Local rockers the Poeboy Society and hip-hop quintet Arkatext are doing it and doing it well: The former went on to win in the Battle in the Rock contest at the Clear Channel Metroplex in August, while the latter is making a name for itself in regularly winning local and regional hip-hop contests.
So, what better than to see these two contest favorites play a double-bill at Vino’s Brewpub on Saturday, Oct. 2.
The Poeboy Society, a finalist earlier in 2004 in the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, emerged victorious over 10 other bands in the Battle of the Rock on Aug. 14, a contest that included local favorites Hap-Hazard and Singleminded, along with regional acts Cherry Hill, Veiling Iris, Squint, Furtherdown and Chosen View, as well as Rezin from Bethesda, Md., and Reaxis from Maine. The show also included an acoustic guest performance by Seether, which was playing later that night at Alltel Arena with Evanescence.
Meanwhile, Arkatext’s DJ “Metrik” has run his undefeated “Under the Ground” spin-off mark at Vino’s to record two months in a row.
The all-ages show starts at 9:30 p.m. with a $5 cover.
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Kick up your heels to punk-rock-grass while “Danny Boy” rolls in his grave: Hell’s Kitchen, the local Irish-flavored rock act, tore it up at the well received KABZ-FM “BUZZ” 103.7 tailgate party at the Sept. 18 Arkansas Razorback game at War Memorial Stadium, will show up at its favorite venue, the White Water Tavern, on Friday, Oct. 1. Showtime is 10 p.m., the cover is $5.
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Another good reason to stay up past you bedtime comes to Juanita’s on Saturday, Oct. 2, when the local consummate grassroots plain-old-good-time party band the Greasy Greens plays a semi-rare show. Strange Heroes, from Fayetteville, will open the show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students.
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We know it’s a school night, and we know you need to be at work the next morning, but Wednesday, Oct. 6, is a great night to go out in Little Rock. Pick a show; you won’t regret it:
• We all had our New Kids on the Block favorite heartthrob, even if we now wear all black and act superior about music now. Donnie was the hot, tattooed “bad boy,” Joey had the innocent appeal, Danny had the muscle-ly physique and Jon was the sensitive one.
But the majority of the NKOTB fan base adored Jordan Knight, who is the featured act at Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom on Wednesday. Maybe his image of late has become a little kitschy with his appearances on “The Surreal Life” and “Bands Reunited” on VH1, but we’re sure that his Wednesday performance will be as jam-packed with wall-to-wall estrogen as his appearance last January. Knight will be releasing his second solo CD in early October. Jag Star, whose music has been featured in a recent episode of MTV’s “Road Rules,” will open the show at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
• The self-proclaimed “greatest rock and roll band in the world,” the Supersuckers, will mix its hubris with honky-tonk for a two-toned show Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. at Sticky Fingerz ($10). Normally the Seattle-based band (though leader Eddie Spaghetti says on his web site that he now resides in Spain) goes out pure Def Leppard-style and southern-inspired rock ’n’ roll in its sets, but will start off with a few country tunes (we’re sure it’s going to rock just as hard, though).
“Motherf****** be Trippin’,” released April 2003 was the last full band album, and Spaghetti went solo with dingy-bar inspired ditties in “The Sauce,” released in January.
• If you want to go straight country, the Electric Cowboy will host country chart-topper Doug Stone on Wednesday. Stone, who has suffered plenty with heart surgeries, heart attacks and a near-fatal plane crash, is known for his downtrodden demeanor — some surprise there, huh? — and had many country hits in the ’90s, including “In a Different Light,” “Warning Labels” and “A Jukebox with a Country Song.” His most recent album, released on independent label Audium, was 2002’s “The Long Way.”
Tickets are $12. The show starts at 9:30 p.m.
Rock, hip-hop merge in Vino’s ‘Fall Classic’
Poeboy Society, Arkatext are on a roll; Wednesday is a big night.