Smile Politely

The Overture: August 25-31

WHAT: Turner Cody, Morgan Orion, Paul Kotheimer

WHERE: Cafeteria & Company

WHEN: Tuesday, August 26th at 7:30 p.m.

A slightly tardy addition here, but a trio of singer-songwriters will be performing at Cafeteria & Company tomorrow night, headlined by NYC songwriter Turner Cody. Thanks to Mr. Kotheimer for the tip!
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WHAT: Upside, Grant Flows, Klevah, Prince Aki, DIMORI

WHERE: The Canopy Club ($3)

WHEN: Wednesday, August 27th at 8 p.m.

On Wednesday night, Canopy Club is hosting Rhythm & Rhyme — a night of hip-hop. They’ll be hosting this hip-hop showcase this week, featuring some locals mixed with non-locals, headlined by Upside.
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WHAT: Mystic Inane, Wild Child, Wolf Luv, Asthma

WHERE: Dingbat Dungeon ($5)

WHEN: Thursday, August 28th at 7 p.m.

New Orleans outfit Mystic Inane just recently released a few songs, a collection called Deep Creep, which you can check out over at their Bandcamp page linked above. Their tour dates are listed as well, and as you can see, they have been on a bit of a tour over the last couple of weeks. They’re joined by Wild Child, local outfit Wolf Luv, and Springfield’s Asthma.
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WHAT: Total Asshole, The Neverhawks, Cody James, Donkey Donker

WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($7)

WHEN: Thursday, August 28th at 8 p.m.

Total Asshole is the newer local outfit, which performed once before a few months back. Although I’m not certain if that was their first show ever or not, they only have a few appearances under their belt, and they are getting some more live work this week. Stay tuned for an interview with the band later this week.
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WHAT: Abnormous, Decadents, Old Fox Road

WHERE: The Canopy Club ($3)

WHEN: Thursday, August 28th at 8 p.m.

There’s a “C-U Rock Showcase” happening on Thursday night, and yes, it features some C-U rock bands. Abnormous and Decadents are true locals, and Old Fox Road is close enough (hailing from Arthur). Abnormous and Decadents have released new material recently, so check that out if you haven’t, or if you’re interested in this show this week.
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WHAT: Bookmobile!, Thundertruck, Resinater

WHERE: Cowboy Monkey (free)

WHEN: Thursday, August 28th at 10 p.m.

Garage punk outfit Bookmobile! will be performing on Thursday at Cowboy Monkey (and they’ll be joined by some other acts — although they haven’t been announced yet). They’re joined by a couple of stoner-rock outfits Thundertruck and Resinater. Bookmobile! has some material to check out on Kuloolu Records, and you can listen to that here.
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WHAT: Motes, Many Places, Paperhaus, Dr. Responsible

WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($7)

WHEN: Friday, August 29th at 8 p.m.

Local slowcore/indie rockers Motes headline Mike ‘N Molly’s on Friday night in the beer garden. They’ve been relatively quiet on the releases-end of things, but I believe they’re working on a full-length. They’re joined by Chicago’s Many Places, DC’s Paperhaus, and local WIthershins side-project Dr. Responsible.
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WHAT: Woodie, Acker, A Light Sleeper,  Syna So Pro, The Tennis Lesson

WHERE: Institute 4 Creativity ($5)

WHEN: Friday, August 29th at 8 p.m.

Pretty killer show happening at Institute 4 Creativity in Downtown Champaign on Friday night. An eclectic bill they have offered here, no doubt. Check out the Facebook event for more information on the bands.
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EDITOR’S PICK: ELSINORE, GRANDKIDS, HATHAWAYS
Cowboy Monkey ($8) — Friday, August 29th at 9:30 p.m.

Solid three-band bill at Cowboy Monkey on Friday night. Elsinore has been fairly busy as of late with shows in C-U (they’re performing twice this week, as you’ll see below), and opening for Murder By Death a few weeks ago in Indianapolis, amongst other shows. Grandkids will make their way down from Chicago, as they are always a delight to see play in C-U. Plus, Hathaways will open things up. This will be a good one to start the weekend.
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WHAT: Penny Horses, The Chemicals

WHERE: Memphis on Main ($5)

WHEN: Friday, August 29th at 10 p.m.

A new-ish outfit Penny Horses will be playing at Memphis on Main on Friday night. There are still details for this one to be ironed out, so I will update that when I get the information. The Chemicals will join the Penny Horses for this show on Friday night.
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WHAT: Tayyib Ali, Mic Torrance, Kid Quill, Santos, Krucial

WHERE: The Canopy Club ($10 advance/$15 door)

WHEN: Saturday, August 30th at 7 p.m.

Another hip-hop show at Canopy Club this week — this one happening on Saturday night. Featuring Philly’s Tayyib Ali, a 21 year-old emcee who has opened for the likes of Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, and plenty of others.
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WHAT: John King, Jury’s Out

WHERE: Fat City ($10)

WHEN: Saturday, August 30th at 7 p.m.

This country show is happening at Fat City, a little bit south of Downtown Champaign, on Saturday night. John King is a country artist out of Georgia, and he’s joined by Jury’s Out this weekend.

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WHAT: Elsinore, Emily Otnes & The Weekdays

WHERE: indi go Co-op ($5)

WHEN: Saturday, August 30th at 8 p.m.

Here’s the second Elsinore show of the week, as mentioned above, which is happening at indi go Co-op on Saturday night. This one will feature Emily Otnes and her band the Weekdays, and they’re releasing their record Tara Terra (there’s the album art), so head over and pick up a copy of it for yourself, and hear the tunes they’ll be performing. Plus, Flying Machine Coffee will be slinging coffee, and Pandamonium Doughnuts will be providing delicious pastries.

UPDATE: So, thanks to Ryan Groff, apparently, Emily Otnes’ new band is called Tara Terra, and the album name is Daughter. Thanks for that info!
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WHAT: Bailalai

WHERE: Cowboy Monkey ($5)

WHEN: Saturday, August 30th at 10 p.m.

Bailalai is a local outfit that performs Brazillian reggae and funk tunes, and they’ll be holding it down at Cowboy Monkey on Saturday night.

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WHAT: We The Animals, DJ Belly

WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s

WHEN: Saturday, August 30th at 8 p.m.

A last-minute show of sorts, We The Animals announced they’ll be playing on Saturday night at Mike ‘N Molly’s. This will be an earlier show, and DJ Belly will close things out later after WTA are finished up. Check out WTA’s recent interview with us here, and our take on their recent demo release in April’s installment of B-Sides.

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WHAT: Hit It Run

WHERE: Cowboy Monkey ($2)

WHEN: Sunday, August 31st at 9 p.m.

This Old School Party — Hit It Run — will be going down again at Cowboy Monkey this Sunday night, featuring local DJs Kosmo, Delayney, Legtwo and Belly.
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WHAT: Tom & Matt Turino

WHERE: The Iron Post (cover)

WHEN: Sunday, August 31st at 7 p.m.

Father-son duo Tom and Matt Turino will be playing on Sunday night at the Iron Post. You can check them out in our article from last year, which was featured in Bonfire, here — as they were featured amongst a bunch of other local family-oriented bands/musicians in Champaign-Urbana. 

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