THURSDAY 3/21

HINDER

Advertisement

9 p.m. Juanita’s. $25.

Editor’s note: This is the third in an ongoing series profiling the groundbreaking early 21st century Oklahoma band Hinder and the mercurial genius at its fore, singer Austin Winkler.

Advertisement

SEPT. 14, 2057, NORMAN, Okla. — The walls of Austin Winkler’s retirement village apartment are lined with a simply mind-numbing amount of Hinder merchandise. This is a band whose laissez-faire approach to endorsements would make Krusty the Clown himself vomit with jealousy. Winkler shares the apartment with Hinder drummer Cody Hanson, the only other original surviving member of the band. Hinder allowed its name to be emblazoned upon the usual litany of consumer items: Breakfast cereals, tequila, action figures, athletic wear, hot sauce, lawn and patio furniture, novelty prophylactics. But after-market auto parts? Drywall tools? I ask Winkler why the band was so shockingly indiscriminate in its product endorsements. “You gotta get your name out there,” he says. But does a band whose indescribably beautiful music altered the very course of humanity really need to lend its name to a line of adult diapers? Hinder even endorsed a pharmaceutical drug, Proplaxidol QM. “Our backup percussionist Dutch had contracted Clodgington’s Dermatitis. It’s basically a rare, sexually-transmitted form of dandruff. Pretty sure he picked it up at Rocklahoma 2034. He was like patient zero. Anyway, they did all these tests on him and the trials went well, but once it hit the market there were some, uh, unfortunate side effects, and they pulled it.” Determined to make some sort of human connection with this enigmatic rock mastermind, I ask him once more if he has any regrets. “I got in a pissing contest with Axl Rose one time.” “Two times,” Hanson corrects him. “It was two times, remember?” “Oh yeah,” Winkler says. “Yeah, I guess that first one ended in a draw so we had a rematch.” He pauses, a trace of remorse tightening the corner of his mouth. “That was sad, the way that thing ended. Me and Axl, we polluted that whole entire watershed and caused the endangered Midwestern Spotted Blind Cave Lizard to go extinct and for what? Bragging rights?” Winkler shakes his head slowly. “And $14 million,” Hanson reminds him. “Oh yeah,” Winkler says, “I guess that part was pretty cool.” Opening the show are Acidic and Aranda. RB

THURSDAY 3/21

Advertisement

BLESS THE MIC: TOURE

7 p.m. Philander Smith College. Free.

Advertisement

Brooklyn-based journalist, novelist, critic and television host Toure has written for Rolling Stone, Vibe, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, Playboy and other notable publications, covering a who’s who of the biggest names in pop and hip-hop. He’s published several books, including a volume out this week about Prince. It sounds promising: “Expect to understand Prince’s life and music better than ever before. It’s not a biography, it’s a deconstruction and appreciation bolstered by interviews with many past Prince associates and an interview I did with Prince in 1998,” he notes. Toure’s most recently published work, “Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness” in 2011, earned critical acclaim and was included in the annual New York Times list of the most notable books of the year. He’s hosted several TV shows on MTV2, BET, Fuse, CNN, The Tennis Channel and a show called “I’ll Try Anything Once” that found him wading into all manner of crazy stunts, including demolition derbies, rodeos and an actual stuntman academy. He currently co-hosts MSNBC’s “The Cycle.” Now, that list might seem like simply a rundown of Toure’s resume, but it’s also indicative of a guy who is interested in doing a million different things and seems to do all million of them very well. Those folks are rare. This should be an interesting presentation. RB

FRIDAY 3/22-SUNDAY 3/24

Advertisement

LITTLE ROCK HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Various times. Argenta Community Theater. $40 pass. $7 for individual screenings.

Advertisement

This writer has never been one of those happy-go-lucky types drawn to rom-coms and Woody Allen movies. Though my taste for gore has diminished over the years, back in the dark days of teenagehood, I liked my movie characters like I like my steaks: bloody and relentlessly pursued by a sneering man with a knife. I still get in the mood for a horror film these days, which is what makes an immersion in the Little Rock Horror Picture Show so cool. The horrid genetic mistake the Little Rock Film Festival keeps chained in the attic, the LRHPS is three days of blood, terror and mayhem, and a hell of a lot of fun. One flick to definitely catch this year is “Roadside,” the latest film by Arkansas filmmaker Eric England. The closer of the festival, it’s the story of a couple trapped in a stalled car by a psychopath with a rifle. Sounds like the feel-good hit of the year. See the schedule and buy tickets at littlerockfilmfestival.org. DK

SATURDAY 3/23

‘STOP THE WAR ON WOMEN’

3 p.m. Arkansas State Capitol.

Advertisement

I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but the 89th General Assembly has got me madder’n a wet bobcat at a square-dancing contest. I mean they’ve got me angrier’n a drunken badger at a clown convention. Actually, a clown convention is what these smug, “small-government” jokers like Jason Rapert and Andy Mayberry and David Meeks and Missy Irvin have been running these last few weeks, although with a lot less dignity and class and professionalism and respect for women. If you’re feeling similarly, then you ought to get out to this rally and show your support. It might be the most satisfying thing you can do until we all get the chance to vote these know-nothing mouth-breathers out of office. Signs are encouraged, but sticks are prohibited. There’s more info at tinyurl.com/ARWARONWOMEN. RB

SATURDAY 3/23

PINBACK

9 p.m. Revolution. $12 adv., $15 day of.

For the last 15 years or so, West Coast duo Pinback has been crafting airtight, intricate indie pop with no rough edges at all and not so much as a note out of place. Collaborators have come and gone, but the core of the band has always been Rob Crow, formerly of Thingy and Heavy Vegetable, and Zach Smith of Three Mile Pilot. I first heard the band when its 2001 album “Blue Screen Life” became one of the inescapable albums of that year. It seemed like everywhere I went that year I heard that album, “White Blood Cells,” “Is This It?” and the Shins’ “Oh, Inverted World.” Since then, Pinback hasn’t been exactly hyper-prolific, instead taking their time crafting three more albums of flawless and unpredictable pop. Opening up the all-ages show is the bizarro TV-theme act JP Inc. RB

SUNDAY 3/24

LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS

8 p.m. Juanita’s. $12 adv., $15 day of.

While the last few years have seen a steady interest in historically precise old-school soul and funk, few of these acts have been at it as long as North Carolina native Lee Fields, who cut his first single the same year that a bunch of hippies got together for a concert on a farm outside a small town in upstate New York. Or as Pitchfork put it in a review of Fields’ latest album, “Faithful Man”: “Don’t call it a throwback, though. Fields has been doing this since 1969, so in his case it’s more a matter of sticking to your guns.” Fields is backed up by The Expressions, the house band for New York label Truth & Soul. Joining him on this tour is female soul duo Lady, also on Truth & Soul. Folks, this show is going to be a good one. RB

MONDAY 3/25

“JFK: 50 YEARS LATER”

Argenta Arts District

It’s been 50 years since President John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas. Some of us remember the Camelot era he ushered in; others of us are too young. For the former, the photos that make up the exhibit “JFK 50 Years Later” will provoke all sorts of memories; for the latter, they’ll be illuminating. Monday through Saturday, eight venues in North Little Rock’s historic downtown are showing some 120 photographs from the collection of Rogers Photo Archives, grouped in segments of JFK’s life, from family to the Space Race to his assassination. Along with the exhibits, there will be special events: Filmmaker Craig Renaud will show a short film he created for the exhibition at a 7 p.m. Monday opening reception at the Argenta Community Theater and Gov. Mike Beebe will read JFK’s inaugural address at noon Tuesday, March 26, on the steps of the Argenta Post Office, 420 Main St. Writers will assemble for a discussion, “Where Were You?”, for Starving Artist’s Tin Roof Project, 5:30 p.m. March 26. Also scheduled: “Shooting JFK,” a talk by former United Press International photographer Willie Allen, 6 p.m. March 27 and 4 p.m. March 30; a screening of Oliver Stone’s film “JFK” at 7 p.m. March 28 at the ACT, and an auction of work by Arkansas artists at 7 p.m. March 30 at the ACT. Ticketed events will raise money for the Argenta Arts Foundation and the “Moonshot Project” to boost college success through the arts. Venues include The Joint (301 Main St.), THEA Foundation (401 Main St.), Starving Artist Cafe (411 Main St.), Art Connection (204 E. 4th St.), Pennington Studios (417 Main St.), Greg Thompson Fine Art (429 Main St.) and the Paint Box Gallery (705 Main St.). Call 225-5600 for ticket information; exhibits are free. LNP

Help to Keep Great Journalism Alive in Arkansas

Join the fight for truth and become a subscriber of the Arkansas Times. We've been battling powerful forces for 50 years through our tough, determined, and feisty journalism. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, our readers value great journalism. But we need your help to do even more. By subscribing and supporting our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage. Together, we can continue to hold the powerful accountable and bring important stories to light. Subscribe now or donate for as little as $1 and be a part of the Arkansas Times community.

Previous article NSFR: Not suitable for Republicans working in legislature Next article Now come the tax cuts