Can we just all take a moment to give a round of applause to the Free Press. It’s the little independent publication that could, and once again it has shown that it not only gets the caboose up to the top of the mountain, but once there builds a bridge to the next peak using ONE MILLION EPIC JAMS. So yeah – BIG CLAPS.

FRIDAY
Cat Power, Appaloosia @ Warehouse Live
Faaahq. You know, if you take a step back for a minute and go to a moment in time where you have no idea who Chan Marshall is or what her band is like and someone just said “oh hey, there is this girl with a band named Cat Power” the horrific image that comes to mind is the most awful conflagration of LOLCats and ATCAT, fronted by a pitiable frizzy haired gal that reeks of cat litter and ammonia. Some sort of 20-something proto-Miss Havisham on her way to converting her entire life into a depressing cat rescue shelter. So yeah, kind of Bizzarro Cat Power.

Sideshow Tramps, Buxton, Molly and the Ringwalds @ The Continental Club
Just last week we made a joke about the Continental Club being named the best venue to see local bands by the Houston Press and yet it never seems like there is a local band there we are into. Well BUXTON TO THE RESCUE. They’re the delicious white cream in one potentially delicious Friday Oreo (although we prefer ice cream sandwiches). Our fav part about this show? It’s just a few feet away from….

Monotonix, Dizzy Pilot, American Sharks @ The Mink
Our fav part about this show? Some seriously epic tacos are on the way back to check out the show at the Continental during the breaks. Nice to see Dizzy Pilot playing out again – seems like they were on a break there. Maybe we should get one of our reporters on that.

Alkari, Hearts of Animals and Orents Stirner @ Rudyard’s
If the fact Alkari is named for a Masters of Orion race isn’t enough for you, then maybe the fact they’re sharing the stage with OMG HEART Heart’s of Animals should get you to Rudyard’s this evening (not to mention Orents Stirner, who they themselves recommended).

SATURDAY
Free Press Westheimer Block Party
This is the anchor for your entire weekend and, frankly, for the better part of the month. With each new outing, it becomes nearly impossible to do favorites because so many WHIPS PERFORMERS are playing concurrently. The complete schedule, including a map to the different venues (all of which are around the corner of Taft and Westheimer) can be found here. (There are usually schedules found onsite too). This event is all day, late into the evening, and is totally free. 100%. Oh – and as if the conflict during the day wasn’t bad enough, once the sun sets and the free part of the evening rolls away, you’ve still got a night to figure out what to do with. Peep the options:

Voxtrot, The Jonbenet, Bring Back the Guns, Satin Hooks, BLACKIE, Lisa’s Sons, Something Fierce and Antenna Inn @ Numbers
This is the official evening finale for the Block Party, and is the only part that isn’t free. Twelve bucks, but still a helluva deal considering the that some of the day’s (and the city’s) best acts are on the bill. Doors get open at 7:30, which is actually while there are still bands playing the free part of the Party, so your body won’t go into shock from having to suddenly only choose between one band playing where before it was seven.

Todo Moto Motorcycle Club Presents their WestFest After Party, Featuring The Flaming Hellcats and Wasted plus DJs Andrew Lee and the Psychedelic Sex Panther.
You know those guys you see riding around Montrose on rat bikes with the Frankenstien logo on their backs? That’s Todo Moto. Sure, they may look a little dirty and have a reputation for starting fights at bubble tea parlors, but the few we know are some nice guys. Nice enough to throw a party and even invite you (oh scooter nerd), you(fixed gear dork) and you (four wheeled cager). In addition to the obligatory “bands, bbq and babes”, there will be sets by local psychobilly punks The Flaming Hellcats and Wasted, which is a Black Flag tribute act. Six Pack. 2222 Morgan Street. $5. Doors at six, bands at eight.

Dirty Honey @ Boondocks
At first we were hella annoyed when they started having DJ nights at Boondocks. We thought it was a perfect place and we didn’t want to dance there and REALLY did not want to have to talk over FUGGING LOUD music. “Keep that noise at Etro” was our mantra. There are some DJ nights that we truly adore, however, and Dirty Honey is one of them. Setting aside the gimmick factor of their only using 45s, Brett Koshkin plays a great mix of classic soul and funk that you’ve most likely never heard before. It’s great for dancing, but for us the real sell is how great it is for listening. Go early, take some friends, park at a table upstairs and just take it all in. Oh, and for this installment, Mr. Koshkin is joined by Austin’s Hobo D (and it’s his birthday). This is free and goes all night, so you can add it on to whatever you do, post festival.

500 Megatons of Boogie, Wicked Poseur, Data Vs Data @ The Mink
LOL @ our finally hearing about a Wicked Poseur show before hand. Solid bill. Our fav part about this show? Some seriously epic tacos are on the way back to the Continental to check out what’s going on there during the breaks.

Tito and Tarantula, De Los Muertos, Pistoleros de Texas @ The Continental Club
WHO? Nevermind about those tacos. Guh.

SUNDAY
Presidents of The United States of America with The Black & White Years @ House of Blues
Though it officially opened the night before with a show by Cowboy Mouth, this is the opening weekend throw-back to catch. Actually. You know what, we spent the better part of our college years having some absolute dolls of Alpha Epsilon Phis and Sigma Delta Thetas tell us how great Cowboy Mouth was. These were reasonably intelligent women, and we’d be willing to be most of them have better things to do with their time now then troll around in local music a decade hence they turned us down for dates. Oh, and they love Jackopierce too. OH CRAP JACKOPIERCE WAS PLAYING SATURDAY NIGHT AT WAREHOUSE LIVE. COWBOY MOUTH AND JACKOPIERCE IN THE SAME CITY ON THE SAME NIGHT! IT’S LIKE A HORID CONGRESS OF DECISION-FORCING COINCIDENCE THAT WILL SET THE PANHELLANIC COUNCIL AFLAME. OH UNHAPPY DAY. OH UNHAPPY DAY. GET OUT THE STRIKE TAGS, WE’RE DESTROYING THE REST OF THE WEEKEND.

Also
Hurricane Ike Relief Concert, featuring Pale, Deep Ella, Paris Green, & Morgue City @ The Meridian
Akimbo/Ghost Town Electric @ The Mink