Three glorious reasons to head to the Empty Bottle tonight for the 5th annual Alex Chilton Birthday Bash:

1. Alex Chilton. I think i can just leave that at that, yes? No, he won’t be there but his music will be. You know, “Thirteen”, “When My Baby’s Beside Me”, What’s Going Ahn”, “September Gurls”, probably solo stuff you’ve never heard.

2. You’d be hard pressed to be a fan of music, especially what one might call indie rock, and not, at some point, been totally obsessed with Big Star. All of your favorite bands were. If you somehow avoided that time honored tradition maybe you should put on your boots and a nice warm coat and head to the Bottle to at least give the appearance of knowing a thing or two about a thing or two. And don’t try to pretend you’re some uber hip post-Big Star indie rocker that thinks liking them is too obvious. That’s like saying you’re a metal fan that doesn’t really dig Black Sabbath. It’s just plain stupid.

3. There are like a hundred bands (or 10) on the bill reinterpreting Alex’s songs. I have not heard of one of them which makes that even more reason to go. Maybe Letterbomb (http://www.letterbomb.net/) is the next Wilco. Judging by their pictures probably not but did I mention the show is free? Free! You’ve been with your family way too much recently. Get out and re-acclimate yourself with the scene, man.

8:00 PM. Monday, 12/28. Empty Bottle. 21+. FREE.