The Vintage & Handmade Market 
SoftLightes performs at Queen Bee's on Saturday, March 20
Wednesday, March 17
PLAN A: Xiu Xiu, tUnE-yArDs, Noveller @ The Casbah. This show is going to be packed with bespectacled, Pitchfork-reading music dorks (including me), and for good reason. San Jose’s Xiu Xiu (pronounced “shoe-shoe”) combines post-punk, electro and noise-rock for music that sounds like some great, lost Leonard Cohen and Brain Eno collaboration. And one-woman force tUnE-yArDs (Merrill Garbus) released a DIY masterpiece last year with BiRd-BrAiNs. Weird, haunting freak-folk and a live show that had The New York Times exclaiming that she had a “rhythmic and artistic intelligence that echoed Bjork.” BACKUP PLAN: Little White Teeth @ Whistle Stop.
Thursday, March 18
PLAN A: Blowfly, Tighten Ups, Homeless Sexuals, Rebel Rebel @ Radio Room. A fun lineup from top to bottom. Miami’s Soulfly (led by dirty-rap legend Clarence Reid) takes the booty bus to the soul train with a final stop at the funk mothership. Need a laugh? Just check out how Reid cops The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and changes the chorus to “Should I fuck this big fat ho.” Yeah, feminists beware. PLAN B: Gunslingers, Space Nature, Electric Jellyfish, Electric Children @ Soda Bar. San Pedro’s Gunslingers may as well be the soundtrack to one of those chaotic student protests in France that seem to pop up all the time—scuzzy garage-punks who play so hard they almost always end up bleeding on stage. Just check out the 12-minute badassness of “Lighter Slinger Festival.” You’ll need a nap afterward. BACKUP PLAN: Brendan B & Amp, Grammatical B, Y2K29, Bonk Joyner @ The Casbah.
Friday, March 19
PLAN A: Social Spit, Rat’s Eyes @ Whistle Stop. Social Spit have had several lineups throughout the ages, but they were the San Diego equivalent to The Clash back in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Hopefully, they’ll sound as good as they did. If not, hardcore bad motherfuckers Rat’s Eyes will still kick your ass. PLAN B: Little Deadman, Worker Bee @ Soda Bar. I have no idea who plays in this new local indie-rock band, but if Little Deadman’s live show is as good as the tracks they’ve posted on MySpace, then we might have some contenders for “Best New Artist” come San Diego Music Awards time. PLAN C: Big Boi @ 4th & B. Because one Outkast is better than none. BACKUP PLAN: The Devil Makes Three @ Brick by Brick.
Saturday, March 20
PLAN A: SoftLightes, Shapes of Future Frames, Beat Panther, Gayle Skidmore @ Queen Bee’s. A great show all around: Shapes of Future Frames is the semi-new project from Scarlet Symphony’s Gary Hankins and members of The Old In Out—it’s heavy indie-rock that’s as tight as a prison inmate’s butthole. Also, show up early for country-folk cutie-pie Gayle Skidmore. She butters my biscuit. BACKUP PLAN: River City, Emily Bonn & The Vivants, John Meeks @ Tin Can Ale House.
Sunday, March 21
PLAN A: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Wallpaper, White Apple Tree @ The Casbah. OMG and WTF?! A lot of people might recognize the headliner’s ABBAlicious, ridiculously catchy single “Around the Bend” from the iPod Touch commercial, but there’s so, so much more bubble-gum gems where that came from. It doesn’t hurt that frontwoman Mette Lindberg is like every Swedish-woman fantasy I’ve ever had rolled into one, only this time it comes with a soundtrack. BACKUP PLAN: Archie Dean, DJ Kechup @ Radio Room.
Monday, March 22
PLAN A: Acid Mothers Temple, Over-Gain Optimal Help @ The Casbah. If you think The Flaming Lips, Mars Volta and Captain Beefheart are weird, then you should definitely steer clear of these Japanese psychedelic freaks. Arty jams so epic that pre-show bongloads are highly encouraged. PLAN B: Neon Trees @ 710 Beach Club. Yeah, they’re basically a facsimile of The Bravery and The Killers, complete with stupid haircuts and whatever street cred comes with being from Provo, Utah. But they’re gonna be huge. I defy you to keep their single, “Animal,” out of your head. Dee-fie you! BACKUP PLAN: Ape Machine, The Kabbs, Roxy Jones, Earl’s Son, Melted Cassettes @ Soda Bar.
Tuesday, March 23
PLAN A: Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bear in Heaven, Freelance Whales @ The Casbah. Enough about Bear in Heaven’s inexplicable sound. In fact, this lineup should be called the “What’s Hot in Brooklyn Tour” and all are worth a feature. Freelance Whales play lovely, almost emo-tastic pop that should please fans of Sufjan Stevens and Postal Service. And Cymbals Eat Guitars are already live-show legends, playing propulsive indie-rock that’s being compared with Built to Spill and Modest Mouse. PLAN B: Kerretta, Kata @ Soda Bar. CityBeat columnist and overall encyclopedia de musica Todd Kroviak has hipped me to a lot of great music coming out of Australia and New Zealand, and the latter is well represented by these instrumental, self-described “dark-rockers,” who sound like Explosions in the Sky’s goth cousin. If you miss them tonight, then you get a second chance on Wednesday, March 24, when they play Bar Pink.
