Get your dancin’ shoes on: more great bands from near & far make a stop in Charleston tonight.!

Lee reigns at the Tavern

Reign Lee has a voice all her own: breathy, but husky and strong; flowing honey and chilled ice cubes. The band’s sound is obviously influenced by the Pixies, Nirvana with perhaps a bit of Pearl Jam –unadulterated alt/grunge rock –quite an interesting combination, which may be due to Lee’s multicultural background.  Born in Ontario, guitarist/singer Lee has resided in Beijing, Illinois, New York and most recently, Hong Kong. Lee will be joined by local acoustic favorites The V-Tones and Megan Jean (with bassist Klay Byrne). Rock on, chicas.!

The Village Tavern
1055 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Mt. Pleasant
(843) 884-6311
$6

Cheers to a not-so Mad Tea Party

Jangly and upbeat, The Mad Tea Party will make you think of Johnny Cash and June Carter at a Saturday Night Jamboree… until you see the unconventionally striped tights, evening gown and ukulele.  Female vocalist Ami Worthen possesses hints of Juno hit maker Kimya Dawson, the B-52s and Meg White …all adorbs with an alt-country edge. Jason Krekel is a one-man band, managing the guitar, fiddle and foot pedal. The duo is celebrating the spooky season with a Halloween-themed disc titled Zombie Stomp. MTP is opening for Afro-fusion funk rockers Toubab Krewe.

Toubab Krewe w/ Mad Tea Party
The Pour House
1977 Maybank Hwy., James Island
(843) 571-4343
$15 at the door, $12 in advance

Get back to your garage rock roots with Paul Revere & the Raiders
Paul Revere & the Raiders, whose biggest radio hit was 1971’s “Indian Reservation,” take to the Lakefront Stage at the 53^rd annual Coastal Carolina Fair in Ladson. For those of you less well-versed in the pioneers of garage rock, Alan Jackson utilized parts of “Indian Reservation” on his 1994 hit “Indian Outlaw.” Revere & the Raiders are classic. Grab a fried turkey leg and a funnel cake from the concessions and head over to the fairgrounds. You might even have time for a ride on the Gravitron, if you get there early.

Paul Revere & the Raiders
Exchange Park Fairgrounds
9850 Hwy. 78, Ladson
7:30 p.m.

You don’t have to listen. I’m just sayin’ … – iBelle

October: Everything we love to love at SxSE

We’re riding high, SxSE readers: Dogfish Head, stellar performances from Andrew Bird and St. Vincent and just enough cool weather to give that pumpkin ale an extra bite. October has more to offer in the way of craft beer and great music.

Drink it in while you can, and take lots of pictures. We all remember July. PBR-light and Danger Muffin can only take us so far.

Tonight – Tuesday, 10/20/09-

Rock star Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver, author of The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, will be at The Charleston Beer Exchange from 4-6 tonight, signing copies of his renowned work of gastronomic pleasure and pouring growlers of Brooklyn Brewery’s latest Brewmaster’s Reserve: The Manhattan Project.

The Manhattan Project is inspired by the popular NY concoction, according to CBX. MP is a rye beer, aged in whisky barrels and then infused with red vermouth, bitters, herbs, spices and a dash of tart cherry. After greeting the masses at CBX, Oliver will head over to Chai’s to host a Brooklyn Brewery beer dinner at 6 p.m.

I must say that Charleston is becoming a beer nerd Mecca.!!

Brooklyn Brewery: The Manhattan Project; growlers at CBX- $15

Brooklyn Brewery Beer Dinner
Chai’s
462 King St., Downtown
(843) 722-7313
6 p.m.
$65, plus tax and gratuity

Thursday 10/22/09 – We Landed on the Moon! touches down in West Ashley

The power popping, driving energy of We Landed on the Moon! will initially hook you, but lead singer Melissa Eccles will reel you in. Think Blondie and Rilo Kiley, with a spoonful of alt-punk sensibility.

I was so psyched about this Baton Rouge-based band last month that I mistakenly rushed to the Tin Roof on September 22.

I was only fortunate enough to hear the drunken yells of trivia and the squish of flying Jell-O shots under my feet. I’m headed back for another try Thursday. Let’s hope the City Paper and MySpace get it right this time.

We Landed on the Moon
The Tin Roof
1117 Magnolia Road, West Ashley
(843) 571-0775
10 p.m.
$5

Saturday 10/24/09 – Who doesn’t love the 80’s?

Ok.  A lot of people. But that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy Austin-based punk-funkers Ghostland Observatory this Saturday at the Music Farm.

The City of Austin loves this duo, as do Austin City Limits fans privy to their performance at this year’s festival.

GLO does generously incorporate synthesizers, lights and other apparatuses of 80’s techno, including the piercing vocals and swaggering stage presence of Queen’s Freddie Mercury or Prince. But this duo isn’t all smoke and mirrors.

Ghostland Observatory also employs definitive elements of R&B and classic rock throughout their obscure musical genre. And their shows are balls-to-the-wall energy. You literally won’t stop moving.

And if this doesn’t convince you, keyboardist, drummer and background vocalist Thomas Turner wears a cape. How freakin’ cool is that?

Ghostland Observatory
Music Farm
32 Ann St., Downtown
(843) 853-3276
Doors open at 7 p.m.
$25, $23 (adv.)

Yea for beer and music.! Stay tuned for more beer dinners (possibly some REVIEWS) and Halloween festivities. Wahoo.!

-iBelle

Dogfish Head is here.!

Hear ye, hear ye,  fair SxSE-ers:

Bell’s Brewing and Founders, New Belgium’s Fat Tire,
These high gravity brews keep on stoking our  desire.

Never did I think we’d come upon the day,
Where we can all toast a Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA.

So don’t make excuses, don’t be led astray,
Stop by CBX with your growler today.!

On tap at 5 p.m.:
90 Minute IPA  (9% ABV, one of the best IPAs in America!)
Palo Santo Marron  (12% ABV, Strong brown ale brewed in exotic wooden tanks)
Midas Touch (9% ABV, made with honey, muscat grapes and saffron)
Pangaea (7% ABV, made with crystallized ginger and ingredients from every continent)

I’m just a little psyched.

-iBelle

Thursday indie thrills: rockin’ bands at the Pour House, Tin Roof and Village Tavern

Flip a coin or roll the dice. There’s just too much music to choose from on Thursday night.

Look at that punim.!

Feeling like a sugary-sweet ode to the Beach Boys of yore? Local lyricists The Explorer’s Club will be performing at the Pour House. This crew never fails to take listeners back to a simpler time through idyllic grooves and complex harmonies nitpicked to perfection. Check out Daytrotter for a taste.

The Explorers Club w/ Alswel
The Pour House
1977 Maybank Hwy. James Island
(843) 571-4343
9 p.m.
$7

Cleveland's own dirty divas.

If you’re craving something slightly more savory and a lot spicier, head on over to the Tin Roof to get your fill of indie all-girl rockers Hotchacha.  Lead singer Jovana Batkovic is a bit less sanguine than alt-pop goddess Gwen Stefani, more amiable than punk rock femme Courtney Love, but as outrageous as both. The gals from Cleveland promise to shock and impress.  They’ve been described as, “one ultimate machine that will make you laugh, cry, and masturbate all at once.” Need I say more?

Hotchacha w/ The Green and Bold, Mystery of Two
The Tin Roof
1117 Magnolia Road, West Ashley
(843) 571-0775
10 p.m.
$5

Mother Jackson will rock you.

Get back to meat and three with rock ‘n’ roll at its most basic. Athens-based Mother Jackson lays down 70’s-era rock with an original twist. You know what you’re getting, plain and simple. MJ serves up steely and jagged guitar riffs, growling vocals and hypnotic, raucous jams.

Mother Jackson w/ Up With the Joneses
The Village Tavern
1055 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Mt Pleasant
(843) 884-6311
10 p.m.
$6

Whatever your hankering, the Lowcountry will be serving the finest on Thursday. Help yourself.

-          iBelle

Heads, shoulders, Hands & Knees, Hands & Knees!!!

You definitely need to take Hands & Knees seriously.

I am currently enjoying a fondness for Massachusetts-based indie band Hands & Knees. I really like the energy of this Boston favorite.

And the vocal combination of guitarist Joe O’Brien and bassist Carina Kelly is brilliant.

H&K is confident in its uncertainty, bouncing and rolling, singing sweetly and then falling into bouts of unanticipated, raw noise. I know of no other way to describe it.

Check out “Anywhere but Here” or “We Are the Man Who Cannot Fly” for an example.

Imagine Dick and Jane or the Berenstain Bears with a side of the dark and comical Alexander and his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

H&K unquestionably turns out indie pop, but with a bit of melancholy, alt-country surreptitiously folded in. The group possesses an unrefined, off-kilter sound in the vein of Matt & Kim.

Et Tu, Fluffy?

Hands & Knees is, however, more rollicking, romping and slightly more put together than the Brooklyn duo. The group’s newest album, “Et tu, Fluffy?,” displays this amalgamation of sound and style best. Great album title as well, by the way.

So, that’s it. I’m in, I’m out and I’m addicted to the pomp as well as the irony of Hands & Knees.

And I’ll most definitely be on my feet clapping my hands at the Tin Roof tonight.!!

Hands & Knees
The Tin Roof
1117 Magnolia Road, West Ashley
(843) 571-0775
10 p.m.

- iBelle