Here's where I'd be

These are bands we especially dig, not
full listings. For those, please see
Concerts and Clubs.
For more top shows featuring local acts, please see Nightgeist.

Wednesday, Feb. 27

PLAN A: The Helio Sequence, The Builders and The Butchers, Calico Horse @ The Casbah. Any one of these bands would make for a solid show by itself, but if they’re going to throw a ménage à trios at us, we’ll take it. PLAN B: The Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile @ Belly Up. That “featuring Chris Thile” part is crucial since The Punch Brothers are relative unknowns aside from being fronted by the former Nickel Creek vocalist/mandolinist. But now that the Creek has run dry, Thile is meandering through the bluegrass (and supporting Punch) with new Brothers from another mother. PLAN C: This Holiday Life, Red Letter Agent, Writer @ U-31. For more on This Holiday Life’s celebration of the apocalypse (and the release of The Beginning of the End of the World) see Nightgeist. BACKUP PLAN: Pat Metheny Trio @ Anthology.

Thursday, Feb. 28

PLAN A: Tally Hall, Bent Left @ Beauty Bar. For a band with a song (“The Whole World and You”) slated for a Crayola commercial, Tally Hall sure likes to color outside the lines. And they do so by gleefully mooning traffic at the intersection of Vampire Weekend Street and Fountains of Wayne Boulevard while flipping indie angst on its ass with a sunny cover of The Killers’ maudlin “Smile Like You Mean It.” PLAN B: Murs, Kahli, Brendan B @ ’Canes. Murs likes to call his hip-hop “sitcom rap” for its proclivity toward finding insight and entertainment in everyday experience. But I’m pretty sure George Costanza can’t spit rhymes good enough to earn collaborations with Z-Trip, Atmosphere and Shock G, let alone a roster spot with Living Legends. PLAN C: MSTRKRFT, L.A. Riots @ Hard Rock Hotel. It’s been three months since these Toronto masters of the turntable craft came rolling through town, and now they’re travelling in a tour bus fueled entirely by buzz as they stop in S.D. before hitting up Noise Pop and SXSW. BACKUP PLANS: Busy Bee @ Static Lounge and Electric Frankenstein @ The Casbah.

Friday, Feb. 29

PLAN A: The Raveonettes, Be Your Own Pet @ The Casbah. Take a taste of our feature on the Danish butterhorns on this page. PLAN B: Christopher Lawrence @ On Broadway. Lawrence is purported (by URB, DJ magazine and BBC’s Radio One) to be the American answer to Paul van Dyk. But, considering he was voted the No. 4 DJ in the world by DJ’s 2006 “Top 100” poll, Lawrence doesn’t really need to answer to anybody. PLAN C: Take Action Tour @ House of Blues. If you’re going to have bands like Every Time I Die and From First to Last scream about something, it might as well be about raising money for charitable causes. BACKUP PLANS: Tom Scott @ Anthology and Trunk Fulla Funk @ Winston’s.

Saturday, March 1

PLAN A: Blitzen Trapper, Grand Archives, Fleet Foxes @ The Casbah. Unlock the mystery of Blitzen Trapper on this page. PLAN B: Eligh, Destructo Bunny @ Winston’s. Eligh apparently didn’t want Murs (his compatriot in Living Legends and 3MG) having all the fun in the San Diego sun, so he’s hitting up the beach on a solo trip. PLAN C: Dirty Sweet, The Sess, The Silent Comedy @ Hard Rock Hotel. It’s fitting that the band that played the Hard Rock’s grand opening last December is back to break it in as a steady live-music venue. But this time there are some solid local acts playing support to appease those who find Dirty Sweet’s rock revival filthily saccharine. BACKUP PLANS: Funland @ Brick by Brick and Second Sun @ On Broadway.

Sunday, March 2

PLAN A: The Mother Truckers @ Brick by Brick. Receiving an invitation to play the SXSW festival in Austin is less impressive when your band is actually from Austin. But if your country rock is good enough to support Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Michelle Shocked and The Supersuckers, you’d probably be getting that invite anyway. PLAN B: Marcia Ball & John Hammond @ Belly Up. Ball is a pianist who grew up emulating New Orleans jazz legends like Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, while Hammond is a guitarist who cultivated his musical roots by playing alongside blues legends like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker. PLAN C: Filter @ The Casbah. Hey man, nice shot. BACKUP PLANS: Kris Delmhorst @ Lestat’s and Frank Sinatra Jr. @ Harrah’s Rincon.

Monday, March 3

PLAN A: A Place to Bury Strangers, Holy Fuck @ The Casbah. APTBS lists 79 different musical influences on its MySpace page (yes, I counted). But the Brooklyn trio (which could drown out any Brooklyn sextet) inconspicuously lists its most obvious influences at No. 22 (Ministry), 52 (Joy Division) and 68 (New Order). I think I found the place where they bury their “strangers.” PLAN B: Foo Fighters, Serj Tankian, Against Me! @ Cox Arena. It’s not very hipster to recommend any shows at Cox Arena, let alone one headlined by a band with more radio airplay than God (who I hear prefers iTunes). But we all sing “Times Like These” and “My Hero” in the shower whether we admit it or not. God does it, too, and God doesn’t even need to take showers.

Tuesday, March 4

PLAN A: Rufus Wainwright @ Belly Up. Where do you go after releasing several critically acclaimed albums, starring in commercials (for Gap) and movies (The Aviator), started—then kicked (with Elton John’s help)—a crystal meth habit and performed Judy Garland songs in lipstick and heels at Carnegie Hall? If you’re Rufus, you go on tour before finishing your first opera (Prima Donna). PLAN B: The Virgins, Killola, Vinyl Radio @ The Casbah. The Virgins have managed to gain high-profile praise (from The New York Times and Spin) and opening gigs (Patti Smith and Sonic Youth) for their sedated version of new wave revival. What they haven’t done, apparently, is intercourse.