MON 7/20: Improv, Rock, Tequila

It's not under $10, but I listed a tequila tasting at the bottom, because: 1) it's only $5 over the limit, 2) I like Redbones, 3) I like Downtown Wine & Spirits, and 4) Tequila isn't a bad way of conquering Monday blahs/blues.

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MON 7/20

9pm to 11pm
"CastleBar CageMatch"
at Castlebar, 575 Washington St, Brighton (Oak Sq)
$1

Have you seen Ultimate Fighting commercials with Brock Lesnar? That guy is a scary freak of nature, but he wouldn't stand a chance at this cage match.

In these battle of wits, there will be several rounds of head-to-head improv contests including members of groups like ImprovBoston, Anderson Comedy, as well as others. Anyone can join in for the "improv jam" at the end

I have no dedicated link, but I know it's happening. One of the guys emailed me, and it's happened once before. Folks supposedly had a good time at the first time. It's not hard to believe when Miller High Life is $2.

MON 7/20

9:30pm
You Can Be A Wesley, Casper & The Cookies, Everything Now, Magic Magic
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$8 / 18+

Heap after wave after surge of indie pop fills the "upstairs" room all night. It's easy to enjoy the sunny, psychedelic rock of Casper & The Cookies from Athens (Georgia). For those of you keeping track of all Of Montreal offshoots, Casper/Jason played with them on "Satanic Panic in the Attic" and "The Sunlandic Twins".

Everything Now seems so familiar to me. Maybe because each of their songs have so many musical references. These folks from Indianapolis are all over the place, but there's an overall atsty, trippy garage-pop vibe.

You could have heard You Can Be A Wesley and Magic Magic at ArtBeat for free. (Although it seemed like Magic Magic's Friday set was getting called off due to threat of rain. I didn't stick around.) Now you can pay a few bucks to catch the sweet tunes from two of our excellent local bands.

MON 7/20

10pm
66 Breakout, Boston Beat Machine, Hazard Adams
at Charlies Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 / 21+

They may not have $2 High Life's, but the PBR is served at Charlies. Many beers will be quaffed, and Hell will likely be raised.

Sweaty, Mississippi-bound bluesy rock is the sound of 66 Breakout who aptly describe their sound as "70s Detroit teenagers trying to sound like 60s London teenagers trying to sound like 50s Memphis teenagers trying to sound like 40s Clarksdale teenagers."

The Boston Beat Machine should rip it up as it seems like the band includes Tom from The Dirty Truckers and Jim from Buttercup. Hazard Adams churns out a country/folky classic rock that sorta reminds me of early-70s Stones. The vocals grated me a bit on the recordings, but I imagine they're cushioned by the band in concert.

Deal of the Night:

MON 7/20

5pm to 7pm
"Tequila Tasting with Tony"
at Redbones, 55 Chester St, Somerville (Davis Sq)
$15

Tasting starts at 5:30pm, but events like these fill up and it's a "first come - first serve" deal. Tony Iamunno from Downtown Wine & Spirits is going to lead the group through a tasting of 8 different tequilas.

It's a rare occasion that I drink any tequila better than Hornitos, but this seems like a damn good deal for the amount of top-shelf booze. Look at the math: 8 x 1/2 oz pours = 4 shots for $15. There's also going to be some complementary (sic, I assume complimentary) appetizers.