Gossip Wolf isn’t the biggest fan of Emo Nite LA. The widely publicized DJ monthly doesn’t seem to be good for much except using nostalgia for 2000s emo to sell gimmicky shirts (maybe you’ve seen their “Sad as Fuck” tees). The series’s organizers are bringing their laptops to town on Wednesday, April 19, but why spend $10 to watch mass marketers sing along to old Billboard hits when you can go to a homegrown emo night for free? On Thursday, April 20, the Burlington hosts its emo monthly, with regulars Brent Cayson and Justin Watt DJing in the front room (with no admission charge) and cover bands playing in the back room for a measly $5. Salt Sweat Sugar perform as Jimmy Eat World, Band From the Back Porch perform as Saves the Day, and Hi Ho perform as Avril Lavigne—proving that some folks consider eye makeup “emo.”
Gossip Wolf has grown a few gray hairs in the seven years since Office and Mazes bassist Tom Smith moved to San Francisco—and truth be told, he probably has too! Luckily, his hook-friendly power pop hasn’t aged a bit. Last fall, his band Smokin’ Ziggurats dropped a self-titled LP brimming with Pavement-esque slacker-pop jams, and on Saturday, April 15, they play the GMan Tavern with Bay Area singer-songwriter K Skelton and locals Love of Everything, aka the eclectic indie-pop project of Joan of Arc bassist Bobby Burg.
On Saturday, April 15, Subterranean hosts “Dump Trump: Chicago Hip-Hop Against Bullshit,” with part of the proceeds going to the ACLU. Two of the night’s acts, Matlock and Mic Logik, recently collaborated on a song called “Dump Trump” that flips Kriss Kross’s “Jump” into an agitprop rager. The $10 show starts with an open mike; after that the bill is, in order, the Microphone Misfitz, Ezekiel 38 & Japandrew, MZM, Awmack, Matlock & Mic Logik, Mass Hysteria, and Army of 2 (aka Ang13 and Longshot). The music starts at 10:30 PM. v
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