It wasn’t the most disparate mix of crowds possible, but it did make for an interesting people-watching experience.First up was Division Day, a Los Angeles quartet who played a set of upbeat, keyboard-heavy rock. There were plenty of regular-looking people heading for the Meridian’s big room, too, but the folks in their early middle age who looked like they were closer to retirement age really stood out. The reunited original lineup of the Butthole Surfers, on the other hand, drew a lot of middle-aged punks who looked like they’d been living hard for the past 20 years. Dredg’s atmospheric hard rock sound draws a mixture of indie rockers, metalheads, and progressive rock fans, and all of those types were in attendance among the several hundred fans in the Red Room. This setup meant that every person at the Meridian had to walk through the smaller Red Room first, whether they were going to see Dredg or The Surfers. I arrived just before they began letting the hundreds of queued-up Butthole Surfers fans in, so I was able to walk right up. But Dredg has been impressive every time I’ve seen them play, so I couldn’t pass them up.Instead of going the logical route and opening both of the Meridan’s venue doors and keeping attendees of each concert in their respective rooms, the Meridian opted to stream everybody through their regular entrance. Under normal circumstances I would have given Weezer another chance to wow me (they were merely okay when I saw them back in 2003), especially since my girlfriend opted to go see them. You could have gone to see Weezer at Reliant Arena, the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow at Warehouse Live, the Butthole Surfers at The Meridian, or Dredg at The Meridian’s Red Room. It was a Thursday night in Houston, with a pile of concert options.

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