Saturday: Main Street Block Party at The Island

Photo by Allison McPhail

Getting their dance on.

Eric Dean had something to prove to Houston after his Montrose Winter Social flop last month. Dean did as he promised, and delivered with the 2nd Annual Main Street Block Party. The weather was great, the lineup was diverse, and the the five venues were in such close proximity that both performers and audience could move fluidly.

The Block Party had a miscellany of performers, ranging from H-town hip-hop legends like Point Blank, to out of towners like the chamber rock bandEngland In 1819, who came from Baton Rouge with fancy suits and a French horn.

For the first half of the day, I hung around the Mink. It was the first time I'd been there since the White Mystery show last September, the night of the dramatic buy-out. Since I arrived long before the crowds woke up, I got to see Harold Borup as they played to a nearly empty room like it was my own private show. I was the only person upstairs besides the band members' girlfriends and friends. They still played with the energy of dark, packed house. I appreciated that. Their CD was passed to me at Mango's and I've been listening to it off and on for a few months. It didn't sound as post rocky as the CD. There were more vocals and shorter tracks. Drummer and singer Jonathan Fleissner really impressed me. I'm looking forward to seeing more from them with Co-Pilot on February 4th.

I also got to see White Crime and Muhammadali, bands I'm always happy to see on festival lineups. Since acquiring an extra dummer and guitarist, Muhammadali is starting to look like a jam band. And it never ceases to amaze me how they can draw a crowd even in an awkward time slot like 4:05 p.m.

Outside of the Pachinko Hut I saw Punk Rock Project, a group of old school punks who now have families but are sticking to their roots. The guys brought back memories of Fitzgerald's in the good ol' days, when they hosted real punk rock shows. I was surprised to find out from April Brem Patrick that besides a random house show, this was their first time performing together.

After a BBQ break I wanted to catch as much hip-hop as I could. Unfortunately the Pachinko Hut performers all got moved to downstairs at the Mink. It was hard to stay cramped in the tiny space next to the stairs to the Backroom and the bathrooms.

Nevertheless, I caught the tail end of Renzo's entertaining set-seriously, see this guy sometime as soon as possible-and then waited for ill Liad's performance with legendary Houston South Park Coalition member, Point Blank. iLL Liad didn't show, though, so Point Blank did his own set. He told the 30 people standing in the room to travel as much as possible and to always represent Houston wherever we went. He'd just come back from Australia and is going to Helsinki next. I didn't think I'd be getting advice from Point Blank The Bull. -- Allison Wagoner