“What do you mean, you’re going to keep going to shows every blessed night, even if we may be possibly at war with Iran,” I asked August March, as I sat in his troca waiting for the pictures he took at last week’s anti-war protest to develop.“Mark my words, sonny,” he said, “between the Juggalos, the hippies and the rest of the noble personages responsible for civic dissent, we’ll have this crisis licked in no time.”With that he dropped the needle on a record by Edwin Starr called “War.” As the old rock critic began dancing around the room, the lyrics reverberated through downtown Burque (he did have an Alpine system, after all):“… It ain’t nothing but a heart breaker/ War, it’s got one friend that’s the undertaker/ Oh, war, has shattered many a young mans’ dreams/ Made him disabled, bitter and mean/ Life is much too short and precious/ To spend fighting wars these days/ War can’t give life/ It can only take it away/ Oh, war, huh, good god why y’all?/ What is it good for/ Absolutely nothing, say it again…”After he told me that it was Edwin Starr singing in the ’60s about all that, we both dug into the internet and looked for a few choice shows to peaceably attend in the coming week.
Show Up!: Friday
Concepto Tambor has been making music en El Duque—and the wide world, for that matter— for well over ten years. In fact, according to sources at Weekly Alibi, this troupe of fine players even took the trip to Long Beach, Califas about 11 years ago. The heady local Latinx ensemble returned to their roots in 2016. and have a sound that audaciously mixes Afro-Latin and Brazilian grooves with hip-hop and rocanrol until it’s a frothy, danceable delight, performs at Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW) on Friday, Jan. 10. They’ll be joined onstage by jazz fusion experts Sol de la Noche, local Latinx rockers El Super and Mr. MRVL. 9pm • $10 • 21+.
Show Up!: Saturday
Are you ready to rock, Albuquerque? Although we pretty much know the answer to that age-old question, here’s a show that’s bound to keep you all bouncing off the walls and digging the infinite pleasures to be obtained when you mix an electric guitar and a throbbing rhythm section with a cold winter night in the Burkes. This headbangers’ ball on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW), features noted Albuquerque indie rock duo, The Talking Hours (Karie and Maurico Paez), as well as the brutally metallic musical constructions of Darken the Day—with Drew “Drucifer” Lucero and Tony Tencza on dreamy/screamy lead vocals—as well as the loud and lascivious punk rock soundings created by Illum, Distances and Departer. Who could ask for more in the face of all the chaos coming down the pike? Rock out while you can, kids! 9pm • $5 • 21+.
Show Up!: Tuesday
Sister (407 Central Ave. NW) sure the heck knows how to get that good old wintertime circulation going full speed. They are offering a concert by Deep Ellum psychobilly legend the Reverend Horton Heat on Tuesday, Jan. 14. This band knows how to swing. Jim Heath and company have been making the scene in The Duke City just about every year there has been a Downtown scene in this dusty desert outpost—why we remember gigs they did back at the Golden West, for crissakes—and this year’s gig should prove to be grand, gracious and goldarn loud too. If you’re lucky, maybe the band will get down to the sounds of classic tuneage like “Psychobilly Freakout” or “I Can’t Surf.” You’ll never know unless you show up! 8pm • $10 • 21+
Show Up!: Wednesday
Black Flag. They were one of the first hardcore punk bands in the USA and started up in Hermosa Beach, a steadfastly suburban and very bougie beach paradise on the Western tip of Los Angeles County. Once upon a time, Henry Rollins was their lead singer. Guitiarist Greg Ginn has been with the band since its inception, providing much of the creative energy needed to steer this version of punk rock away from the rocks of corporate condescension for the past 45 years. What else can one say about a band that’s influenced everyone from King Buzzo to Mastodon? If you still haven’t experienced what life under a black flag is like, they we highly suggest you make this show. It’s at Sister (407 Central Ave. NW) on Wednesday, Jan. 15. You might just dig the vacant and vicious vestiges of another age, as captured in songs like “Beat My Head Against the Wall” and “You’re Not Evil,” we sure did at the impressionable age of 21. 8pm • $20 to $25 • 21+.
