Anyone looking to get a head start on their holiday weekend should find themselves at Allen St. Hardware Café tonight. In Queen City Cartel’s third installment of their bi-weekly Thursday series, Orations and Strange Acres will be taking over the intimate confines of Hardware’s back room. Orations’ brooding post-punk has a pumping heart similar to that of Joy Division or Siouxsie and the Banshees, while the chilling arrangements and emotional outpourings of Strange Acres will have you laying horizontal on the floor in a contemplative tizzy. For those of you who haven’t seen one (or both) of these dark local heavyweights, tonight is your night.

The best part about this show? Well, the bands (along with Dante Velour spinning tracks in the gaps). But the second best thing? It won’t cost you a thing. Unless you plan on getting sauced, in which case you should bring some cash. Just tell your boss the truth in the morning—he/she’ll understand. Party starts at 10pm.