Smile Politely

The Overture: July 17–23

WHAT: Three Bad Jacks, The Krank Daddies 

WHERE: The Highdive ($8)

WHEN: Tuesday, July 17th at 9 p.m.

Surfabilly Freakout is sponsoring this one which is sure to get wild over at The Highdive. This is an early week show so get ready to feel it in the morning at work if you’re planning on going to this one. The Krank Daddies are a pretty racous opening band playing before Three Bad Jacks. 

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WHAT: Midstress, Kowabunga! Kid, An Everning With Your Mother, Lian Paranoia

WHERE: Red Herring ($5)

WHEN: Wednesday, July 18th at 8 p.m.

The Red Herring has been pumping out a ton of shows recently; this one and the few others listed this week are just adding to things. Pretty much a smörgåsbord of bands here, with Chicago’s Lian Paranoia joining in with three other locals. Kowabunga! Kid is kicking off their short tour with this one Wednesday night. If you haven’t done so by now, you should also check out Midstress’ new EP, streaming below.

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WHAT: Dan White Sextet

WHERE: The Iron Post ($6)

WHEN: Thursday, July 19th at 7 p.m.

Grant gave us a pretty solid rundown of what to expect from the Dan White Sextet when they come through C-U Thursday night. They are set to play for three hours, so be in for the long haul if you’re planning on going to this one.

Listen: Dan White Sextet: “Lumps”

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WHAT: Hank, Adaje, Frida Kahlo Fan Club 

WHERE: Red Herring ($3)

WHEN: Thursday, July 19th at 10 p.m.

Like I mentioned before, Red Herring is killing it this summer with these shows. This time around it’s Hank, dubbed “local math salts zombies” on the Facebook event. That’s a trend now these days, right? Oh wait, that’s another thing … nevermind. Our main competitor and evil twin Zmile Pholitely even got mentioned for voting Frida Kahlo Fan Club “C-U’s Worst Top 40 Country Band” on that page as well.

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WHAT: That’s No Moon, The Plexicats, Corn Tha Coon, Mad C

WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($5)

WHEN: Thursday, July 19th at 10 p.m.

In what is being dubbed “Indie Rock vs. Hip-Hop” night over at Mike ‘N Molly’s, they want to see what happens when genres clash at one show. Will the world explode? Probably not, but it will be worth seeing just in case. Jokes aside — this is a pretty cool idea and should probably happen more often than it does.

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WHAT: Living & Wrestling, Fire Academy, Andrew Johnathan, Enta

WHERE: Red Herring ($5)

WHEN: Friday, July 20th at 8 p.m.

Milwaukee’s hardcore crew Living & Wrestling invade Red Herring as well this week with Iowa’s Fire Academy and Andrew Johnathan, as well as locals Enta to round out the bill. Living & Wrestling did a split with local post/doom-rock outfit Mammoths, which you can stream below.

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WHAT: Legend of Levi Morgan, Dry Creek Station

WHERE: Canopy Club ($5)

WHEN: Friday, July 20th at 9 p.m.

Country folk going down at Canopy, home of the Levi Morgan duo. Dry Creek Station is from Champaign as well. This is a good one for fans of country music who aren’t interested in the shows going on during Red Hot Summerfest, so this would be a decent recommendation for those folks.

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WHAT: The Lonely Trailer, Hatches, The Cheaper Hits 

WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($5)

WHEN: Saturday, July 21st at 10 p.m.

The Lonely Trailer played a few shows earlier this year in C-U as well as a couple stops in Chicago, but other than that have been relatively quiet. St. Louis’ Hatches join with other local The Cheaper Hits for a pretty great Saturday night show in the beer garden.

Blue With Water“Blue With Water”

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EDITOR’S PICK: RED HOT SUMMERFEST 2012
Downtown Champaign — Tuesday, July 17th through Sunday, July 22nd

We’re going to let the schedule do the talking for this entry this week. Red Hot Summerfest is here and all over Downtown Champaign all next week, where you can catch DJs, blues, rock, and folk acts, amongst many others. Brat Pack is the headliner of sorts, but there are plenty of these acts that could be your own personal headliner. Prices vary for the shows (all single show prices TBA unless otherwise noted), but you can get a pass so you can hit all the events. 

You can check out the schedule to the right, over at their website (with times), and here as well:

Monday, July 16th at 7 p.m. Soma: Red Party, DJ Bob Bass

Tuesday, July 17th at 7 p.m. – Cowboy Monkey (free): Mike Ingram, Kilborn Alley, Decade Late, Gavin Stolte Project

Wednesday, July 18th at 7 p.m. Soma: Kristen Shaffer, Stigma, Sex As A Weapon, DJ Mingram featuring Christacy, DJ Stifler, DJ Tim Williams, DJ DRocka

Thursday, July 19th at 7 p.m. The Highdive: Feudin’ Hillbillys, 90’s Daughter, Sugar Prophets, DJ Buddy Waters

Friday, July 20th at 7 p.m. – The Highdive: Candy Foster & The Shades of Blue, 30Aut6, DJ Delayney, Sonny Stubble

Saturday, July 21st at 4 p.m. – PNC Parking Lot (free): Brat Pack with Camdon Scott

Sunday, July 22nd at 4 p.m. – Cowboy Monkey: Hit It Run, Outbound Drive, The Dirty Feathers, Diva & The Dude, The Impalas, Mr. Late

Executive Editor

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