Deleted Scenes, The Life and Times @ Golden West Tonight

As Walter Sobchak once said: “Life does not stop and start at your convenience you miserable piece of shit.”

Such is the case tonight when the Deleted Scenes show will start sometime after 10 whether it’s convenient for you or us or the rest of Baltimore or not. And for most people, we’re guessing that comes down to not.Late Monday night might be a convenient time for people who work in restaurants or second-shift retail, but for the rest of us, it’s quite inconvenient.

The Chop, however, is blissfully funemployed at the moment, so we’ll likely head over to the Avenue tonight, even though we’d rather have it start at 7 and be in bed by 11.

Deleted Scenes brings their new record to the Golden West tonight.

You can’t have everything, after all, and even though we may have to stay up late to see this show, at least we won’t have to fight crowds. In fact, it may be our last chance to see Deleted Scenes with a little elbow room, because if they’re not filling every room they play now, it’s only a matter of time. Their second full length Young People’s Church of the Air is a very solid follow up to the excellent Birdseed Shirt, and is going to bring people out in numbers in the near future. In fact, tonight’s show is the very first chance you have to buy it on vinyl, so if you want to be the first one on your block you have no choice but to turn out.

For those of us who aren’t voracious vinyl collectors, or who can stand to wait 3-5 days, you can simply order it here or stream and purchase the record in convenient digital format.

Deleted Scenes is making their way up and down the coast with The Life and Times which makes for a pretty tempting double bill. We’re not going to front… We’ve never even heard of The Life and Times until just now, but after checking out their site we highly suspect that’s probably our fault and not theirs. Sounding kind of like a cross between Juno and early Jimmy Eat World, their stuff is right up our alley, and we’re looking forward to checking them out.

And really, that’s the whole reason why we bother to go to crummy little restaurant shows on Monday nights, and why we go to so many shows in the first place… to get to know new bands. It’s sometimes less than convenient, but it beats the hell out of sitting around reading Pitchfork.

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Golden West Cafe is at 1105 W 36th Street in Hampden. 10 pm doors.

Tomorrow: Baker Artist Awards Closing, Pissed Jeans

One of the best things about living in Baltimore, and perhaps the major reason we love it so dearly, is the ability to go from something very highbrow and sophisticated to something decidedly lowbrow with absolutely no transition in between.

That’s exactly how our night looks to be shaping up tomorrow, when we’ll be going directly from one of the BMA’s “late night” parties over to the Golden West for an actual late night party. There’s 2 to 1 odds that the phrase “Oh you think you fancy, huh?” will come into play at some point tomorrow.

Pissed Jeans plays the Golden West tomorrow.

If you haven’t been to one of the Baltimore Museum of Art’s late night events yet, you’re absolutely missing out on one of the best things in all of Baltimore. The museum has been throwing Saturday night parties at the close of each of its special exhibitions recently, and each one has been bigger and more fun than the last with food, music, cash bar, and free or very cheap admission. Tomorrow’s event is free, and will have a distinctly Baltimorean feel to it as it marks the closing of the Baker Artist Awards exhibit.

This year’s winners were, of course, Gary Kachadourian, Audrey Chen, and Shodekeh, who will be joined by several more familiar names including Ellen Cherry, Justin Sirois, and the Copycat Theater.

But we can only pretend to be rich and classy and sophisticated for so long. By the time this party is over we’ll be more than ready to hie to the Golden West for Sub Pop’s Pissed Jeans. What’s Pissed Jeans? It’s a big dirty dick that fucks you in the ear. It’s the kind of band that makes beer drip from the ceiling and nice things get broken. It’s the sound of America falling apart at the seams.

It’s also Dana’s birthday. Happy birthday, Dana.

Secret Mountains, Dangerous Ponies @ Golden West Tonight

We were sad to hear the news a few weeks ago that the Hexagon Space was closing. We’re sad to hear about any venue closing up, even if we don’t go there very often. Fletcher’s, The Supreme Imperial, even Hal Daddy’s; we may have gone there pretty seldom, but any venue is better than no venue in our eyes.

That said, we weren’t exactly losing sleep over it. The law of supply and demand has always governed underground music venues in Baltimore, and sometimes it almost seems as if one space needs to close before someone else will take the initiative to open a new one. Every time we hear about something like this, we’re sorry for it, but more than anything we’re excited to see what new thing the future holds.

Secret Mountains plays Golden West tonight.

So it is with the Hexagon. The way that City Paper article reads, the thing that takes the Hexagon’s place might even literally take its place, and another DIY venue is not out of the question for that address. The room is a great place to watch bands, but Joy Martin is right… there had to be more shows there in order to make the space live up to its potential. The last time we were there was actually more than a year before the closing.

In the meantime though, the shows must go on, and the scene is none the poorer for losing Hexagon. For instance, tonight the Golden West is hosting a show which is nearly the exact same bill as one of the better Hexagon shows in recent memory. Local favorites Secret Mountains are rejoined by their Philly friends and contemporaries Hop Along and Dangerous Ponies.

If you’re the type who likes taping shows or taking photos of them, this one would be a good choice to document. Three great bands for five bucks on a Wednesday, after all the real-job-having nine to five types have packed it in for the night. This show will be one of those little things that makes Summer so Summery, and if you’re serious about getting your Summertime fun on, this one’s not to be missed.

Awesome Saturday Again in Baltimore Tonight

We’ve talked before on this blog about the Baltimore phenomenon we’ve taken to calling Awesome Saturday. The movers and shakers and event planners in this town who plan things in advance all seem to zero in on the last Saturday of the month to book the really cool stuff, and at least 3 great events will all happen at the exact same time. It’s usually the last Saturday, anyway. Sometimes it’s the third Saturday. This month, after Christmas and New Year’s and all, it’s both.

There are three shows going on tonight that are all worthy of your attention. We still don’t really know which one (or more) we’ll get to, so we’re going to tell you about all of them in a Just the facts, ma’am sort of way.

A visual approximation of Joan of Arc eating dinner at the Golden West.

The Sidebar is drawing first blood with 4:30 pm doors on a huge bill at Incest Fest, the general idea of which is a small-timore style crossover day of bands and friends sharing the stage in common bands and side projects. Highlights include the straight-out-the-garage rockabilly style of Young Jaguars and the one and only TUNNELBIKE!

Up at the Metro Gallery it’s gonna be Sick Sick Birds, who we talked about on Wednesday when they played with the Queers in DC. They’re playing with Squaaks, White Tiger and the Bed of Roses, and former Government Issue frontman John Stabb’s latest band Sleeper Agent, who were one of the subjects of our first post ever.

Finally, the Golden West in Hampden is hosting Joan of Arc. You would think that would be a no-brainer, since we love Joan of Arc and all the bands in tonight’s other shows are local, but they’re also playing Monday at the Black Cat, so there’s your second chance right there. Tonight’s show also features Philly’s Algernon Cadwallader, who’ve made a career out of sounding exactly like Cap’n Jazz, and Soft Circle.

Wherever you or we or any of us end up tonight, it’s bound to be an awesome Saturday.

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Metro Gallery is at 1801 N. Charles Street in Station North.

Golden West Cafe is at 1105 W. 36th Street in Hampden.

Sidebar is at 218 E. Lexington Street Downtown.

Support Golden West at the Hampden Community Council Meeting Tonight

Or… maybe tonight’s metal show isn’t your bag. The Chop understands. We might just skip that show ourselves, cause there’s some highly important, patriotic, community action stand up and fight for your right to party shit going on in Hampden at the very same time.

Golden West applies for it's entertainment license tonight at Roosevelt Rec Center. 7 pm.

Basically, the Golden West wants to go legit with the music and comedy they’ve been doing late nights. As you know, the Chop enjoys Golden West events on the regular, and we’d be thrilled to see them go legit. Plus, if you can be bothered to do your civic duty and sit through a community meeting, you get to get shitfaced for real real cheap at Golden West afterward.

Here’s the copy from the facebook event page:

Hello! So we are trying to make the Golden West an official Hampden Music and Entertainment Venue. In doing so we must go before the Hampden Community Council on Monday March 29th at 7pm SHARP.

We are asking our friends in the community to stand beside us that night and pledge support. This does not require money. All we ask is that you come and openly and vocally support The Golden West for receiving an entertainment license.

The Fun Part:
ANYONE WHO COMES TO THE MEETING THAT NIGHT WILL RECEIVE A VOUCHER FOR $1 DRINKS FOR A PARTY THAT NIGHT AT GOLDEN WEST.
$1 – PBR, NATTY BOH AND DISCOUNTED RAIL AND DRAFT DRINKS.

Please help! We’ve had a blast so far, lets keep it going. Tell your friends but keep it secret and keep it safe we don’t folks that might be against this to find out we’re rallying. This is a race to the finish and we need your help!
Rad.

The Meeting is scheduled from 7 to 10 pm, at the Roosevelt Rec Center, which is located at 1221 W. 36th street, right off the Avenue in the corner of Roosevelt Park. Show up and give ’em hell.

It might also help if you dress well, and don’t show up looking like a dumb fucking hipster, okay?

Going All Pro @ CA, Bar Bacon Comedy @ Golden West Tonight

We think we got it now. It’s all starting to make sense. It’s the weekend now, right? Like that time when everybody knocks off work and goes to do fun stuff? That’s howcome you haven’t been around so much, huh? You were waiting for the weekend.

Well it’s here, and there’s no shortage of fun stuff going on this weekend. We don’t know what you’re thinking of (hell, we never do, do we?) but we’ll definitely clue you in on what we’re up to.

First up we’re heading over to the Creative Alliance to catch the premiere of Going All Pro, the latest documentary from Baltimore’s own Charles Cohen. Going All Pro is an up close and personal look at Oriole Park’s Clancy the beer man. If that leaves you scratching your head, then shame on you, Baltimore. It means you haven’t been out to the Yard often enough.

When you go out to your neighborhood bar, you get to know the bartender a little, don’t you? You expect to see him there after a while and he becomes a friendly and familiar face and it wouldn’t be the same without him, right? Well, take it from the Chop, who watches more Oriole baseball than is healthy, and most of it from a sneaked-into box seat in section 12… these guys are just the same. Fancy Clancy is as much a fixture downtown as the Bromo-Seltzer tower.

Going All Pro premieres at CA tonight. 7 pm.

Director Charles Cohen is something of a Baltimore fixture in his own right. You might already be familiar with the Baltimore Community Issues Examiner from his contributions to Citypaper, including one from 2004 about Fancy Clancy and other publications or from any of his other films, including The Last Season, an excellent doc about the closing of Memorial Stadium. The Chop can remember seeing that one premiere, and there was no shortage of grown men crying, to be sure.

A q&a with Clancy and Cohen will follow the film, and lucky for us it’s only 41 minutes in length, which means we can make a 9 o’clock date at nearby Salt. That will leave us just enough time to get back uptown for Bar Bacon.

Bar Bacon hits the Golden West tonight. 11 pm.

It’s Volume III, Book II tonight… whatever that means. We suspect it has something to do with comedy duo Velvet Glovular, Seaton Smith, Sean Jokes, Dorian Grey, and Mike Moran. “A Comedy Tour of Paradise Island” means you can trade in that PBR for a seabreeze. We won’t tell.

Elvis Lives @ the Golden West Tonight

Hump day Baltimore. Whew! Bet you wish it would snow some more so you could get another day off, yeah?

Well put your feet up. Take it easy. Eat yourself a nice dinner, get the laundry done, and maybe even take a nap. You’ve got plenty of time on your hands, cause the action tonight isn’t kicking off until ridiculously late for a Wednesday. The Chop is even going to get up to a little pregame Choppery before tonight’s main event ourselves.

That main event, of course, is at the Golden West tonight, when Gary B, Title Tracks, and Pretty & Nice take the stage. The show kicks off at 11:00 (Not 10. Don’t be fooled.)

Gary B and Title Tracks channel Elvis at the Golden West tonight. 11pm.

And honestly, you can even show up late to an 11pm show, since (presumably) the first band up will be Pretty & Nice. Here’s what Buzzgrinder had to say about them last year:

Boston’s Pretty & Nice is one of those bands that you either love or hate. Quirky and catchy are two adjectives that come to mind. You’ll either want to hop around like an idiot or punch any/all of the members in the throat.

The Chop is firmly in the latter camp, thinking this band is too cute by half. We’re going to risk exposure to their set though, because we don’t want to chance missing out on Title Tracks, the new D.C. outfit featuring former Q and Not U frontman John Davis, along with some of the other usual DC suspects.

While Q and Not U was and is one of our favorite bands ever, The new Title Tracks record , which just dropped a little over a week ago, sounds more like Elvis Costello way back when he was still singing songs about the radio.

Not to be outdone, Baltimore is representing with it’s own Elvis Costello imposters (yes, that’s a pun!) Gary B and the Notions. We’re gonna be honest here Baltimore… the chance to see two bands this good channeling the ghost of Elvis is, at this point, even better than seeing Costello live. After all, the man is pushing 60. No crowded amphitheaters, no piano ballads, and no $100+ tickets. Just great songs and good beer on tap at the Golden West.

Don’t fall asleep early tonight.

Date Night

Wasting no time, the Chop picked up the phone and got himself a date for his first Friday night back in town. Maybe not what you’d call a hot date, but we’re keeping our mind well open, since the nature of our work precludes much interaction with the fairer sex while we’re abroad.

And while dating girls in college (no, not grad school, but actual college is one of those things that most men want to do as much as possible while they still can, we’ve found that it doesn’t usually work so well in real life. We fear we’re in for an evening of listening to inane pop-culture references, youthful know-it-all-ism, and statements like “I listen to anything that has a good beat…”

Fortunately, there’s no shortage of dateworthy events in town tonight. We’ll see where we end up.

CA residents' open house is tonight, 7pm.

It might be over to the Creative Alliance for their Residents’ Open House. See the opening, have some cocktails, and watch Celebration play an acoustic set for free. Hard to go wrong there.

Then again, if she doesn’t fancy herself highbrow, we might get up to the Metro Gallery for Humiliated III, cause hey… why not make a potentially awkward date even more awkward by listening to stories about other awkward dates. Very meta. It could go really well for us, or really badly. Probably no in-between.

Humiliated III @ Metro Gallery, 8pm.

Of course, if it does go well, the laughs don’t end as Bar Bacon hits the Golden West tonight at 11:00. We might suggest it as an afterthought, or might drop her off early and slide in there solo. Either way, its a good night.

Comics Without Filters @ Windup Space Tonight

So, we know we said we wanted to sit around, but we’re quickly remembering just how un-funny prime time television can be. Two and a Half Men? Gary Unmarried? The New Adventures of Old Christine? For fuck’s sake.

What is funny is tonight’s Comics Without Filters show at the Windup Space. Its a benefit for Doctors Without Borders too, because, you know, doctors don’t recommend filters.

The lineup features Jim Meyer, Justin Schlegel, Erin Jackson, Jason Weems, Erik Myers, and Doug Powell, which is quite a lot of talent for a mere $12 donation, and the show kicks off at 8:30.

Of course, if you’d rather stay home and piss and moan about snow some more, you can always catch Meyer’s Bar Bacon at the Golden West this Friday.

More Monday Action.

The Chop would be remiss if we let the day go by without saying a word about Fight Amp, playing at Golden West tonight.

Fight Amp (Fight Amputation) has been on the Chop’s radar for several years now, going back to the time when they were playing in support of their splits with Gunna Vahm and erstwhile Baltimore band Exosus.

Fight Amputation at the old Talking head. 2006. (Photo: Scott Russell)

The Chop has seen a lot of live bands in our day, and most of them tend to blend together after a while. But in the way of high praise, we will say this; Fight Amp is a band that, once you’ve seen them, you will never forget that fact. They are one of those rare bands that exudes an ecstatic, infectious joy when they take the stage. They’re delighted to grind your face off, offering something to everyone in the audience, regardless of whether they prefer punk, metal, hardcore, grind or whatever.

If we’ve got any gas left in the tank tonight, we might just stop by.