Back To Basics

And thus we have International Get High Day, which will be celebrated in Houston at two events. As mentioned in this space last week, Last Concert Cafe will host the 420 Festival, with the Tony Furtado Band, Smokin' Grass and Greyhounds.

Then there's the inaugural Washington 420 Street Fest, a much larger event on the Washington Avenue strip and at Cardi's. In addition to a handful of touring acts, local bands on the bill include Ale, Geek, Mr. Plow, WD40oz., C'Mon C'Mon, D Element, Fondue Monks, Leaf, Michael, Mindsight, Strangelight, Magnetic IV, Big John Mills & The Texas Road Dogs, John Evans, Clay Farmer, the McKay Brothers, Liviya Compean, E. Phillip Vallejo, Path and 61 Cygni. Participating venues include the Rhythm Room, Silky's, Mary Jane's, Walter's on Washington and Urban Ice House, as well as Cardi's. Tickets are $4.20 the day of the event, $2.40 if purchased at the event's preparty at Paesanos on April 16. Proceeds go to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.Scuttlebutt Caboose

Wesley "Lil Flip" Weston was shot in the shoulder by an unknown gunman as he was leaving South Side Studios at 3 a.m. on March 27. The rapper had been in the studio working on his Loud/Sony debut, Underground Legend. He was making his way down Cullen Boulevard when a gold car pulled up alongside his rental SUV and the assailant opened fire. Flip had the luck of the leprechaun he portrayed on the cover of his 2000 CD: He not only survived what is described as an attempted assassination (no one else in his entourage was shot, and no robbery was attempted), but also was in and out of Ben Taub in about 24 hours. Rumors abound. Flip's Suckafree label is attempting to squelch a few with the following statement posted on its Web site: "Sorry to let all you fans know that the rumors of Suckafree artist Lil Flip getting shot are true. To dispel all the other rumors of who it was that shot Lil Flip, it wasn't Lil Flex nor ESG. They have sent their condolences out to the Suckafree Family and Lil Flip. Lil Flip is in very well condition. If you would like to send him a get well card to our P.O. Box address: P.O. Box 330657, Houston, Texas, 77233. Thank you for all your support and stay Suckafree."…Local punk club The Oven has closed. Callers to the club were greeted with this melancholy message from MIA owner Carlos Cagna: "For band booking or anybody calling, we highly regret to say that The Oven is closed and has been sold to a new owner. From what I understand, it will be turned into a restaurant. The rock and roll scene at The Oven is over. Bands, thank you very much for all the jams, and all the customers, thank you very much. Y'all take care. Thank you." Check these pages in the coming weeks for a more in-depth obit on the lower Westheimer haunt…Contrary to what was reported in this column two weeks ago, the Earthwire.net all-weekend concert at the Last Concert Cafe will not take place Memorial Day weekend. The show has been moved to the following weekend, May 31 through June 2…In one of the more bizarre music industry lawsuits in recent years, New Orleans rapper Mystikalis being sued for over $1 million by a Louisiana inventor for using six Cajun bons mots on his smash hit "Shake Ya Ass." Plaintiff Steve Winn asserts that Mystikal stole the sayings, which he claims to have copyrighted, off his Cajun in Your Pocket battery-powered talking key chain. Mystikal's attorneys argue that the Cajunisms in question -- "We gon' pass good time, yeah, cher," "I love you like a pig loves corn," "You gotta suck da head on dem der crawfish" and "Laissez les bons temps rouler," among others -- are commonplace phrases in the local lingo and can't be copyrighted. Winn won a $20,000 judgment against Ani DiFranco in a similar case, but DiFranco sampled actual recordings from the Cajun in Your Pocket, while Mystikal merely used the same words. Winn's claiming to own the use of "Laissez les bons temps rouler" is ludicrous. It's like some guy in New Jersey claiming the rights to "fuhgedaboudit" or a lone Arkansan with exclusive possession of "Sooey pig."…From the unused band name file: Fog Boy, Grackle Racket, Enola Gaydar…Thanks for reading, and be sure to stay Suckafree till next week.