Honchie: Fri at Ridglea Theater, 6025 Camp Bowie Blvd, FW. $10. 817-738-9500.

Sometimes it's OK for a club owner to give a band run of the joint (for a night). This is what the Ridglea Theater's done with local goofballs Honchie. The club has let them build a bill. The result is startlingly good.

If you know anything about these honchos you know that their tastes lean a little toward the obscure, even the obtuse. Case in point: Nathan Brown. The newlywed autodidact is a tall, skinny, blonde Prince soundalike but with sensibilities forged in the armpits of the underground. Then there's Mad Happy, a wild husband-wife combo that kicks out the jams. Then Woodbelly, three fun-loving Mid-Citizens whose music sounds an awful lot like the band's name, if you can dig it. Lastly, Alligator Dave, a high-gettin', novelty-song-singin' nut-job.

From the Honchie web site: "If you seen only one show this year, see The Polyphonic Spree. But if you see two, catch this one as well."

We would say skip Polyphonic. (Gag!) Catch this one.