Here's where I'd be

These are bands we especially dig,
not full listings. For those, please see
Concerts and Clubs.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20

PLAN A: Afrika Bambaataa @ ’Canes. I don’t care how much Bam and the Zulu Nation have done for hip-hop (short answer: a lot), Rage Against the Machine’s version of “Renegades of Funk” is still better than the original. That said, he’s still Afrika Bambaataa. PLAN B: The Lovemakers, Buddy Akai @ The Casbah. The Lovemakers describe their sound as “Led Zeppelin covering Prince.” It’s a little closer to Duran Duran covering The Cure covering Veruca Salt covering Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. But close enough. PLAN C: Pruitt Igoe @ Winston’s. Pruitt-Igoe is a notorious failed St. Louis housing project. Pruitt Igoe is a San Diego six-piece experimental, spoken-word, operatic, electronic, rock, funk, performance-art thing. Guess which one is having a CD-release party. BACKUP PLANS: Stone Senses, Psydecar @ Belly Up and Red Feathers, The Paddle Boat @ U31.

THURSDAY, FEB. 21

PLAN A: Liars, No Age @ The Casbah. After a concept album about witch trials (They Were Wrong, So We Drowned) and a drum experimentation disc (Drum’s Not Dead), Liars have switched things up by releasing a self-titled album with no obvious theme—other than messing with our heads. PLAN B: Marky Ramone @ Belo. Sweet, a Ramone! Is it the singer? No, he died of lymphoma. The guitarist? Nope, cancer. The bassist? Nyet, heroin overdose. The drummer playing a DJ set? You betcha. Take what you can get.  PLAN C: Urban Underground @ Static Lounge. The latest installment of the weekly hip-hop showcase features San Diego talents Blame One (2007 SDMA nominee for Best Hip-Hop) and Vision (the self-described “Queen of the West”). BACKUP PLANS: Pivit, Agent 51 @ Belly Up, Salvador Santana @ Winston’s and Queensryche @ House of Blues.

FRIDAY, FEB. 22

PLAN A: The Kindness Kind, Ultraviolet, Hyper Crush @ Beauty Bar. The Kindness Kind is an intricate indie band that claims influences like Blonde Redhead, Air and Pixies and sounds like a sedated, Seattle version of The Cardigans. PLAN B: The Blasters, The Hacienda Brothers @ Belly Up. If you’ve seen the Tarantino freak fest From Dusk Till Dawn, you might recognize The Blasters—both for their song “Dark Night” (used in the film) and because their rockabilly blues fits in at seedy Mexican biker bars frequented by vampires. PLAN C: The Album Leaf @ The Casbah. The Album Leaf is huge in Japan. Then again, the project fronted by native son Jimmy LaValle is pretty big here, too. But this show is also a sayonara before the Leaf blows over to Japan for another Far East tour. BACKUP PLANS: Dubfire @ Belo, All That Remains @ SOMA and Swim Party @ Whistle Stop Bar.

SATURDAY, FEB. 23

PLAN A: Her Grace the Duchess, The Viewmasters @ Bar Pink Elephant. Her Grace is a San Francisco nine-piece soul-sister throwback to Motown. The Viewmasters channel The Supremes, too; they just do it from San Diego. PLAN B: The 87 Stick Up Kids @ Beauty Bar. I’m assuming the Kids are being tongue-in-cheek when they pay tribute to laceless Adidas and Licensed to Ill with their slightly goofy throwback rhymes. Even if they’re dead serious, lyrics like “Bounce, like you just stole something/Rock, like my man Charles Dutton” are entertaining enough on their own. PLAN C: Roy Zimmerman @ Acoustic Music San Diego. The left-leaning singer/songwriter/satirist punctures politics with witty barbs on CNN-inspired songs like “Superdelegate” and “Eine Kleine Barackmusik.” BACKUP PLANS: Fluf @ The Casbah, Badfish @ House of Blues and Hello Marquee @ SOMA.

SUNDAY, FEB. 24

PLAN A: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Jupiter Rising, Dago Braves @ House of Blues. If I were you, this might not be my Plan A. But if I were me—and grew up on “Foe Tha Love of Money” and “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” (you know, early Bone Thugs)—then this is where I’d be. PLAN B: Earl Thomas, Amber Ojeda, Justus Ewing @ Belly Up. Three silky-smooth singers team up for a blues/jazz/soul benefit show for the North County Food Bank. PLAN C: Local 94/9 Presents @ The Casbah. A local showcase, featuring free food (take that, North County Food Bank) and free music (Get Your Death On, War Stories, Inigo and The Frantic Romantic). BACKUP PLANS: Acoustic Alliance @ Brick by Brick and Candye Kane @ Anthology.

MONDAY, FEB. 25

PLAN A: British Sea Power, Colourmusic, The Modlins @ The Casbah. Sail away, sail away, sail away to our British Sea Power feature. PLAN B: Jay Farrar @ Belly Up. Do the same thing for the former uncle of Tupelo and son of Volt, except do it here. PLAN C: Marilyn Manson, Ours @ House of Blues. The Antichrist Superstar may not be as creepy as he used to be, but he’s still the same makeup-wearing, self-mutilating dude with the skeletons (literal and figurative) in his closet. BACKUP PLANS: Bad Weather California, Old Man Hands, Red Pony Clock @ Che Café.  

Tuesday, Feb. 26

PLAN A: Pat Metheny Trio @ Anthology. Jazz musician/composer Pat Metheny is to the Grammys what soap star Susan Lucci is to the Emmys. Except in reverse. Whether it’s Pat Metheny solo, Group or Trio, the man has a bigger collection of hardware (at least 16 Grammys to date) than Home Depot. PLAN B: Adrian Belew, Saul Zonana @ Belly Up. Belew is to guest appearances what Metheny is to the Grammys. The multi-instrumentalist (most consistently known for King Crimson) has done guitar work for everyone from Frank Zappa, David Bowie and Paul Simon to Nine Inch Nails, Tori Amos and William Shatner. And, more amazingly, he still finds work after that last one. BACKUP PLAN: Nautical Disaster, White Denim, Trophy Wife @ The Casbah.   

Does your show deserve a mention? Write to nathand@sdcitybeat.com.