Tonight, Austin's Victory Grill will be metaphorically moving to Beale Street. KOOP's "Excavation Nation" show is sponsoring a STAX Nite, which will be packed with live and DJ-spun tunes celebrating the likes of Booker T, Issac Hayes, Carla Thomas, Albert King, Sam & Dave, and the incomparable Otis Redding. ...

So, I produce and co-star a little show called The Dick Monologues. We have four shows this month—three more than usual. Two are in Dallas this weekend at the Water Tower Theatre as part of the Out of the Loop Festival. Two are here in town—one at the Victory Grill on March 21st and the other at Hyde Park Theatre on March 30th. Please tell your Dallas friends to come to the show up there. And if you want to attend an Austin show, please email me at spike@spikeg.com for info. This week, I present a piece I wrote that sometimes appears in the show. Big Dick on Buddha Mountain To meditate with the enlightened Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, is akin to playing guitar with Pete Townsend, making cookies with Martha Stewart, or tying your shoes with Mister Rogers. And so, despite my tight budget, when I heard that Thay, as he is known, was leading a retreat in California, I did what any overzealous aspiring Buddhist would do: I mailed off a hot check to procure my place at the monastery. ...

Straight outta Scandinavia, the jazz quintet Atomic are stopping in at the historic and more recently renovated Victory Grill for a performance this evening. ...

FRIDAY [27] music • While You Were Out, presented by Bueno Music Bureau, with The Unbearables, She Sir, The Scripts, Friday After Dark at Club de Ville ($5) books • Anita Gonzalez, Ph.D., presents Dancing Between Myth and Reality at CAAAS (UT - Jester A232) (3:00pm) comedy • Tig Notaro and Steve Burr at Cap City Comedy Club comedy • Punchline, open mic stand up comedy at ColdTowne Theater (10pm) dance • Fetish and Other......

These teal-shirted, white denim-vested tiger-lovers have been popping up around town since August, piquing our curiosity as to their legitimacy. Touted by some as the “best new” in Austin, The Laughing are set to release their first EP Tiger Cry tomorrow night at the historic Victory Grill. We’d hate to just hype (since we haven’t seen them yet), so we’ll do our best to give it to you straight. The EP is dance-rock fun.......

Tonight and tomorrow evening, the Victory Grill plays host to "She Speaks," a unique performance incorporating elements of jazz, poetry, hip hop, and acoustic music. Presented by local nonprofit arts organization Women & Their Work, the two-night affair will be narrated by E. Christopher “Cocktails” Cornell-- artistic director and founder of artist consortium EPeriod--and promises a "Gen X twist": She Speaks features Khalilah Ali, Kelly Love Jones, and Renita Walls and forges a new......

If you're hiking, consider charging up your iPod, as Seattlest finds out that a man lost during a hike was found by the glow of his iPod. That cleverness seems to be devoid in cops who were using police cruiser instant messaging clients - although we imagine IMs "so are you nakie" to be included in cop shows, just for realism. If only the cops were busting the Hummer-driving jerk who made a poor......

An eastside institution that once played host to blues legends like Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, W. C. Handy and B. B. King, the Victory Grill was recently named an official historic landmark by the City of Austin. It's already listed among the National Registry of Historic Places, among other recognitions. Next month, the hallowed halls of Austin's oldest existing blues joint—opened back in 1945 to cater to black and white soldiers returning from WWII—will undergo a......

Seu Jacinto, a band that plays traditional Northeastern Brazilian folk music, will be playing tonight at Victory Grill as part of a fundraiser for a new student organization. The Brazilian Folk Culture Collective (BRAFCCO) is a UT student organization committed to researching and sharing Brazilian culture through the study of artistic and musical expressions rooted in the Afro-Indigenous traditions of Brazil. BRAFCCO hopes to extend popular understanding of Brazilian culture beyond the ubiquitous Bossa......

Welcome to the Halloween edition of This Week in Theatre, and the first time since we’ve been in Austin that some company hasn’t produced a play about mystical and spooky stuff to commemorate this festive occasion. So, in lieu of seeing a “horror” play this weekend—an event where busty blondes disappear for no reason, only to return later after a highly unfortunate series of events has stripped them down to their underwear; or, you......

Gay and Lesbian Pride Month continues this weekend with the Texas Pride Festival at Waterloo Park. The annual outdoor celebration brings together a bevy of artists, performers, local merchants and restaurants for an all-day celebration. The schedule of bands appears below: Noon: Manager's Choice 1pm: Lisa Richards ~ 2006 Kerrville New Folk Finalist 2pm: Lisa Rogers/Purly Gates ~ 2006 Kerrville New Folk Finalist 3pm: Flamin' Desire 4pm: Kit Holmes 5pm: Omar Lopez ~ 2006......

On Wednesday, we brought you Austinist's interview with Emily and Marshall of Stem and Leaf Records -- they've been working hard the past few weeks to put together The Interest Kills CD Release Party, happening this Saturday at the Victory Grill. Though recorded last summer, Capital Flight was only recently mastered and pressed after The Interest Kills signed to Stem and Leaf; an early unmastered copy was enough to impress us (the review is......

Marshall Escamilla and Emily Summerfield are the dynamic duo behind Stem and Leaf Records, Austin's latest indie record label that launched during SXSW Interactive earlier this year. This weekend, they're throwing a CD release show for The Interest Kills at the historic Victory Grill, with Happy Families, The Total Foxes, and Red Leaves ... and a spelling bee! We had a chat with Emily and Marshall this week, in advance of the show. Read......

Ushering in this season's South By Southwest reveleries is a party celebrating the launch of Marshall Escamilla and Emily Summerfield's label, Stem and Leaf Records. In a short letter to Austinist, Summerfield described her label as seeking a musical partnership in which "the songwriting is earnest, and that is consistently true, whether the songs are about girls, zombies, historical figures or whatever." The production of each album will reflect aesthetic values from the vinyl era,......

We went to Carnaval. And loved it. SXSW full list of bands and movies updated. Cat Power backs out of SXSW and cancels tour. Ausitn art goes green. Tired of run-of-the-mill valentine's day activities? We got you covered. We reviewed the new documentary The Outdoorsmen: Blood, Sweat and Beers. And laughed our asses off. For about $600 in fees, your band can play a showcase at Waterloo Records during SXSW. The week in interviews:......

FRIDAY [10] conference/music » The 18th Annual International Folk Alliance Conference comes to town! At the Austin Hilton Hotel (schedule) (Through Feb. 14th) music » Massive instore, featuring (2pm) Freddie Steady 5, (2:45pm) Lost Bayou Ramblers, (3:30) Whit Smith's Hot Jazz Caravan, (4:15) Juan-Carlos Formell, (5:00) Jordan Chassan, and (5:45) Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez at Waterloo Records (link) music » Ghostland Observatory, The Arm, The Blackheart Society plus DJ Erin at Emo's (link) music......

There's no point in sugar coating this one. The lineup is just too damn good. Austinist has always respected and enjoyed the vinyl work of local designer/turntablist/artist DJ Starsign. But to combine his talents with that of Greg Most from the infamously soulful 45 kings: Waxploitation? And on top of that, Deejay Jennifer (who we are currently unfamiliar with, but wil be soon, we're sure) will also be in attendance? Well, that's just... we......

F R I D A Y [16] [theatre] Rude Mechs present Pale Idiot by Kirk Lynn at The Off Centre (Through Sat, $12, 8pm) [Austinist Review] [theatre] Langston Hughes' "Black Nativity" at Austin Playhouse on Penn Field (Through Sat, $20, 7:30pm) [theatre] "When Pigs Fly" at Arts on Real (8pm) [theatre] Shrewd Productions presents "Xmas Unwrapped! A Holiday Burlesque" at Hyde Park Theatre (Through Sat, 10pm) [theatre] "A Christmas Carol" at The State Theatre......

M O N D A Y [12] [music] UT Ethnomusicology Dept Ensembles at Momo's (8pm) [music] David Newbould at Flipnotics (8pm) [music] Singer-Songwriter Night at Longbranch Inn [music] Elizabeth McQueen at Theadgill's (8pm) [music] Listening party for Ludacris' new album, Disturbing Tha Peace at Nasty's (8pm) [music/shopping] Armadillo Christmas Bazaar with the Eggmen at Austin Music Hall (Check website for dates/hours) [party] Friends of the Spade Christmas Party at Velvet Spade (11pm) [film/food] "Narnia"......

M O N D A Y [ 1 4 ] music · Dios (Malos), Pilotdrift and Steeltrain at Stubb's music · The Lemurs and Tarantula A.D. at the Parish Room film · Spiderhouse Cafe screens "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price" (RSVP, Free, 10pm) (Thanks, Kate!) shopping · Austin Museum of Art's Tax-Free Day music · Piebald, Hot Rod Circuit, Hit the Light and Valient Thorr at Emo's music · Nic Armstrong and the......

For the love of all that helps us avoid responsibility in life, THIS SHOW IS GOOD. Our girlfriend picked up tickets to Inside a Broken Clock: a Tom Waits Peepshow for this past weekend’s showing at Victory Grill. We were skeptical about the whole thing, because we have a really unhealthy respect (read: disturbing and borderline criminal fascination) for the work of Waits. And we have a nagging suspicion that the world is hell-bent......

[This post by future Austinist contributor Ami]We just heard about this show, which sounds like a great way to hear some serious jazz and support our neighbors from New Orleans at the same time.  Fredrick Sanders and his wife and three children were forced to leave the New Orleans area in the wake of Katrina and are now living with family members in Dallas.  Fred already has a loyal following in Austin, where he used......

Do we like political satire? Yes, we do. Do we like a little bit of raunchiness in our comedy? Why the hell not. Are we fans of the sketch comedy of SNL? Mos’ def. Does the improv of Second City make us blow beer out of our noses? Well, we’re going to Chicago this weekend if that tells you anything. So, with all that said, we have been promised we will love the “Austin......