Bloglander

We're packing up our office for the big move into our brand new news factory and preparing ourselves for an explosive (pun intended) holiday super-weekend. For many, the Fourth is a chance to get out of town, drive into the open, swim in one of the billion lakes surrounding our beautiful city and escape the confines of the normal day-to-day life. Some of us don't have the best gas mileage in the world and must remain in Spokane. But that's alright because we have some pretty awesome music to get us through this weekend.

Thursday, July 4

Before you trek your way downtown, take a quick detour through Coeur d'Alene Park (in Browne's Addition, not Idaho) and enjoy the country goodness of Daniel Mark Faller. This is the first of the park's FREE concert series and will continue every Thursday until Aug. 29 from 6-8 pm.

When walking to Riverfront Park from Browne's Addition, stop by Luxe Coffee House around 8 pm-ish. The little cafe was featured in last week's Food Update and will feature the music stylings of Dirk Lind before the big firework show. A singer-songwriter with worldly roots, (he spent his childhood in India and was in an African-inspired band back in Virginia), he'll chat the night away, tell you the story behind many of his tunes and most importantly, blow you away. Lind magically creates the sound of a full band by himself and occasionally asks his audience to join in on the fun. Drink some coffee and snag a CD while you're there — you'll find yourself listening to it every time you're in the car.

Friday, July 5

Forget any ideas you have that hip-hop is all about gold chains and big fancy cars. New York artist Omega Jackson is a rapper — in that he rhymes. But that’s where the similarities end. Wayward thoughts and observations seem like they just fall out of Jackson’s mouth, and most times they’re layered with the strangest of sounds. With Jackson on the mic, this is an artsy kind of hip-hop that feels like there’s someone out there thinking about adding something brand new to the rap conversation, not just repeating what other people have done before him. He's bringing his style to Carr's Corner at 9 pm.

Saturday, July 6

In order to find any snippets from the band Monuments, I had to go onto MySpace where their last recordings were from 2008. The instrumental alternative rock group has since broken up since those tracks were uploaded on the extremely outdated social network, but they will be reuniting for a show at Baby Bar with Drag Like Pull. Listen through some tracks and familiarize yourself with the new Myspace — you'll find yourself wishing that the band will stay together and that somehow, Justin Timberlake can renew the site's popularity.

Sunday, July 7

Usually Sunday is a slow day for music, hence the little coverage on the gigs going on. This weekend is special, though. Bad Company is coming to town. For some reason, Northern Quest has to emphasize that the band WILL have frontman Paul Rodgers, who has been touring with a revived Queen for a few years now. The classic rock fan in all of us is giddy to the extreme. Time to break out the long, crazy mane (or wig, if you went the Metallica route and have since conformed to the strictly business haircut), sleeveless band shirts and tight pants. It's throwback time and it's going to rock.