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Angie Heaton

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Local Musicians Play Tunes for Tails »

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• Mike 'n' Molly's »
  105 N. Market St. Champaign, IL 61820
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Pygmalion Music Festival and Parasol Records present Elsinore w/ special guests Mazes and Post-Historic »

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• Canopy Club »
  708 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
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Trevor Hall »

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• Canopy Club »
  708 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
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SuperCoolFunTimeIndiePopElectroTrashShow »

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• Mike 'n' Molly's »
  105 N. Market St. Champaign, IL 61820
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Stellar Days with Rudi, Yossarian »

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• Bentley's Pub »
  419 N. Neil St. Champaign, IL 61820
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Related Articles

• New Ruins celebrate latest release with vinyl, Cowboy Monkey show
• New Ruins performs live in the WPGU studio
• Fishing with Dynamite sketch comedy troupe performs at the Canopy Club

How do you not cover a show billed as "Super-Cool-Fun-Time-Indie-Pop-Electro-Trash-Show?" Exactly. There is no way to look past it. And so, we open our tale with a Mike ‘n Molly’s show taking place Thursday, Feb. 26. The oft-touring and ever dependable Heligoats are slated to make a tour stop to headline the show, bringing their unique blend of styles including two-step. Eureka Brown, the closest thing CU has to the mysterious band member mystique that comes with a band like the Gorillaz, will fill the middle slot for the night, with a newly formed Tyson and the Friction opening up. The show is set to start at 9 p.m. with a $4 cover charge. Longtime CU music fans might be in for a surprise if the bands on this bill are new to them, as Heligoats packs a former member of Troubled Hubble, while Tyson and the Friction features “that nerd that played Moog for the Red Hot Valentines,” according to the openingbands.com show notes.

Live Karaoke Band has officially moved their monthly downtown residency from the Highdive to Cowboy Monkey, where they will play tonight (10 p.m., $5). Here is the full transcript of the CU Sound Revue interview with bass player Guido Esteves, previewed in last week’s column:

CU Sound Revue: Guido, are you excited about this month’s Live Karaoke Band show at Cowboy Monkey?

Esteves: I will punch all of you in the face. Except you. You’re hot. (Directed to either his wife or CU drummer Joe Funderburk — it’s unclear).

Things get crazier on Friday, Feb. 27 as the Canopy hosts not one, not two, but three shows all in one night. First, at 7 p.m., you’ve got Fishing with Dynamite, the local sketch comedy group, performing for $5. Up second is Los Angeles singer/songwriter Trevor Hall whose “Bharat” demo on his MySpace page made me want to stab someone in the face with its never-ending parade of voice cracks and trite lyrics.The shirtless picture background didn't help much, either. Yet he has the sandy haired, stubble-faced look and watered-down reggae sound that the sorority girls probably love, and somehow he's managed to land on a Geffen imprint, so I'm sure folks will turn out. Following his set, the Void Room will be treated to a set from Mazes, a band featuring members of The 1900s, as they play the late-late show with locals Elsinore and Post Historic ($7, midnight).

Saturday, Feb. 28 proves to be tougher to navigate, as you couldn’t throw Nicole Richie without hitting a solid show. Early show-goers can check out the jump-boogie of Bruiser and the Virtues at the Embassy Tavern in downtown Urbana (8 p.m., no cover), or yet another in the fine series of shows at Courtyard Café, this time featuring Foundry Field Recordings with Santa supporting (9 p.m., $5 public/$3 with UIUC ID). Bentley's continues to add full-band, original bills into the mix, this time hosting Stellar Days, Yossarian and Rudi (10 p.m., $1).

The big show of the night certainly has to be the release show for We Make Our Own Bad Luck, the new album from New Ruins. Cowboy Monkey is the spot, with Common Loon kicking things off at 10 p.m. Following them, Tractor Kings will unleash an alt-country set. New Ruins, with newest member Andrew Davidson (bassist/The Living Blue, drummer/The Chemicals) in tow to add some more layers, will have the new record on both CD and vinyl available to pick up. Cover for this show is $5.

Over at Mike ‘n Molly’s, some local rockers will band together for a CATSNAP benefit. Terminus Victor will be joined by Golden Quality, Dottie and the Rail and Angie Heaton. No official word at press time on start time and cover charge (editor's note: click the calendar link on the right for information), but look for something like 9 p.m. and $5. CATSNAP stands for Champaign Area Trap Spay/Neuter and Adoption Program, and catsnap.org has a story about an adorable, special cat named Mitzi, along with information about their crusade to help with pet population control.

Musicians should take note of the special seminar taking place at Cowboy Monkey on Tuesday (3/3) called Tour:Smart, put on by Martin Atkins (Killing Joke, Public Image Ltd.). Toss his name into Google and you’ll see that he’s highly respected in the community and has taken his advice to just about every music conference and event there is. The event is free and will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Retraction! Last week’s column mentioned that the Impalas show at Bentley’s would start on time assuming lead singer Dawna Nelson showed up on time. It should have said that the show would start on time assuming Dawna had been able to get a drink and smoke a cigarette quickly, having arrived five minutes before set time. Apologies for the egregious error.

Mike can be reached at forgottenwords@gmail.com.