Show Preview: Roky Erickson's Birthday With Riverboat Gamblers & More at Antone's

Some back story, if you really need it. Roky Erickson was what Syd Barrett could have been if he moved out of his Mum's basement and onto a faithful regiment of anti-psychotics. He's a monument to the redemptive qualities of music, having built this fair city on psychedelic rock and roll, wandered off the reservation with bombastic panache, and returned decades later to conquer the world: a man shattered and reassembled to his own soundtrack. The Riverboat Gamblers, on the other hand, are incorrigible punker transplants from Denton, full of alcohol, all about stage antics, dudes who write songs to vibrate your skinny jeans around your calves, pulling your sister's hot friend backstage for good measure. Tonight they'll be raising a Jäger shot to ol' Roky on his burf-day at Antone's.

Your initial response to this show could be along the lines of ours: "Austin's scene makes strange bedfellows..." Yet, think about this pairing a bit more obliquely. Riverboat Gamblers lead singer Mike Wiebe acts almost as crazy on stage as Roky actually went in the late 60s. Roky has, of late, been jamming indiscriminately with acts from Okkervil River to Mogwai, so a pop-punk band from the Volcom fold ain't no thang. What's more if the RBs hope to be ATX legends along the formidable lines of the honorable 13th Floor Elevators founder, they've chosen the right tutor. Take note all you creative crazies and psycho exes: keep taking your meds, and the world is your oyster. Also performing are one of our favorite local acts, the Golden Boys.