THE MINKS + BLACK HAT @ EL ROCKO
THUR DEC 14 | 9 PM
Another week, another excellent Nashville rock band coming through town. Savannah is imperfect, but we sure got it good on this front. The Minks are riding the high of their latest release, “Creatures of Culture,” which is piling up positive reviews. Fronted by Nikki Barber’s compelling vocals, the band is rooted in psych rock but can get a little Southern, a little soulful, and carves out their own style with influences of Exile-era Rolling Stones, late 70s radio rock, and modern indie pop. If fellow Nashville rockers Nordista Freeze, Crumbsnatchers or Gold Park are your thing, you’ll love The Minks.
SHRIMP CITY SLIM @ JAZZ’D TAPAS BAR
WED & THU, DEC 13-14 | 6 PM
Born Gary Erwin in Chicago, Shrimp City Slim has played in countless countries on five continents worldwide. He learned his craft in Mexico and now shares his unique “world piano blues” anywhere there’s a stage. Slim is an institution in Charleston, with March 27 proclaimed Shrimp City Slim Day. Currently, he splits his time between the Holy City and France, the benefits of 35 years in music. As long as he’s on this side of the pond, check out Slim’s energetic, uplifting, good-mood music. It’s perfect for the mid-week blues.
BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT @ THE WORMHOLE
SAT DEC 16 | 8 PM
Bobcat's first appearance on The David Letterman Show was 40 years ago, and he’s still around. That’s no small task, and probably not expected. His original act was semi-coherent ranting from someone with Tourette’s Syndrome, making off-the-wall comments, strange noises and easily distracted. It was funny, but did it have legs? The crazy act was reduced, and a questionable foray into political comedy followed. It seemed off-brand. He then settled into the last 25 or so years and has been taken very seriously (for a comedian) by expanding his roles behind the scenes. He has won awards for directing in film and television, including Chapelle’s Show and stand-up specials for Patton Oswalt and Eugene Mirman. He’s also done some voice acting. So that erratic mess that looked like a short-lived schtick became a bona fide player in comedy. The chance to see his stand-up show in the cozy confines of The Wormhole is like a Christmas gift.
BERO BERO + SOLID STATE RADIO + MANAROVS @ EL ROCKO
SAT DEC 16 | 9 PM
Bero Bero self-describes as “sultry, synth-driven mood music,” and they are absolutely correct. It’ll put you in a mood. Keyboardist Veronica Garcia-Melendez (who also played bass in The Maxines) and drummer David Murray’s intriguing collaboration as Savannah’s hometown mix of The Eurythmics and Kate Bush. It’s kind of new wave, and the vocals are sexy. They may be the only band around cool enough to rock the keytar and get away with it. Atlanta indie rockers Solid State Radio and Savannah’s all-time favorite punk rock secret agents Manarovs get it started.
84 – VAN HALEN TRIBUTE @ VICTORY NORTH
SAT DEC 16 | 10 PM
It was assumed, but now we know. Recently, the world’s leading military historians have confirmed that around the time their fourth album “Fair Warning” was released at the height of a Cold War they weren’t paying attention to, Van Halen could have made mincemeat of a combined US/USSR force with the sheer power of their rock. It also made some moms so cool they let their 13-year-old son skip a day of school to go get tickets to see them at the mall. Indeed, Van Halen’s power was so great it even made women’s clothing disappear! That era is long gone, DLR is sadly a parody of himself, and Edward made his trip to Paris. But you can get pretty damn close to the experience with 84, a veteran tribute band that has been around longer than the Sammy Hagar version of Van Halen. They are joined by Excitable, a tribute to Def Leppard. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal band swerved to disco metal out of necessity in the early 90s and went on to sell about five trillion albums.
