The Return of The Rodeo Boys
You heard it on Facebook first! After keyboard player Ben Warren’s terrible bicycle accident in 2009, it seemed unlikely that The Rodeo Boys—one of the most popular local bands in the history of local music, ever, for time immemorial and all that stuff—would ride again. And yet, our prayers have been answered. Drummer Clayton “C-Money” Scrivner informs City Weekly that the beloved pre/post-indie, loaf-fi quartet that gave us such poignant tunes as “Ecstasy Dad,” “Pancakes, Pancakes” and “Casual Fridays,” will play their first show in a decade. It’ll be at The Urban Lounge (where else?) on Friday, Dec. 8, with Starmy and The Rubes (who else?) supporting. To quote and possibly butcher the spelling of “Ecstasy Dad’s” rallying cry: Shushocki! (Look for a feature in the Dec. 7 issue of City Weekly.)

FRIDAY 11/3
Evelyn “Champagne” King
Continuing Liquid Joe’s tradition of offering intimate blasts from the past is this performance by disco/soul/R&B legend Evelyn "Champagne" King—who Joe’s owner Ed Chen says has never before played in Salt Lake City. That adds a whole ‘nother layer of gotta-see to this gig, as we only too rarely see artists like King within our borders. What I mean by that is the late-’70s/early-’80s, sound that we now call “old-school” or “post-disco”—that buoyant mix of rubbery bass, bright keyboards and smooth vocals—is a huge part of American music history. It’s right up there with synthwave in terms of retro-cool in that it, through with act like Patti LaBelle, Patrice Rushen, Ollie & Jerry, DeBarge, Chaka Khan, Shalamar and Atlantic Starr, saturated ’80s cinema. But it was also all over the radio, too, which would make its impact just as noteworthy, if not more so. And yet, there’s still no revival movement happening—whither post-disco’s Com Truise or Lazerhawk? In their absence, we have the real thing in King. Liquid Joe’s, 1249 E. 3300 South, 7 p.m., $20 presale; $25 day of show, $50 VIP, 21+, liquidjoes.net