Upcoming Shows Alert

Other shows are linked here, many of them are provided by Spirit of ‘68, and another, fuller list can be viewed via Landlocked.

When I say “Mahjonng at the Cinemat this Friday,” it might come across like I’m making an announcement at the retirement home about Asian Game Night. Not like that doesn’t sound like a blast, but instead, I’m referring to the freaky, vaguely Congo-tronic Chicago band, who will be playing their music for 4 bucks on 2/20 at the Cinemat. It starts at 8pm (which, of course, means get there at 10:15). Bring your grandma, or just dress like her. Either way, there will be plenty of antique-looking scarves.

Tomorrow night (2/18), Prayer Breakfast–one of Bloomington’s best organic products–plays a free show on campus, 8pm at the IMUG (the big seating area next to the Starbucks in the Union). It’s crunchy, laconic guitar rock–if you like Centro-Matic, you won’t be let down. And like, it’s free, and you can use your money for a Chai Latte. Local power-pop dudes the Broderick will also play, along with some group named The Giggles (lol).

It’ll really suck if the Dead Prez show at the Buskirk-Chumley (next Wednesday, get tickets here) isn’t as well-attended as it needs to be. I know they’re not Andrew Bird or Lyle Lovett, but come on, Bloomington. They’re self-styled revolutionaries, and not like those doofuses who come to the public library to tell us that George Bush planned 9/11. They’re also really good rappers, who have at least one stone-cold classic to their name. I expect to see all the Boxcar Books kids there.

BLK JKS, whom Fader loves, who just signed to Secretly Canadian, and who many in Bloomington have seen around town drinking at the Vid and sleeping in booths at the Vid (they’re tired from recording their LP debut at Russian with Brandon Curtis from Secret Machines), are playing a free show at Jake’s at 8pm on March 2. Free! With marathonpacks-anointed Best Band In Bloomington Tammar supporting. Whoa, and I guess they’ll also be supporting appealingly-doofy folkies Deer Tick, whose show’s been moved to the Statehouse, 9pm this Saturday.

Next month, Asthmatic Kitty’s DM Stith brings his haunted choral-folk (think Grizzly Bear and Bon Iver, but with occasional touches of Radiohead’s “The Gloaming”) to the Cinemat on March 7th, with fellow Kitties Future Rapper (Listen to three tracks at AK’s site, and well, become aware that Joaquin Phoenix has a long way to go). The trippy collabo-delica of AK’s I Heart Lung will be there too.

In other news, the Cinemat is closing, which is a bummer (cited reasons include everything from economic downturn to Hulu, Youtube, 9/11, that monkey getting shot, Bernie Madoff and A-Rod). It’s sad, but turns out that they’re giving a bunch of their inventory to Plan 9 Video, who’ll also accept Cinemat memberships (hopefully my 40 dollar late-fee for Boyz in the Hood will be forgiven in the transfer). What sucks is that the Cinemat apparently won’t be a place to see live music anymore either, because it’s gradually (by knocking walls down and stuff) become one of the best places to catch a show in town. What I’ve heard is that the guy with all the audio equipment is moving it to the Vid (formerly known as the townie bar, then the hipster bar, now the two-story mega bar with a performance space on the ground floor). Hopefully this ends up being a good thing.

Filed under: Asthmatic Kitty  BLK JKS  bloomingtopia  Dead Prez  DM Stith  Landlocked Music  Mahjonng  Prayer Breakfast  Russian Recording  Secretly Canadian  Spirit of '68