In the clubs

The Dave Rawlings Machine performs at the Belly Up Tavern on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Photo by Mark Seliger. 

Wednesday, January 27

PLAN A: Gray Ghosts, Greg Gibson @ Soda Bar. The indie-popsters with the lush, gorgeous songs are reportedly not going to play live anymore (see “Locals Only” on Page 25 for more on that), and it’s a damn shame. Begging en masse sometimes works, so meet me down there to try to convince them to continue on. PLAN B: Ignacio Berroa @ Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. When it comes to jazz drumming, Berroa is a seminal hybrid of Afro-Cuban and American styles that had Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente beating down his door to play with him. For anyone who has geeked out over Buena Vista Social Club or the Afro-Cuban All-Stars needs to check this guy out. BACKUP PLAN: “Commune Wednesdays” with The Dabbers @ Whistle Stop.

Thursday, January 28

PLAN A: Manuok, By Sunlight, Confessions of a Corn Silo @ The Ruby Room. Talking with Manuok mastermind Scott Mercado recently, the bearded bard told me that he has two albums worth of material ready for consumption. I hope that means he’ll play some of that new electro-folk freakiness tonight. And fans of Sunny Day Real Estate and Death Cab will want to show up early for Seattle’s By Sunlight—lovely indie-pop that lives up to the band’s name. PLAN B: Dead Meat, Black Hondo @ Bar Pink. I’m not-so-secretly hoping one of those True North regulars accidentally stumbles into Bar Pink when these Florida metalheads are playing and his face melts all over his new Affliction shirt. BACKUP PLAN: Apes of Wrath, Hot Moon, Circus Minor @ The Casbah.

Friday, January 29

PLAN A: The Residents @ Birch North Park Theatre. For more than 40 years and 60 albums (!), the mysterious freaks in The Residents have been churning out experimental noise rock that’s influenced everyone from Animal Collective to Simpsons creator Matt Groening. And their shows are things of legend—they’re known to wear masks and use weird lighting and effects that would make an epileptic a little antsy. PLAN B: Transfer, Wirepony, Hong Kong @ The Casbah. Considering all the Transfer side projects that have popped up recently (check out our feature on one of them on Page 24), it’s amazing that San Diego’s best straight-ahead alternative rock band has had time to rehearse. In any case, I don’t think I’ve seen them put on anything less than a great performance. PLAN C: John Lee Hooker Jr @ Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge. Junior has a song called “Blues Ain’t Nothin’ But a Pimp.” Uh, word up.

Saturday, January 30

PLAN A: Polysics, Beaters @ The Casbah. What happens when Devo’s condom breaks and accidentally impregnates The Blood Brothers in a Japanese anime cartoon? The “Technicolor pogo punk” of Tokyo’s Polysics, that’s what! If you can’t have fun at this show, then check your pulse, because you might be dead. Check out Sammi Skolmoski’s interview with the band on www.lastblogonearth.com. (early show at 6 p.m.) PLAN B: Town Criers, Manual Scan, Blues Gangsters, DJ Louis Mello @ The Casbah. May as well stick around The Casbah for what’ll surely be a crowd of O.G., 40-plus scenesters. After all, it’s the 20th anniversary reunion of country-rockers Town Criers. And speaking of O.G., don’t forget Blues Gangsters, a band made up of legendary San Diego ex-pats who get together every year or so to bust out some killer ’50s-inspired rock. BACKUP PLAN: Weatherbox, Boomsnake, Carvels @ Che Café.

Sunday, January 31

PLAN A: Firethorn, Heavy Glow, Boyscout, Nautical Disaster @ The Casbah. This’ll be the first Firethorn show in awhile, and I’m glad those rumors of a breakup were untrue. The local band’s mix of Replacements-type punk and Nirvana-style alternative rock should make up for that steep cover charge (psssst... it’s free). And, again, check out our feature on Boyscout on this page. BACKUP PLAN: Nile, Immolation, Krisiun, Rose Funeral, Dreaming Dead @ House of Blues.

Monday, Feb. 1

PLAN A: Bowerbirds, Julie Doiron @ The Loft. Playing emollient and foreboding folk, North Carolina’s Bowerbirds should pacify anyone desperately awaiting the new Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes albums. BACKUP PLAN: Supervillains, Mike Pinto @ Casbah.

Tuesday, Feb. 2

PLAN A: The Soft Pack, Beaters @ Tower Bar. The Soft Pack is releasing their debut album tonight. Let the inevitable backlash begin. See Page 22 for the full story. PLAN B: The Dave Rawlings Machine @ Belly Up. This one’s really close to being a Plan A, so if The Soft Pack’s post-punk ain’t your thing, then this might be the show for you. Like Willie Nelson and T-Bone Burnett before him, Rawlings has spent much of his early career helping others write songs (Ryan Adams and Gillian Welch, to name two), but his recently released debut, the alt-country gem A Friend of a Friend, is proof that he’s a talent in and off himself.  BACKUP PLAN: Melly Frances and the Distilled Spirits, Megan Slankard, Greg Gibson @ Tin Can Alehouse.