I’ve made a super unofficial Big Ass Boombox mix, featuring the bands I’m looking forward to seeing this year (with the bands' permission!), so make yourself a protein shake, peruse my mix, and start training for a weekend of marathon show-going.

Visit the Big Ass Boombox site for more information on venues, the 40 bands, and the many authors participating. Tracklist (and set times) after the jump!

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• Casey Burns (bastardized by Photoshop)

If you can get down there, Bunk's got a lot going on to make it worth your while: Music, beer, food, more. From the Facebook invite:

Come help celebrate Bunk Bar's 2 year Anniversary of not being sober. We're celebrating all afternoon and evening by blocking off SE Taylor St and having a block party with EAT SKULL, ONUINU and SUN ANGLE! We'll be partying with all of our friends and neighbors! We've got Water Avenue Coffee! We've got Boke Bowl! Bunk Truck will be there! DOUBLE MOUNTAIN's bringing a BEER TRUCK!
SPECIAL STREET PARTY! FOOD SPECIALS! DRINK SPECIALS! SPECIAL SPECIALS! FREE ROCK AND ROLL!

The first truly hot weekend of the year boasts one of the highlights of the summer: the third annual East End block party, where the long haired and black-clad faithful gather to bake under the sun, quenching themselves with beer. As tradition has come to dictate, the two-day lineup of bands is heavy on punk and metal, including sets from Redd Kross, Danava, Quintron, Lord Dying, Witch Mountain, Thrones, Nucular Aminals, and Sons of Huns. Come for the music and beer, and stay for the novelty of doing this in the parking lot instead of the basement.

[Editor's note: 22? Boo friggin' hoo.]

So, ladies and gents, I give you Portsquatch, a full week of various shows on various sides of the river. You might say that's a smaller list than Sasquatch. Well, yeah, BUT with Portsquatch you are awarded the luxury of showering, fully stocked bars, cigarettes that DON'T cost $9 a pack, the ability to actually see the artist, not ruining your expensive Free People outfit or losing your Ray-Bans, and oh, YOU'RE IN THE CITY.

Take a look at our specially prepared Portsquatch lineup after the jump!

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Each week, Al's Den hosts a different musician doing a weeklong residency, and at the end of every week—that's Saturday, calendar buffs—they have a little interview segment with the artist as well. This week, Jason Lytle's been performing on the Al's Den stage each night, and tomorrow night the Mercury's own Rebecca Wilson will be the one putting him in the hot seat! So be sure to check it out. It's free, and it's Jason Lytle of Grandaddy. Oh, and free apps and beer tasters! (Further info here.)

w/Buzzyshyface; Al's Den, 303 SW 12th, Sat May 5, 7 pm, free

• Andrew R Tonry

In this week's print edition I interviewed and wrote about Willis Earl Beal, who hopes his art will take precedence over his backstory. I caught Beal earlier this week in Los Angeles and believe, based on his stunning performance, that it won't take long.

Indeed, Beal's voice is a striking instrument. His stage presence is equally magnetic.

The show began with a recitation of a Bukowski poem. Beal then sat and strummed, arched and crooned, skronked and shouted, purred and emoted. Just phenomenal. And again—the sloppily sketched demos available on his debut, Acousmatic Sorcery bear little resemblance to the force of nature that is Beal in person.

As the first notes of his voiced opened up, swelling to grip and envelop the entire room, I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise.

Do not miss him, Sunday at Holocene.

A little taste of Beal's closer, sung a capella to the audience clap:

Lots more photos after the jump.

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An email from Andrew R Tonry, who's down in California and wrote about Alabama Shakes this week:

dude, i hope you're going to alabama shakes.

i had to go to the show in solana beach, about an hour and a half south, near san diego because the troubadour was well sold-out and i was on the publicist's "guest waiting list," which i figured was a nice way of saying "no."

the trip was worth it. even down there the place, bigger than the troubadour, was fucking packed. and damn, they were hotter than i expected—keep in mind i knew they would be good. but they're polished good, not punk rock good.

feel like they're so bound to get huge that there's almost no ceiling. could be adele big. brittany has a ridiculously incredible voice. with it, she could be the next aretha franklin.

could also be co-opted and scrubbed for massive mall rock, corporate franchises, the house of blues and applebees 40-somethings whose other CD's include josh groban. but i think, based on my conversation with brittany, that they're purer than that. here's hoping.

either way, you'll never see 'em in a venue that size again.

You've probably noticed that we don't post about a lot of zydeco music here. In fact, scarcely a day goes by where someone doesn't say, "Hey! What about all that zydeco music you never post about on End Hits, huh?" It has been a decided oversight. But I've been an appreciator ever since becoming mildly obsessed with New Orleans music as a teenager (which is what happens when you grow up in an area that has no musical heritage of its own to speak of). I've found zydeco to be rowdy, raw dance music that, apart from its Cajun musical cousin, stands more or less alone in the American music spectrum. There's accordion. There's washboard. There are songs sung in Creole. And there's always a party. It is the opposite of the kind of music that was played in my hometown.

On that note, here's a video clip of Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys, who are playing at Duff's Garage on Sunday. And it's a barnburner. Ledet and the Playboys play a particularly rockin' brand of zydeco, with a lot of muscle in the bottom end and surf guitar licks from the guitar. Other than Queen Ida, there historically aren't a ton of female zydeco singers, and Louisiana's Ledet has me wondering why. This show looks like it'll be a lot of fun—an ideal way to keep warm on Sunday night.

Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys at Duff's Garage, 1635 SE 7th, Sun Jan 29, 8 pm, $10

The folks over at East End have been keeping this word of mouth, but tonight they debut Peghead, a new guitar-building and repair shop selling "almost exclusively locally made gear" in the belly of the club/bar—it's what the former Omnibus has evolved into. Tonight at 9 they're throwing a grand opening party with YOB, Lord Dying, and Wizard Rifle. In addition, tomorrow they're hosting a guitar and gear swap/sale at 4; both excellent opportunities to say hello to your friendly new neighborhood subterranean guitar shop.