The Haps This Weekend

Here’s some stuff you just shouldn’t miss:

Tonight at Will's Pub: La Garage a Go-Go! with Los Knievels, The Empyres, The Mondellos


Over at Peacock: Latenight Society presents Disco Disco with Just Jason, Romano Arcaini, Gino Sutera and Nigel


Saturday at Orlando Brewing: The Grafitti Bus Tour featuring artists, DJs, BBQ and beer.


Saturday night at Hard Rock Live: comedian Jim Gaffigan



Have a good one :)

Today Sure is a Good Friday, Huh?

I never could figure out why Christians call this day "Good Friday" when their favorite dude was crucified. I would think "Black Friday" would be more appropriate, but I guess that name was already taken by the post-Thanksgiving retail store hell. Anyways, here’s what’s going down this weekend:

Mr. Religulous himself, Bill Maher, is spitting his brand of religiously-offensively-awesome humor tonight at Hard Rock Live. I wonder what he has to say about Good Friday and Easter. If you want to find out, tickets start are a mere $55 + Ticketmaster fees. Ouch. Here he is with a penguin.



I have said before that Kittybat is the best DJ in Orlando, no question, hands down. I’m pretty sure it’s because he’s so damn versatile musically – in fact, he plays bass in a rock band called The Attack. They are playing the early show at The Social this evening along with Fake Problems and the River Boat Gamblers. Show starts at 5PM (yikes) and costs $12.



For a cheaper road, check out the Disco Disco party at Peacock Room with Latenight Society, Tard and Nigel. Don’t let the name fool you – not a drop of disco music will actually be played. I scoured the interwebs for a flyer, but all I could find was this video:

disco!disco!


Or, if tasty kid snacks and punk rock is your thing, check out the awesome all-girl band The Little Debbies over at Crooked Bayou. I was always a fan of the oatmeal creme pies.



And on to Saturday. Hipster favorite, Ratatat, will be playing at House of Blues. I don’t really have an opinion on them either way, but I do dig these Bjork and Kanye West Remixes.

Bjork - Wanderlust (Ratatat Mix).mp3

Kanye West - Get 'em High (Ratatat Remix).mp3



There’s also a Ratatat afterparty going down at The Social. This is the part where I would tell you who’s playing (I believe the aforementioned Kittybat is in the mix) but the social’s website is down at the moment, so I cannot fact check. Hopefully by the time you read this, it will be back up and you can get all the info for yourself.



And last, but certainly not least, we have The Empyres a band formed from ex-members of The Hatebombs, Fantasie and View-finder (and also Swami and the Salamis, if you remember them). They’ll be playing over at Peacock with Vanda.



If you believe in the Easter fairy tale, then have a nice one. If you don’t, have a kick-ass weekend anyway.

When Black Friday Comes...

Welcome Orlando kids who have stayed in town this holiday weekend. I took the last few days off to do the family and cooking thing, but now I'm here with your leftover Thanksgiving weekend events.

Right now, as we speak (or, as I type would be more correct) The Milk District is hosting one of their killer parties in honor of Black Friday. Head over to Etoile Boutique, Covert and Beta for awesome sales, leftover potluck goodness, potent holiday punch and dope ass music. Party is happening until 7PM.



Tonight, don’t miss an awesome show concealed by a shitty marketing title. The 2K Sports Bounce Tour hits House of Blues tonight in an effort to promote video games. Oh, and Q-Tip and Cool Kids are headlining.



Over at BackBooth catch Too Hot Redux, a music and art show featuring Peter Baldwin, Unique Assassin with DJ Dirty Sneakers and aesthetic by Mokobun.



Peacock Room is helping you work off your extra helping of turkey with their Stuffed party, featuring Latenight Society, Atnarko and Tard.



Also helping you work off the Turkey Day fat are the Spam Allstars at The Social. The 9-pice band blends “electronic elements and turntables with Latin rhythms, funk, hip-hop and dub to create an eclectic, original sound.”



Saturday night don’t miss Mumpsy and Yip-Yip at BackBooth.



Also tomorrow night kicks off a new party - Secret Saturdays at Bikkuri Sushi. This week fesatures LT Smash and Kittybat.



Hope you’re having a great holiday weekend!

Friday the 13th !!! (and the 14th)

There are plenty of bloodcurdling events taking place tonight to help you get your Friday the 13th on. First up are Killer Robots at The Peacock Room -- join Strobo, Maximilian, and Auto as they perform in Daft Punk meets Gwar fashion. The visual aspect alone is worth the cover charge.



Next up, we have a themed punk rock show taking place at BackBooth, aptly named Mosh of the Zombies. If you want to get in on the zombie-fied action, stop by A Comic Shop between 5 PM and 7 PM to get free zombie make-up. Makeup will also be provided at the door and zombie films will be playing throughout the event.



Crooked Bayou is hosting a "5-hour Nightmare of Terror," with Latenight Society and T.A.R.D. providing the tunes. Since the music won't be very scary, take advantage of the terrifying drink specials: $5 Bloody Marys, $4 Red Death shots and $3 drafts.



Grab your bike for a ghoulish midnight trip from cemetery to cemetery. The Ghost Ride will be gathering at the Baldwin-Fairchild Cemetery (301 N.E. Ivanhoe Blvd.) at 11:30 PM and riding over to Greenwood Cemetery (1603 Greenwood St.) promptly at midnight (which is technically Saturday the 14th, but who's counting?). Ghost and zombie costumes encouraged!



The hockey mask antics continue on to Saturday the 14th, with the return of MSTRKRFT to Firestone. Every time these guys play, they are on point: it's definitely a show you don't want to miss. Andrew Spear and MOT will be opening and have hinted at a special surprise in the works. Hmmmm....



And finally, this has absolutely nothing to do with Friday the 13th but is still awesome enough to list. Saturday night, Hard Rock Live is hosting Classic Albums Live featuring Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. With all the layered studio work this album encompasses, I can't even fathom seeing this album performed live -- especially considering the 35-piece Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra will be backing up the musicians. It should be pretty spectacular, to say the least.



Be safe this weekend, be wary of your friends named Jason and try to avoid any zombie bites!!!

Kool's Gang vs. DIZ vs. Balls to the Wall

For most Orlando-ites, the versus factor this weekend won't mean a damn thing. But if your musical taste is as eclectic as mine (read: ADD... ooooh, shiny!), then the options should have you pretty stoked. The decision basically comes down to this -- do you prefer:

A) Disco + beads, + theme parks
B) Chicago-flavored house music + tater tots + hallways(?)
C) Heavy metal + Aquanet hairspray + leather

Answers:

A) As I have mentioned before, sometimes it's necessary to visit the theme parks to see awesome performers 20 years past their prime. If funk/soul/disco is your forte and you don't mind rubbing elbows with tourists or shelling out $40 - 50, then check out Kool and the Gang at Universal Studios Mardi Gras. It's unclear if the band will break out such gems as Open Sesame or Be My Lady, but you can bet a million dollars you'll be singing Celebration and Ladies Night with middle-aged drunk tourists wearing Bermuda shorts and Mardi Gras beads. If I wasn't flat-ass broke, I would sooooo be there.  Thankfully, Earth, Wind and Fire is coming in April!

Here's another one they won't play -- Steppin' Out -- check the video for one of my favorite songs ever.

B) If you prefer the thumping beats of discofied house music, Chicago's very own Diz will be DJing at Crooked Bayou with Latenight Society and Bill Gold. When I was unhealthily obsessed with Chicago house music, Diz was one of my idols -- right up there with Derrick Carter and DJ Heather. He's definitely one of the city's finest, and while his counterpart Iz (also known as Joshua) has played in Orlando numerous times, this will be Diz's first.

Sadly, it's rumored this party will be held in the hallway between Crooked and Suite B, rather than inside the bar itself. Why the sudden change of venue? Because Orlando's (sucky) sweetheart, Baby Anne, decided she wanted to play at Bayou instead. If I was bringing Diz, I would be PISSED. Hopefully this won't ruin it for the promoters.

Anyway, here is a video of Diz dropping a dope remix of Prince.

C) If options A or B didn't sound appealing, then C must be what you're looking for: a balls to the wall, 80's hair metal party entitled "Turbo Love Machine" at the Peacock Room -- hosted by Andrew Spear and Angry Asian. Anyone who witnessed Spear's Prince tribute party or any of his infamous art shows, knows they are in for a treat (not to mention the flyer is totally awesome!!!). Break out the Aquanet, leather, leopard prints, fishnets and black eyeliner, it's time for a fucking metal party.

To get in the proper mood , here is a 10-minute (plus) video of Eddie Van Halen doing a guitar solo. \m/