Gig Alert: The Expendables, Big B, Tomorrow's Bad Seeds and Dirty Penny Tonight at House of Blues

By Darryl Smyers Tue., May 18 2010 at 3:01 PM

No, it's not promoting the Dallas show. But it's a sweet poster.

Quite a busy Tuesday evening with OK Go at the Granada and Sarah Jaffe up at Dan's Silverleaf. But if you have an inkling for a bit more ska and hip-hop in your musical diet, then I suggest heading down to the House of Blues.

Headlining tonight's festivities is The Expendables, a feisty and non-formulaic quartet from Santa Cruz. You can pretty much tell this band by the company it keeps. Since 2000, The Expendables have been crisscrossing the country touring with the likes of 311, Pepper, Less Than Jake, Slightly Stoopid and Kottonmouth Kings. Though hardly one of the most intellectual bands, Geoff Weers and the rest of The Expendables are nonetheless quite capable of bringing some punk rock noise along with some rock-steady beats associated with ska.

As for the rest of the bill? Well, it only gets more interesting.

Take, for instance, Big B (aka Bryan Mahoney), a 330-pound rapper from Las Vegas. Big B's most recent effort, American Underdog, features some rather pedestrian lyrics about common hip-hop themes ("Hot Women," "F*cked in Vegas), but the guy's delivery is pretty darn explosive.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles' Tomorrow's Bad Seeds mix hip-hop into its version of ska making the band worth getting to the venue early.

Sadly, the same can't be said for the first opener, Dirty Penny. Also from Santa Cruz, the band is probably tagging along on this tour due to some friendships with the guys in The Expendables. But, unlike the others on this bill, Dirty Penny's glam metal gets old just as fast as the band's influences (Skid Row, Poison, etc.).

But hey, 3 out of 4 isn't too bad a percentage.