Tuesday nights can be oh-so-quiet downtown -- too quiet. But that doesn't mean there isn't something popping off inside one of the spots along the newly renovated Main Street. Take a typical Tuesday at beloved "boozerdashery" Dean's Credit Clothing: DJ 606 plays an hour-long hip-hop set, then a 13-man group of MCs known as P.I. Productions takes the stage. After that, there's a set by Chicago house/smooth jazz spinners DJ Madhouse and DJ Jazzmatazz. And all the while, local painter Jay Forsythe hangs out inside the store windows creating his art, and patrons sip raspberry martinis and browse through the bar's racks of designer clothes. Everyone's alive, dammit -- alive!
"Soulphilia," a weekly art/music/ nightlife free-for-all, goes down every Tuesday at Dean's. Night owls may remember that "Soulphilia" was originally held at Lotus Lounge, but that club's demand to bring in more people -- and more money -- was a buzz kill for the "Soulphilia" team.
"We had to charge people $5, and I didn't like doing that," says promoter Crystal Lee. After a yearlong hookup at the Lotus, Lee brought the event to Dean's last January and found the snug, intimate space a perfect fit.
"Once you walk in here," says Lee, "you can tell it's so much more conducive to the whole vibe that we go for anyway." 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Dean's Credit Clothing, 316 Main, 713-227-3326. Free. -- Craig D. Lindsey
Little Pappas Seafood kitchen's Killer Whale
An
angry woman in a big black Cadillac cut me off as we were driving down Shepherd.
She had the look of someone who would back over her husband given the right
opportunity. I veered to the right, practically driving up over the curb and
into a telephone pole. Catching my breath, I parked the car and walked into
Little Pappas Seafood Kitchen (3001 South Shepherd, 713-522-4595) to laugh
it off. What turned me around (or, should I say upside down) was the Killer
Whale, a 14-ounce concoction designed to induce a killer buzz. Made with a steady
hand (unlike mine), its layers of margarita, hurricane, melon liqueur and raspberry
liquors look like a colorful and more exotic black and tan. The first two Killer
Whales took my mind off the crazy woman in the Cadillac. By the time I was done
with the third, I kind of wished we'd collided. At least then I would have had
someone to drink with.
6 ounces hurricane
6 ounces margarita
1 ounce Mr. Boston's Melon Liqueur
1 ounce Hiram Walker's Raspberry Liqueur
Follow directions in a bar guide to make small batches of hurricanes and margaritas (frozen keeps the drink colder). Take a 14-ounce hurricane glass and pour the melon liqueur first. Then, tipping the glass, if necessary, layer in six ounces of the margarita. Follow that with the hurricane, and then top off with the raspberry liqueur. Serve with a straw. Consume slowly. -- J.W. Crooker
THU 7/3
Sonic Plague
If San Diego' the Locust is the future of hardcore punk, then get ready for
the apocalypse. The group's 2003 album, Plague Soundscapes, contains
23 songs and clocks roughly the same number of minutes, with surreal titles
like "Twenty-Three Lubed Up Schizophrenics with Delusions of Grandeur," "Solar
Panel Asses" and "Late for a Double Date with a Pile of Atoms in the Water Closet."
The Locust members perform wearing tight, green, insectlike costumes. Their
antics verge on chaos, and their noise is profoundly loud. By all means, wear
earplugs. 10 p.m. Thursday, July 3. Fat Cat's, 4216 Washington Avenue. For information,
call 713-869-5263. -- Troy Schulze
FRI 7/4
Stars, Stripes and Willie
Willie Nelson and the Fourth of July go together like apple pie and ice cream.
It's downright unpatriotic not to feel a deep love for the venerable entertainer.
Luckily, we Houstonians won't have to go far -- just to Spicewood, 30 minutes
outside of Austin -- for this year's Willie Nelson 30th Anniversary Fourth of
July Picnic Weekend. Also on the bill: the Dead (Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bob
Weir, Rob Narraco, Jimmy Herring, Jeff Chimenti, Bill Kreutzmann and Joan Osborne),
Pat Green, Toby Keith, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Billy Bob Thornton, Patty
Griffin, Cory Morrow, Los Lonely Boys and Waylon Payne. Shows start at noon
on Friday and Saturday, July 4 and 5. Two River Amphitheater, 11750 State Highway
71 West. For tickets, call 1-888-597-STAR or visit startickets.com.
$49. -- Cathy Matusow
