Raincoat recommended for Riverboat Gamblers show
The Riverboat Gamblers should come with a warning label: If you’re standing in the front row at a show, chances are you’re going to get wet.
It might be your sweat, but it’s just as likely to be beer or spit from one of the band members.
When this Texas speed-punk band performs, the members get crazy and the scene can get messy.
Launched off of Gearhead Records, pre-hype home of the Hives and Red Planet, the Gamblers are a sure bet to see live.
They’ve toured their whiskey punk with like-minded bands such as Catheters, Nashville Pussy and Revered Horton Heat, but even that doesn’t give a fair description to the power behind the Gamblers’ destructive sound.
There’s plenty of hardcore that transforms into murky surf rock and even power pop that is tight and heavy but with gobs of garage grit.
If you head to the B-Side, 230 W. Riverside, on Sunday at 9:30 p.m., bring goggles.
Local female-fronted rock favorite Mang opens the show. Cover to be announced.
Rant and raves
Hailing from Nelson, B.C., McGnarley’s Rant plays some intoxicatingly cool music.
It’s a mix of Celtic, folk, punk and gypsy music the band has come to label “monkeypunk.” The only prerequisite to partying with the Rant is a lot of beer in a noisy atmosphere.
The Canadian sextet features fresh takes on the pairing of mandolin and violin with progressive song structures that don’t leave the listener behind.
Rant has been living in a tour bus since hitting the road in 2000, and collecting props across Canada and the western United States along the way.
2001’s “Fisherman’s Pride” helped put Rant on the map, and 2003’s “Live and Untamed” had fans salivating for more.
See what the buzz is all about when McGnarley’s Rant appears Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. at Mootsy’s, 406 W. Sprague. There is a $6 cover.
Back to the Dipper
An all-ages venue now approaching legendary status, The Big Dipper, 171 S. Washington, has reopened under the management of nonprofit concert production company RAWK the Inland Northwest.
RAWK is responsible for the popular RAWK Final Four annual band competition as well as bringing cutting-edge national touring acts to the all-ages scene (Blindside, April Sixth, Stutterfly and As I Lay Dying, to name a few). The group works closely with the Chase Youth Commission.
Under RAWK’s direction, The Big Dipper is a nonsmoking venue with no bar. The group is actively seeking financial support to purchase a top-rate sound and lights system for the venue.
The first show at the new Big Dipper is Tuesday at 7 p.m., featuring Georgia’s Showbread, Portland’s A Taste For Murder and Inked In Blood, along with local rock band My Life With The Spaniard. There is an $8 cover.
Free your time
Hip-hop has never felt quite at home in a coffee house setting, but other forms of poetic expression are as common at coffee shops as cell phones and scones.
But if there is one local emcee who doesn’t mind bringing his hop-hop to different settings it’s Freetime Synthetic.
Vibing with honest, from-the-heart, homemade hip-hop, Synthetic has rocked the oddest spots for hip-hop, from punk shows to folkier functions.
On Thursday at 7 p.m. he’ll bring to the Spike Coffee House, 122 S. Monroe, his beat machine and guest Todd Barr for a DJ jam session and lyrical expedition of his lightning-fast delivery and blue-collar content. There is a suggested donation of $3.
Club hoppin’
• One of Spokane’s most inventive rock bands, Chinese Sky Candy, plays a farewell show on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. at Far West. Departing guitarist, synth player and vocalist Jeremy Hughes also plays a solo electronic set for CSC (for more about this show see page 4). No cover.
• Local ska-poppers with a blazin’ horn section, 10 Minutes Down, plays an all-ages show Saturday at 8 p.m. at Pavillion Park in Liberty Lake. The concert is free to the public.
• Popular Portland indie-rock band Slackjaw returns to Spokane on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. at Mootsy’s with rock band Snowdrift. There is a $5 cover.