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, Oct. 1

PLAN A: Sian Alice Group, Fantastic Magic, Manuok @ The Casbah. Place angelic female vocals over carefully nuanced, minimal soundscapes and pulsating drone-and-roll, and you have the Sian Alice Group. As if I need to say more, they sound incredible. PLAN B: The Dandy Warhols, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Upsidedown @ Belly Up Tavern. If you get to the Belly Up at the perfect moment (est. time: 10:37 p.m.), you’ll be able to see one abrasive band (A Place to Bury Strangers) and won’t have to waste any time with boring pseudo-psychedelic bullshit. PLAN C: Sigur Rós @ Copley Symphony Hall. This show is sold out, but here’s a little-known (fabricated) fact about Sigur Rós: marine biologists at SeaWorld play their music underwater to induce mating between Orcas. BACKUP PLAN: Gogol Bordello, Kal @ 4th & B.

Thursday, Oct. 2

PLAN A: Black Lips, Grand Ole Party, Japanese Motors @ Belly Up Tavern. Their reputation as a party band may precede them, but that’s exactly what Black Lips want. The idea of these delinquents playing larger venues doesn’t seem right, so take this opportunity to get ’faced, sweaty and happy. PLAN B: The Mars Volta @ SDSU Open Air Theatre. Note to Cedric and Omar: Hey, dudes, we get it. You’re the most shredding elfin musicians in the world. Now will you please stop fucking around and play some songs? PLAN C: David Byrne @ Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay. And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack. And you may ask yourself, Can I afford a ticket to see David Byrne? And you may find yourself purchasing a ticket. And you may ask yourself, How did I get here?

Friday, Oct. 3

PLAN A: The Swell Season, Iron & Wine @ SDSU Open Air Theatre. The Swell Season is Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, co-stars of the movie Once, which also happens to be the number of times every grown man broke down in tears while watching it. It’s OK, tough guy, you can admit it. PLAN B: Mugison @ The Casbah (early show). In Iceland, they call Mugison “pop.” In America, it’s called “music for schizophrenics who like death metal, Matmos and Howlin’ Wolf.” PLAN C: The Aggrolites, Dirty Heads @ ’Canes. If you didn’t know The Aggrolites were from L.A., you’d swear that original members of The Maytals and The Skatalites had formed a new band. It may be derivative, but these guys do roots reggae right. BACKUP PLAN: James @ House of Blues.

Saturday, Oct. 4

PLAN A: “Fundraiser for the Family of Willy Graves” w/ Kill Me Tomorrow, The Muslims, Crocodiles, Wild Weekend, DJs Mario Orduno, Jeff Greaves. A collection of San Diego’s best-loved indie acts pay tribute to friend and former Plot To Blow Up the Eiffel Tower bassist Graves, who died Sept. 14. Show some heart and try to make it out. PLAN B: Murs @ Access Hip Hop. In case you missed him at Aubergine a few weeks ago (and chances are, you did), the Living Legends MC performs a free in-store at San Diego’s best hip-hop record shop. It starts at 3 p.m., and you should get there early, ’cause it’s gonna be packed.

Sunday, Oct. 5

PLAN A: People Under the Stairs, Common Market, Shawn Jackson @ The Casbah. PUTS is the best good-time hip-hop duo of this decade. Don’t believe me? Throw Question in the Form of an Answer, O.S.T. and Stepfather in rotation at your next barbeque and see what happens. PLAN B: Egyptian Lover @ Kava Lounge. The king of West Coast electro inspires b-boys young and old to pop, lock and do head spins on a cardboard box.

Monday, Oct. 6

PLAN A: Nick Lowe, Paul Cebar @ Belly Up Tavern. Basher returns to San Diego to show garage kids how to age gracefully. It’ll be mostly mellow country-rock, but with the recent reissue of Jesus of Cool, he might do versions of “So it Goes” and “Cruel to Be Kind” if you’re lucky. PLAN B: Heavy Trash, Powersolo, Pant Hoots @ The Casbah. Jon Spencer is an unofficial godfather to the modern hipster, which makes me surprised that his latest project, Heavy Trash, isn’t a collaboration with Beck, Thurston Moore and The Beastie Boys.

Tuesday, Oct. 7

PLAN A: Neil Diamond @ San Diego Sports Arena. Neil may be a cheeseball, but at 67, the guy just scored his first Billboard No. 1 album with Home Before Dark. PLAN B: The Plastic People of the Universe, Little Cow, Forrest Day @ Brick by Brick. The Plastic People are a collective of Czech prog-rockers, several of whom were imprisoned by the Communist government in the mid-’70s. It rarely gets more interesting than this, folks.