Best Bets this Weekend

If you miss the Brian Jonestown Massacre tonight, then, well, you may miss the best that this weekend has to offer. Just kidding. Kinda.

Friday
Oneida / Ume / The Jonx @ Rudyard’s
For years, when I visited my family in Wisconsin, I tried to convince my cousins to go with me to the Oneida Casino just outside Green Bay. But when when they finally surrendered to my whim and we took to the faux-wood sided station wagon for a jaunt, it was just as disappointing as their corporate colors imply. Pooh. Oneida the band, on the other hand, has gotten generally positive reviews for their new record Wedding, and are bringing their adjective-inspiring though description-evading sounds to Houston this week.

Also on the bill is UME, which, you can claim, heralds from Houston as much as any city, and is touring in support of their excellent new LP Urgent Sea (be sure to give them a gentle ribbing for the un-attributed photos I took of them in the liner notes – UME OWES ME MERCH!). Among the most consistently impressive of all local acts, any show they play is recommended.

Especially when that show also includes The Jonx, whose upcoming record The Return of The Death of The Legacy Of The Revenge of The Jonx (seriously) is also a knife-packed firebolt straight to the inner ear (or at least the three tracks I have heard so far). Is Johnny Killed Rock’ n’ Roll a hit factory or what?
10pm / 21+ / cover charge unknown

Saturday
Give Up Art Opening @ Aerosol Warfare Gallery
So, you’ve probably seen the wheatpaste-poster art/vandalism (you make the call on that) that feature the phrase “Give Up.” Well, a collection of his/her work is going to be on display at Aerosol Warfare, with the opening this Saturday. If you go, go early and then come cheer us on at Starr Project.
6-10pm

Starr Project Show #2 @ The Proletariat
If you are looking for an opportunity to come heckle me in person, you’ve found your chance, as the yet un-named Star Project Round Two Band Three takes the stage to perform our unique blend of rushed-together country prog acid experirock. Will we be called Fire on Fire? Montrose Dolphins? Spider Hole? We really have no idea, and care even less, but we do hope you join us for the hilarity of seeing bands of strangers do a show after only a month of practice. There are supposed to be three other bands performing as well, but I don’t know how many of them actually got it together in time. They'll also be having a drawing for round three of the Starr Project saturday night as well.
10pm / $5 / 21+

Lucky Starr

Held aloft by an airy synth pad, the first band of the night cooed this refrain over and over. In matching pink undershirts, black ties and sunglasses, The Gaze was saying more than just the words printed on the large sign hanging behind them. Possibly more than any of the other varied and interesting performances that night (photos here), The Gaze were stating that they got it.

They knew how ridiculous the entire concept of the Starr Project is, and they were replying in kind. Beautiful, playful, homoerotic kind.

I can’t say that I know where the idea for the Starr Project came from (it was first done in Houston in 2003), or what exactly compelled the current organizers to start it back up. It’s a Houston happening that really could exist only now, in the time where reality television has pushed most scripted programming off the big three’s schedule. Don’t agree? Try this on for size:

Twenty strangers, divided at random into four teams, have just a single month to write and rehearse a set before competing in a battle of the bands. You, the audience, will vote to see who wins the big prizes and who goes empty handed. Forget washed up Aussie rockers; this is The Starr Project. Weeknights on CBS.

The Starr Project is reality reality. But, like reality television, it’s actually the opposite: a structure and set of rules to create a narrative; rules and structures that don’t exist in the real world (though they do in The Real World). We buy into this on television because we need a beginning, middle and end, along with enough interesting developments each week to keep us watching for the entire season. But then why try the same approach outside the tube? I have no idea, and I can’t think of anything else out there that might be comparable. Could it be that ‘because it will be fun’ is reason enough?

When I think of the sort of people that want to be a reality television show, my thoughts are less than positive. So than if the Starr Project is reality reality, would the same sort of people go out for it? Would these also be the sort of people I wouldn’t want to be stuck on an island with? Or, would they be like me, drawn to throw their names into the hat, but really unable to explain why? Why should I put aside personal projects and spend time on something that’s only going to last a month?

But regardless, my name was drawn, and for the next month I will be one of those strangers, chosen at random, to start a new band. We’re called Montrose Dolphins. Oddly enough, this is the second band I have been in that Domokos has named. I have no idea what to expect, I only hope that, like The Gaze, the five of us get it too.

PS – I had this misfortune of standing next to the trombone player in the last band (the one dressed as the priest) while he was closing his tab. Circumstances set aside, he was such a dick to the guys behind the bar that it blows my mind. Way to bring some negativity to what was otherwise a great evening. What a douche.