KEVIN EUBANKS
(Jazz Alley, through Sunday) This past fall, Eubanks played a sold-out show at EMP. I was skeptical. Eubanks not only leads the Tonight Show band, he's also a giddy yes man (à la Ed McMahon) for Jay Leno's lame-ass jokes. But Eubanks won me over, or, I should say, his elephantine riffs did. The man cut his chops in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and he's put together a killer band. Charnett Moffett (bass) is a diesel engine that pushes Eubanks to dizzying speeds, while Marvin "Smitty" Smith ticks off the miles on the skins. At the pinnacle of a tune, Eubanks' left hand cascades along the fret board so fast you think he's going to fall out of his chair. But the tune goes on. It's you who ends up falling out of your chair, floored. KREG HASEGAWA

DAN FOGELBERG, HOLLY FIGUEROA
(Pier 62/63) If you're a fan of the singer/songwriter who brought the world "Longer" and "The Power of Gold," here's your chance to see him live! JEFF DeROCHE

OUR LADY PEACE, SHADES APART
(Showbox) This terrible Canadian band's Columbia Records release, Spiritual Machines, is entirely calculated: The singer's phony throat-catch, the bullshit cover art, the fake-punchy production... are all pitiful and shameless attempts to hollowly imitate gestures of great indie bands of 10 years ago, and capture a market niche that caught on to this shell game around the time MTV's 120 Minutes was canceled. Our Lady Peace makes Bush (the band, not the president) look as good as if it actually were Nirvana. When will this wretched Endmusic finally end? GRANT COGSWELL

FUGAZI, PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES
(Archie Browning Centre, Victoria, BC) Through the 12 years' worth of acclaim the band has generated, Fugazi has always been both amazing and annoying. The band's sound has evolved and progressed through many stages of bombast (smart post-punk reggae leanings, hardcore, tons of emo) and grown more experimental and artistically challenging with age. The DIY-reverent romanticize the fact that now prominent D.C. record label Dischord was started by frontman Ian MacKaye (with partner Jeff Nelson back in 1980, when MacKaye was in Teen Idles), and that the band has always booked and managed itself. Above all else, Fugazi's music is sharp, fierce, and confidently melodic, and the live show is one of the most exciting in the world--the band never tires, MacKaye is always blissed out and invigorated, and no one in the audience is allowed to hurt each other. But therein lies the only snag: Fugazi is so righteous that fun-loving fans are forced to stand among loads of people with enormous sticks planted firmly up their asses. Fugazi will not be playing in Washington state, so fans should plan the pilgrimage to beautiful Victoria, and if you're only interested in Fugazi a little bit, ignore the holier-than-thou, DON'T SLAMDANCE (or Ian will walk), and check out this amazing live band. It will be well worth it. JEFF DeROCHE

FAUX BANG: POSEUR, DJ BABY J, LADY KRISHNA'S PEPPERMINT LOUNGE
(Sit & Spin) People keep commenting on how much they miss Pho Bang, which is strange since the faux version is still going on at Sit & Spin. Admittedly, the club is nowhere near as appropriate a setting for the event as Foxes was, but the lineups are usually great, Ursula and Jackie are still brilliant, and everyone still gets stupid, fun, and happy. Tonight's show features Poseur, a good, quirky pop band that won't be as loud or punk rock as you might expect from Faux Bang, but always makes the kids happy. JEFF DeROCHE

The Buena Vista Social Club presents: ORQUESTA IBRAHIM FERRER
(Pier 62/63) Close your eyes and you can practically smell the plantains and rice sizzling in the next room. Swing your hips and you can almost feel the cracked tile beneath your feet as you twirl to the romantic swells of Cuban jazz in a sweaty Havana ballroom, the night air sweet and thick. What more is there to say about the beloved Buena Vista Social Club? Critics, music fans, and film audiences everywhere have lavished praise and props on this phenomenal bunch ever since the 1999 Ry Cooder/Wim Wenders documentary shuffled the group back into the international spotlight after years of faded memories and obscurity. The members of the Social Club continue to tour steadily and enjoy twilight success, and their smoldering sound has contributed to the recent American hipster obsession with all things brightly Cuban. If you thought the movie soundtrack was sexy, wait till you see 'em live: With energy, sensuality, and seamless musicianship, the Buena Vista Social Club always inspires, humbles, and delivers. Bring your own mojitos. MIN LIAO

ORGANIC AUDIO, MINT ROYALE
(Nation) When the first, fun-loving, big-beat tracks by British group Mint Royale began to surface in clubs during the late '90s, you couldn't blame fellow tech-heads for wondering if the moniker wasn't just another pseudonym for Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim. But it was really Neil Claxton and Chris Baker behind the studio knobs; they just happened to produce the same brand of lightweight techno fare with pure pop flair: slamming, block-rocking breakbeat tunes fueled by plenty of rock guitar heroics--or at least synths that sounded like them. So be prepared to throw your hands in the air and do most of your thinking with your feet for at least part of the show. For the more cerebral, check out the set by Organic Audio. From funked-up to chilled out, Britain's Andy Spence dispenses an array of styles from behind the decks, as he displayed on his latest album, Last One Home. The world-music influenced house anthem "Play to the Music," featuring gritty diva vocals and snappy acoustic guitar, is already a U.K. club hit, while funky, new wave-ish cuts ("This Could Really Happen," "Into Something") and downtempo acid jazz tracks ("Autosave Us," "Always the Sun") will no doubt also find their way into the set. JOHN FERRI

MIKE DOUGHTY, DJ MISSKICK
(Crocodile) I know little about Mike Doughty's former band, Soul Coughing. It was pretentious. He was a slaphead for a singer who liked to move his hands--like SO and SO--and pretend he was reading beatnik poetry while auditioning for R.E.M. Soul Coughing came from New York, and exhibited all that city's worst traits--smugness, an inability to laugh at oneself, smugness. Aside from that, I hear he's a very funny man. EVERETT TRUE

THE RUBY DOE, VERONA, TEXAS INSTRUMENT
(Breakroom) The members of the Ruby Doe obviously grew up huge fans of the Who (circa '70s) and Cheap Trick, and are totally into playing rock and roll like it courses through their every vein. While this may prove exhilarating for some audience members, and off-putting for others, no real argument can be made that the band is anything less than great at what it does. Especially the drummer, who kicks ass. Verona plays sweet, melodic indie rock--timid enough to be charming, and talented enough to make it seem conceivable that the band could someday make a name for itself. KATHLEEN WILSON

AIR, SEBASTIEN TELLIER
(EMP) See Stranger Suggests.

RAMMSTEIN, CROSSBREED
(Moore Theatre) It's not easy to imagine the sort of person who would listen to Rammstein. I can safely say that I've never in my entire life met an actual fan, one who was able to say the name without exaggerating the German pronunciation and then laughing. Which is strange, because the fans are out there. To the German six-piece's credit, its take on Depeche Mode's "Stripped" (on the For the Masses tribute album) was as good as the real thing, and Till Lindemann's voice is so incredibly deep that it's almost sexy. Otherwise, the dark, industrial-metal assault that the band puts out is not very interesting, not scary in any real visceral sense, and funny like farts are funny. No offense to the Rammstein fans out there--if this is your cup of tea, then climb on up out of those sewers and ROCK THE FUCKING ROLL! JEFF DeROCHE

ORQUESTA IBRAHIM FERRER
(Pier 62/63) See Friday listing.

JANET JACKSON, 112
(KeyArena) See preview this issue.

THE FARTZ, PIPEFITTER, TWO MAN ADVANTAGE
(Gibson's) Whoa-lee-SHIT! The Fartz... uh, WE all do know them Fartz is playin' again? Right!?!? Yep, the same FARTZ who, musta been 20 (!) years ago, pounded some of the mostest absolutely fucked, outta control, sloppier'n yer first "French" smoochy poo, hateful fuggin' hardcore this side o' the Mighty Miss! Yep, them. Oh, if you ain't seen it, they gots a new record out with very appropriate album art, and it's on the Alternative Tentacles too... aw, just like in the '80s! And look, they ain't alone either... Pipefitter and Two Man Advantage will be playin'!! Good Lord... whudda night! Hmmmm, anyone gonna make it out for a bit of the mosh? MIKE NIPPER

CRADLE OF FILTH, NILE, GOD FORBID
(Showbox) Imagine someone taking the possession scenes in The Exorcist as the concept for a band and you'll get some idea of what Cradle of Filth sounds like: This English group lays atmosphere on as thickly as its corpse-paint, and makes Marilyn Manson sound like Bob Dylan in a dress. From prison cells in Scandinavia, the murderous, church-burning founders of Black Metal call the members of this platinum-selling group poseurs, but in this case that's probably a good thing. Just two weeks after the seminal Mayhem canceled its Seattle appearance, this show (despite the $20 cover) should draw a fearsome coven. Cradle of Filth is really good, for being evil. GRANT COGSWELL

BENEFIT FOR MLB CHARITIES
(Showbox) In case you didn't know that the whole city has gone baseball crazy, even the Showbox is in on the jig. Tonight benefits Major League Baseball charities--as in the charities the organization favors--and features performances by Marcy Playground, the Supersuckers, Stickfigure (with Jack McDowell), Pete Droge, and others. KATHLEEN WILSON

RED SHIRT BRIGADE, PARAMORE, HELLO FROM WAVELAND
(Crocodile) When a disc features a photo on the front of two bandmates staring at and away from the camera, and the back features a couple of stray cats doing the same, chances are the music within isn't going to be heavy metal. However, Paramore's bright sound captures the weightier aspects of Sebadoh--that's when the band isn't busy reminding listeners of the Wedding Present, Lemonheads, or even Housemartins (how's that for a band you never think of anymore?). It's jangly and jaunty and definitely not for the Anglophobic--although the duo hails from Portland. Paramore's recorded debut, whatyoudon'tknow, is out now on Issaquah label Ammonite Records. KATHLEEN WILSON

THE CORN SISTERS
(Tractor Tavern) The Other Women, the 2000 debut of this beloved country duo featuring insurgent diva Neko Case singing and drumming, and Carolyn Mark singing and playing guitar, captured a performance at Ballard's Hattie's Hat. Like a raw, soused Freakwater minus the dead babies, or an underpants-removing Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, the Corn Sisters tear up country standards, cool covers, and inspired originals (such as "Too Many Pills on Too Dark a Night," a hilarious, chicken-fried "Leader of the Pack" with a tall-tale backstory). Between shots of tequila, a flash of pubic hair, and hilarious stage patter on the country side of Kiki and Herb, Case and Mark cover Lucinda Williams, Nick Lowe, and Leiber and Stoller's "Love Me." The set highlight is a split vote: the drunken rampage of "This Little Light of Mine," or Loretta Lynn's catfight throwdown hairpuller "Fist City." See them and decide for yourself. DISCLAIMER: They do not remove their panties at every show, so don't be a pig. This isn't Karen Finley. NATE LIPPENS

ROCKY VOTOLATO, ONE LINE DRAWING, 31 KNOTS, ON ALASKA
(Paradox) No one would ever dare to make a bass-player joke after seeing 31 Knots perform. Sure the band's bassist wears his instrument at a laughable height, but the blur his fingers make while furiously covering the fret board wipe any kind of smirk off an observer's face, pronto. This is one of those smart bands that scoffs at the three-chord stuff, but whose onstage demeanor reveals an affable, unpretentious trio of extremely talented musicians who could care less about fashion. In terms of singer/songwriters, Rocky Votolato is one of this town's more effective examples; his evocative songs and warm voice make for a listening experience that heads straight for your soul. KATHLEEN WILSON

WHITE STRIPES, THE VON BONDIES, THE WAXWINGS
(Crocodile) See Stranger Suggests.

LYLE LOVETT & HIS LARGE BAND
(Pier 62/63) See Stranger Suggests.

G. LOVE AND SPECIAL SAUCE, SHAWN SMITH
(Showbox) Though I'm not clear what this band's new direction is, G. Love and Special Sauce actually came out with an interesting self-titled hiphop CD back in 1994. It was half blues and half hiphop, with G. Love half moaning and half rapping. The follow-up CD, Coast to Coast Motel (1995), however, was a bit disappointing--not because it sounded bad, but because it abandoned hiphop altogether for pure blues. If you like your blues in a hip and handsome package, this is a decent band to watch, but really, I wish they'd just leave them blues alone and return to hiphop. CHARLES MUDEDE