Weekend Music Picks: Suburban Graffiti, The Concept, The Clementines

Lotsa cool music for the PopCult devotee this weekend. 

Tonight at The La Belle Theater, 311 D Street in South Charleston, Suburban Graffiti is headlining an all ages show, with special guests, The Concept.  Time and Distance are in solo acoustic mode opening the show, which starts at 7:30 PM and costs a mere six bucks.  Suburban Graffiti are slated for a future episode of Radio Free Charleston, and The Concept have been on the show already, and will be again in the coming months. 

That’s not all, as we get a weekend filled with rock, jazz, folk, electronica, punk, and loads of caffiene.

We were blown away by Suburban Graffiti a few weeks ago when we saw them at the La Belle with Holden Caulfield.  Tyler Chiartis, Gram Bailey, Thomas Martin, and Jack Burgess have a fresh sound that really stands out from the local scene.  Clever songs, tight playing, and featured keyboards are the hallmark of their unique sound.   Of course, The Concept are one of the tightest and most entertaining bands in town, so you know you’re going to get way more than your six bucks worth of USDA Grade A Rock and Roll.

If you’re in Huntington tonight, check out the band Family Conspiracy, at Club Echo on 4th Avenue.  Their show starts around 9:30, and three bucks gets you in the door.   It’ll be a great night of solid acoustic folk-pop.

Saturday night, The Clementines, who are Casi Null and some guy named Douglas Imbrogno (probably a pseudonym), bring their “Nouveaux Folk with a dash of electronica” to Taylor Books.  Bob Webb will sit in for part of the night.  We caught Casi and our esteemed Gazz.com editor at the Winter Solstice at the Unitarian Universalist Church last year, and there is no one in town doing music like this.  It sounds sort of like acoustic Frippertronics.  Doug and Casi will also be doing some more traditional music and singing, too.  We will be on hand with our cameras, hopefully capturing some musical magic for episode 37 of Radio Free Charleston.  There is no cover, and The Clementines will perform from 7:30 to 9:30. 

We’ll be splitting the night between Taylor’s and Capitol Roasters, where RFC faves Whistlepunk are performing from 8 PM to 10:30 PM.  Again, there is no cover.  You can read more about Whistlepunk here, here, here, and here, or go to their MySpace page.  Opening for Whistlepunk are Sean Richardson and Karen Allen, who coincidentally happen to be in Whistlepunk. 

And just in case you couldn’t care less about the Super Bowl, there will be a drum circle/open mic at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Kanawha Boulevard Sunday at 5:30 PM.  This is a very open and welcoming scene, and some of the performers we’ve written about above may be on hand. 

Sunday night, as always, you can catch The Paris Project, who bring traditional Jazz to life every weekend at Cafe De Paris.  It’d be a good way to wrap up a weekend of way-cool and diverse live music.