Playbill

Low Riders

There are people out there who don't grasp the concept of a good ole car show. What's the point? they say. It's just cars we'll never buy because we can't afford them. To be quite honest, though, it's not about the cars. Sure, all those souped-up luxury vehicles and sleek sportsmobiles can heighten the testosterone in even the girliest man. But a showing of all this muscle is sometimes just a ruse under which the real show lies. Sometimes a car show is just an excuse to get people to pay to see live rap and drool over half-nekkid babes. Sometimes seeing these "car" shows is like having an issue of Low Rider magazine unfold before you.

People at 97.9 KBXX-FM "The Box" know this. That's why they're putting on The Box Custom Car Show, or "Carmillennium." This self-proclaimed "Last Car Show of the Millennium" (if you've been listening to "The Box" lately, you know that everything is a last something or another of the millennium) promises to be more about beats and big names than bumpers and babes.

The two big draws of the show are Houston rap legend Scarface and West Coast rap pro/No Limit sergeant Snoop Dogg. Although it'll be a thrill to see everybody's favorite Geto Boy finally bust a few rhymes in front of a live audience, everyone's waiting to see Snoop. Since it is likely that the Dogg will perform, it is also possible other No Limit talent will show up. (We're hoping Mystikal or Mia X.)

Many of the performers who will be a part of the hydraulics-and-honeys extravaganza are locally based. Hometown boys South Park Mexican, Lil' Troy, CNote and others will be there, probably with their own booty-shaking beauties, to drop rhymes and claim regions. So, you see, with this ghetto-fabulous lineup of rap performers, jazzed-up automobiles and enough voluptuous ladies to pack a Too Short video, The Box Custom Car Show looks to be an event full of unleaded urban machismo. (Craig D. Lindsey)

The Box Custom Car Show, featuring Scarface, Snoop Dogg, Lil' Troy, Mack 10, South Park Mexican, C-Note and others, will take place on Sunday, October 17, at the Astrohall, 8400 Kirby. Tickets are $17. Show starts at 11 a.m. Call (713)623-2108 or visit your local Wherehouse Music for more information.

Austin Lounge Lizards

Bluegrass music is pretty serious stuff. Anyone lucky enough to have seen Bill Monroe, the music's recently deceased patriarch, probably remembers how his mien closely resembled a scowl for the better part of his performances with his Bluegrass Boys. And then there's all those earnest young men (and women) you see at bluegrass festivals, their faces scrunched up in concentration as they intently deliver their solos. Sure, Flatt & Scruggs offered a mild smile as they performed -- after all, the duo did come up with "The Theme to The Beverly Hillbillies" -- but outright fun was rather rare in the music until the advent of the '70s "newgrass" revival.

Somebody forgot to tell that to the Austin Lounge Lizards. The band's music has been tagged as "satirical bluegrass," but that's not exactly accurate. These five pickers and singers from the Capital City are deadly serious musicians and singers, but the subject matter of their songs happens to be the stuff one talks about when the joint burns down to a roach. Like some unholy union between political song satire and newgrass, the Lizards combine instrumental finesse with harmonies as tight as Scrooge McDuck's bankroll. Then there's the content of the songs...(Rob Patterson)

The Austin Lounge Lizards will perform Saturday, October 16, at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk. Call (713)528-5911 for more information.