aughts and what followed, Black Milk’s work swerves dangerously though with utter confidence through the deconstruction of soul, synthesizers and existential angst as it places Detroit at the center of the genre. His live show, featuring a group of sidemen known as the Nat Turner Band, is one of the best live outfits touring the states this summer. Twelve Washingtons get you into this 21+ gig that goes off at 8pm.
Show Up!: Friday
Back in the day, Weekly Alibi not only produced the bestest, hippest most well-written and good-looking paper on the planet, but we also knew how to throw a helluva party. In a nod to the past and keen eye on the future—and as the paper proceeds toward its 25th year of publication—we’re going to be producing concerts again! Excellent, rocking, up-to-date-with-current-culture events that’ll burn the beauty of Burque back into your brain. The first of such shows takes place at Sister (407 Central NW) on Friday, August 5. Red Light Cameras highlight an evening of local sounds that also features SuperGiant, Rock Jong Il and Artificial Flora. Join us (if you’re 21+) as we rock the fuck out beginning at 9pm—in the midst of a lovely summer and an awesome Downtown. Tickets cost $5 in advance through Alibi Bucks and are $10 at the door.
Show Up!: Saturday
Dirty Brown Jug Band
Courtesy of the artist via Facebook
If the aforementioned ain’t enough to put you on the path to homegrown music appreciation, then you better drag what’s left of you after the previous evening’s indulgences (Hey, what happens in Burque stays in Burque, no?) over to Low Spirits (2823 Second Street NW) for some raw revitalization courtesy of the Dirty Brown Jug Band. They’ll be jamming on Saturday night, August 6. The smoothly melodic guitar-based Americana ensemble uses their precise yet groovy knowledge of country-Western rhythms and blistering blues to craft a highly danceable, musically rich and thoroughly good-vibe-filled environment that’s a summer necessity in these parts; much like the August-blooming monsoons we’re all waiting upon. Unlike the notoriously variable weather in these parts, the Dirty Brown Jug Band (featuring Jer Killinger on vocals and guitar, Justin Roque on bass and Steve Martinez on sticks) is rock steady and goes down smooth when the proper temperatures are applied. They take the stage at 9pm and for only $5 and a valid 21+ ID, you can join in the celebratory times these folks evoke.
Show Up!: Tuesday
As a finale to this week’s concert preview extravaganza, I thought I’d write about the Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs concert going off at Sandia Casino Amphitheater (30 Rainbow) on Tuesday, August 9. I was going to be all snarky and tell how I felt that McDonald’s work with Steely Dan made the band sound saccharine or how I felt Scaggs made a career out of aping Donald Fagen. But then I read in some calendar listing how Fagen was playing keys for this show and the three were being billed as The Dukes of September. How could I ever possibly say something bad about that? After all, I’ve based my life on Steely Dan lyrics. Anyway, I did some further research and found out the latter is not the case. Fagen is in New York resting up for the third leg of the Dan’s 2016 tour. So if you go to this show you’ll have to go with your love of McDonald and Scaggs intact. Which is indeed possible, as both are credible purveyors of blue-eyed soul channeled through the AOR aesthetics of the late 1970s. And they always, always come with a hot band attached. Admission to this one range from $30-45; they’ll be opportunities to employ the Lido Shuffle or employ one’s characteristic male vibrato throughout.
