April Showers Us With Musical Joy

Usually they bring May flowers, but on this particular occasion April will rain upon us two excellent live acts. The exact destination: The Handlebar in Greenville.
The first of our musical visitors is the punk band Against Me. Not to be confused with Rise Against, who are very similar except for the fact that they suck, Against Me comes from the Gainesville, Florida area and have four full-length studio albums already under their belts.
I have had the pleasure of seeing Against Me one time previously, a four band show at the Orange Peel that they headlined. The mayhem and destruction in the mosh pit that night reminded me of the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War, but without the deaths and decapitations. The guitars and drums roared like cannons as we all tried to charge the stage and take out the band's entrenched position. Everytime we got a member of the audience up to where they could attack they were gripped with fear and suddenly jumped back into the crowd. Towards the end of the show the band started jumping into the melee as well, realizing that they were outnumbered and should just submit to our overwhelming forces.
With numerous apologies for that crack-induced aside, I would also like to inform you the reader that Against Me puts on one hell of a show. Anyone who is interested in hearing some of their tunes before attending the concert, just drop me a line and I will gladly allow you to sample some of their finest compositions (the same is true for the following group). I would never serve you a steak without letting you taste my meat first.
The other half of our April attack is a band known as Enter the Haggis. As a direct descendent of a great Scotsman (whom I refer to as Dad), the moniker immediately struck a nerve deep in the center of my completely nerveless soul. Who were these fools who named themselves after a near-inedible Scottish delicacy. Turns out they are a group of rapscallions (onions who play Ice Cube tunes?) from the Toronto area. These fellas, who I have now seen perform twice at the Handlebar and are returning there April 30, play a magnificiently original combination of bluegrass, rock, and Celtic/Scottish folk music.
ETH will be showing off their new album, Gutter Anthems and playing tunes from their two previous efforts, Soapbox Heroes and Casualties of Retail. Pull your kilt out of the closet and come check out their massive pipes while I dance a jig or something vaguely resembling one. Even if you don't like the tunes watching a fat man endeavor unsuccessfully to kick out the jams should be entertainment enough. If not, I recommend drinking a lot of beer. Come to think of it, I recommend that either way.