Gatos Luchadores (Or: A Grand Don't Come for Free)

I didn't realize it until I finally sat down to pen a missive, but this is my 1000th post at Hipster, please! And I reckon that is a fitting enough occasion given the subject matter.

I talk a lot around here about music, obviously. About new songs and albums. About artists and shows, but this bit concerns something that's, well, uniquely personal.

Early next month five outfits that represent – and I don't say this lightly – some of my very favorite live performers as well as some of my very favorite human beings will be conducting a southern mini-tour. The kick-off's in Roanoke on the 2nd, and it wraps up in our own hip-hop mecca, Atlanta, on the 4th. In-between, on that Saturday the 3rd, this little travelling sideshow will come through my own backyard of Charlotte, NC. At the World Famous Milestone Club, to be exact. A place that is – and, again, I'm speaking without hyperbole – my favorite local dive.

The bands in question? Well, as the song says they ain't my friends, they're my fam.

There's int eighty of Dual Core, whom I've been down with since the very dawn of time. (Now he ain't exactly from around here, but we give him a pass 'cause he's our boy.) He's joined by The ThoughtCriminals, my neighbors to the north, who are, for those not already in the know, the rural, East Coast answer to the question what am I supposed to listen to now that Optimus Rhyme broke up.

Holding up the high end of the former Confederacy are the Illbotz, that rare modern confluence of comedy rap that contains ample doses of both actual comedy and real rap. And rounding out the lineup are Adam WarRock and Tribe One, a pair of amazing MCs, consummate performers and two guys that I've only recently met but I feel like I've known forever.

Now this is, admittedly, not a huge affair. These are small club shows, I'd even go so far as to say intimate in most cases, but I'll make you a promise internet; if you're within driving distance, head out to one. It will be worth whatever meager door price you have to pay to get in. Shit, I'll go so far as to say that you'll have such a great time that you might even feel led to pick up a t-shirt!

I guarantee it.