IN BRIEF
THURSDAY 1/23 Epitaph Records’ The Menzingers bring their anthemic pop-punk to Stickyz with Off With Their Heads opening, 8 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s. Piano-pop champ John Willis shares the bill at The Joint with country-rock songstress Mandy McBryde, 9 p.m. Each have new backing bands filled with local vets. Willis is now playing with vets Jack Lloyd (bass), Sarah Stricklin (percussion), Sydney Hunsicker (accordion/harmonic) and Mike Motley (drums). Meanwhile, McBryde has recruited Philip Rex Huddleston (bass) and Tyler Nance (drums) for support. Cajun’s hosts Memphis-based classic rock cover act Adrenaline, 9 p.m., $5, and Chris DeClerk during happy hour, 5:30 p.m., free. The three-day Eureka Springs Indie Film Fest kicks off at noon at The Aud with a varied lineup of narrative and documentary films, including a screening of “The Big Shootout” with director Mike Looney in attendance, $10-$25.
FRIDAY 1/24 – SATURDAY 1/25
MONSTER JAM
6:30 p.m., Verizon Arena. $20 adults, $5 kids.
Maybe you’re the type of reader who isn’t looking for live music or lectures or film screenings. Maybe you think these things are dull, disappointing, even lightweight entertainment-wise. Maybe you’re right. The Verizon Arena hasn’t forgotten you, fortunately. Here, for two consecutive nights this weekend, you will find ramps, giant trophies, gratuitous pyrotechnics, and all of your favorite monster trucks: Hotsy, Rap Attack, XXX, Robo Machine, Incinerator, and, of course, Fatal Attraction. I have seen pictures of these trucks. They are very big. The sport — which I have now learned evolved out of the late 1960s mud-bogging and tractor-pulling subcultures, came of age in the 1980s, and
FATAL ATTRACTION: It’ll be crushing things at Monster Jam at Verizon Friday and Saturday.
achieved transcendence with the iconic Grave Digger truck (conceived by one Dennis “The Man” Anderson) — offers
vigorous, next-level entertainment. Rest assured, there will be an autograph signing after the show. WS
SATURDAY 1/25
SATURDAY 1/25
TURQUOISE JEEP RECORDS, YIP DECEIVER
9 p.m., Town Pump. $3.
MILDRIOT
in addition to the videos, collaborated on the 2013 album “Existing Musical Beings.” This Saturday, they’ll share a bill at Revolution with Yip Deceiver, the dance-pop side hustle of Davey Pierce and Nicolas Dobbratz (of Of Montreal out of Athens, Ga.), which sounds like Of Montreal minus the goofy prog surrealism. WS
When we last saw Michael Chavez, he was playing last year’s Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase under the name Miles Rattz. Since then, he’s changed his name to Mildriot and finished an album, “Fought Songs,” which is due for release in February via Sister 9 Recordings, which is apparently somewhere in the UK (their website hypes him as their “first US-based artist”). The songs are endearingly unpolished and dizzy and simple — home recordings that seem rooted in the hushed and insular late ’90s and early-aughts indie rock of bands like Grandaddy and the Unicorns. WS
of mystery. I pictured robed, nomadic tribesmen wielding Stratocasters, like those Tuareg rebels who play droning electric blues atop sand dunes in the Sahara. This is pretty far from the truth, but also basically faithful to the spirit of the endeavor: They are steeped in the myth-making aspects of the space-rock tradition, with enigmatic album covers
and walls of whirring feedback. This is altered-states garage rock, with song titles like “Druglore,” “Smoke Dreams,” and “The World on Drugs.” Their recordings are loud and messy, and their live shows have a reputation for being much louder and messier than their recordings. They’ll be at White Water on Monday with R.I.O.T.S. WS
9 p.m., Revolution. $12 adv.
Turquoise Jeep Records is the YouTube-famous novelty hip-hop collective known for absurdist club rap anthems like “Lemme Smang It,” “Taste You Like Yogurt,” and “Naughty Farmer.” Their videos, handmade and ambitiously out-there in a “Tim & Eric” sort of way (think twodimensional, pastel-colored underwater and outer-space scenes), are either hideous or hilarious depending on how funny you find the idea of song called “Naughty Farmer.” The stable includes rappers Flynt Flossy, Yung Humma, Whatchyamcallit, Pretty Raheem, and a few others, who,
JOKE RAP: Turquoise Jeep Records comes to Revolution on Saturday.
MONDAY 1/27
DESTRUCTION UNIT
9 p.m., White Water.
Led by Ryan Rousseau, a former bandmate of the late Jay Reatard’s, Destruction Unit is a low-end-heavy psychedelic rock band that claims to be from the Sonoran Desert, which probably means Phoenix, Arizona, but either way sounds impressively rustic and full
FRIDAY 1/24 A handful of the state’s finest rootstinged acts will play at the Ozark Mountain Music Festival, held in Eureka Springs’ Basin Park Hotel, Friday through Sunday. The standouts include Tyrannosaurus Chicken, 3 Penny Acre, Pearl Brick, Ben Miller Band and Handmade Moments. Room and festival all-access passes begin at $275. Festival passes run $45. The Good Time Ramblers play their good-time brand of country-tinged rock ’n’ roll at the Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7.
SATURDAY 1/25 The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra presents “Bohemian Rhapsody” at Robinson Center Music Hall, 8 p.m., $14$53, with performances of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances and Scherzo Capriccioso and Brahms Concerto No. 2. Acclaimed pianist Norman Krieger joins the ASO for the Brahms concerto. The ASO reprises its performance on Sunday, 3 p.m., same price and place. Beloved local rockers The Dangerous Idiots come to the Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7. It’s all trap and dubsteb at Discovery with Big Brown, Lawler, Kichen, Brandon Peck and Dominque & The Disco Dolls, late night.
SUNDAY 1/26 Fresh off a “Jam” cruise, New Orleans Bonerama comes to South on Main, 7 p.m., $17. The nine-piece proves that more is better with three trombonists, three drummers, two bassists (and a guitarist). Look for the Big Easy favorite to get the South on Main crowd good and sweaty on a Sunday. www.arktimes.com
JANUARY 23, 2014
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