TREMBLING BLUE STARS, WONDERFUL
(Crocodile) See preview this issue.
WEEZER, JIMMY EAT WORLD, TENACIOUS D
(KeyArena) Even if you've never really liked a Weezer album (even Pinkerton), you could still have your eyes peeled back by the live show. After seeing the band at the Showbox last year--a sold-out show at which every last jaded indie motherfucker in the room was seen singing along with every last obscure B-side the band trotted out--it became apparent that Weezer was better than almost any rock band of the '90s at evoking pure joy from a crowd. And of Tenacious D, what can one say, other than "Fuck Her Gently" is but the tip of the iceberg of this duo's brilliance. Tickets for this show might be very expensive (no more expensive than the D's debut album--thanks, Sony!), but Jesus, you know? SEAN NELSON
ANDREW McKEAG'S BIRTHDAY BASH
(Sunset Tavern) As a member of Shuggie and 70 Proof, Andrew McKeag has proven that he's a diehard fan of arena rock of years past. As a member of EMP's public program staff he's taken this love of music and turned it into his dream job--ask him and he'll tell you tales of rubbing elbows with the likes of Brian May and other '70s icons. While such revelations might sound boorish coming from the mouths of industry movers and shakers, McKeag's genuine reverence for rock and roll is purely refreshing, and if anyone deserves a birthday bash in his honor, it's this immensely friendly guy. Shuggie and the Boss Martians are scheduled to perform. KATHLEEN WILSON
GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT WE WANT: SONGS OF THE KINKS
(Crocodile) See Stranger Suggests.
BUILT TO SPILL, THE DELUSIONS, SUFFOCATION KEEP
(Showbox) While I was in New York City a few months back, some friends threw me a very dramatic birthday party in a Williamsburg artist's giant loft. The excellent party ran the course of an entire night and late into the following morning. By the time the sun had risen completely, I was exhausted. I had heard enough of all the DJ Spookys, and Shadows, and Kruders & Dorfmeisters that had sounded so alluring and wonderful when I first arrived at the party; they became nothing short of awful, inhuman, and cruelly synthetic. I went to the CD shelf, and the first "human" CD I lit upon was Built to Spill's Perfect from Now On. I put it in and received several "God, this is so played out" groans from the others in the room, but I didn't care. Doug Martsch's sweet voice and warm guitar sound quickly filled the room, and I realized I missed Seattle. Built to Spill has never been a favorite, but I believe that of all the "important" Northwest bands, Nirvana included, nothing will ever signify the Northwest to me better than the rich, insular bliss that Built to Spill manages to capture at least once or twice on every album, and during every live show as well. JEFF DeROCHE
THE ANNIVERSARY, MARS VOLTA, PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES, SUPER MAGNIFICENT ACTION TRIO
(Graceland) Sounding almost adolescent in a manner much like Superchunk, the Rentals, or the Get Up Kids, the Anniversary's music embodies the angles and elbows of the newly flourishing--the straight, unclouded cadence of someone who speaks in reactionary arcs. It's a rejuvenating burst in complex, crazy directions. The sharpness is a result of freedom to explore, a kind of focus in an all-seeing delirium. Some call it emo--but emo only wishes it sounded this great. KATHLEEN WILSON
UGLY CASANOVA, LES SAVY FAV, DEFACTO
(Graceland) Last time Ugly Casanova played the Graceland, over-exuberant fans badgered singer Isaac Brock to trot out some of his Modest Mouse tunes. Let's not have any more of that this time 'round, shall we? Ugly Casanova is Brock's full-fledged side project. The band's forthcoming album, Sharpen Your Teeth (scheduled for a March release), is wonderfully quirky and inventive, showcasing the songwriter's wide talent and uncanny ability to traverse many genres. Songs range from sweepingly romantic to downright spooky. Tonight's lineup includes members of not only Modest Mouse but also the Fruit Bats and FCS North, as well as former Tool member Paul D'Amour. See also Stranger Suggests. KATHLEEN WILSON
BUILT TO SPILL, THE DELUSIONS, SUFFOCATION KEEP
(Showbox) See Friday preview.
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, STAINED, LINKIN PARK, STATIC X, DEADSY
(Tacoma Dome) Yes, it's grounds for cred disqualification, but I've always been a fan of Stone Temple Pilots' brand of faux grunge. Aside from the undeniably catchy radio hits like "Vasoline," "Big Empty," and "Plush" (and isn't it so very fun to mock/sing the arch lyrics from "Conversations Kill"? "Her weary head is conscience-laden"... c'mon!), there's always the fact that singer Scott Weiland is such tragic, good tabloid fodder. Then there's tonight's opening band of note, Deadsy--Cher/Gregg Allman offspring Elijah Blue's band. He now goes by P. Exeter Blue and calls his skull-and-bones, goth-influenced band a "perversion of privilege." KATHLEEN WILSON
DISCO D, DELERIUM
(Nation) Though Detroit has been built up and abandoned by production-crazed American capitalism, its musical resilience fascinates me. First off, Detroit demonstrates that the abuses of a capitalist system cannot extinguish art, only business. Secondly, the music that Detroit continues to produce sounds as industrious as the automobile factories that once employed nearly the entire city--carrying on in the tradition of "the Motown sound" that treated musical instruments like pistons, and optimistic songs like well-oiled engines. At the tender age of 21, Disco D has established himself as an integral part of Detroit's latest model, "ghetto tech," an intricate and tasteful-but-rough house and techno blend, peppered with dirty, nasty sexual humor. Incidentally, Disco D is also pursuing a degree in business from the University of Michigan. His mind is half old Detroit (businessmen with big plans), half new (artists with jaded humor), and he wisely uses the two halves in tandem: Last month's release Straight Out Tha Trunk is on GTI (Ghetto Tech Institute), the label he formed. Disco D is becoming the archetypal "self-made man," both in the business world and in the world of art. BRIAN GOEDDE
SHINEHEAD
(Bohemian Backstage) Why doesn't Shinehead just move here? Seriously. He's here all the time. Maybe he's broke, right? And to his credit, Shinehead's actually pretty cool. Pioneering the fusion of reggae and rap (which, can I just tell you, sound so good together...) Shinehead's Unity (1988) actually paved the way for real superstar people like Shabba Ranks. Shinehead has released material since Unity, but has never received any attention for it. Now he's busting ass, playing the Bohemian Backstage three times a year, while the eminently successful sound-stealers of the world (Shabba) are free to play whatever, wherever, and whenever they like. Life is like that. JEFF DeROCHE
DUB THUNDER
(EMP) See preview this issue.
BUILT TO SPILL, THE DELUSIONS, MINUS THE BEAR
(Showbox) See Friday preview.
UGLY CASANOVA, LES SAVY FAV, DEFACTO
(Graceland) See Saturday preview.
THE PHARCYDE, SOULS OF MISCHIEF, PLANET ASIA & RASCO, KUTMASTA KURT, PEP LOVE
(Showbox) This show costs $20, which is a pretty penny, but it's a well-rounded bill that will prove its worth. The Pharcyde has officially moved to "veteran" status in the hiphop game, and Souls of Mischief are proving their longevity as well. They won't do anything new and/or outrageous, but at this point their shows are fine-tuned. What will be more exciting is that nearly everyone else on the bill has new material to promote--Ascension from Pep Love, Masters of Illusion from Kutmasta Kurt, and Hostile Environment from Rasco--so they probably will do some new and outrageous stuff on the stage. The last wild card will be what Planet Asia & Rasco do together (as the Cali Agents), and what material they choose to pull from their substantial solo careers. Although you might be more excited about certain acts than others, go early and stay for the whole show. You're guaranteed to be satisfied. BRIAN GOEDDE
THE FALL, KINSKI
(Crocodile) See preview this issue.
TAJ MAHAL
(Jazz Alley) When Mumtaz Mahal, the kind and beautiful wife of Indian emperor Shah Jehan, died in childbirth in 1630, the emperor expressed his grief by building the Taj Mahal, one of the world's great cultural icons. It took 22 years and over 20,000 craftsmen to complete. Grief is a powerful instinct; it can't be denied. Half a millennium later, pretty wives still die young, life is still unfair, and people are still creating objects of beauty to beat back the sorrow. If you listen to the teachings and recordings of blues artist and musicologist Taj Mahal, you'll know why he was right to take the name of Shah Jehan's monument to the sublime beauty of loss: The collective body of African American folk music that Mahal studies, from Gullah spirituals to zydeco to Delta blues, is the clearest and most moving expression of heartbreak that modern history has produced. Mahal himself is a wonderful tour guide through this musical legacy, with a voice that goes from lilt to lash to lament and an authenticity on guitar that can instantly transport listeners to any town and any time since the first groaning, creaking slave ships came westward. NATHAN THORNBURGH
MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER CHRISTMAS
(KeyArena) Pity the aging prog-rockers. They are banished, with the obligatory string section, to the Wine and Cheese Circuit (outdoor amphitheaters, tiny wineries, symphony halls) or fated to wander the Elysian Fields of New Age music. Miraculously, Mannheim Steamroller skirted those two dooms with a series of Christmas records that still sell by the truckload today. Unlike their prog-progenitors (Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, et al.), who attracted an audience on the then-underground FM radio stations in the early and mid 1970s, Mannheim Steamroller found fame in hi-fi stores, which used the group's superbly recorded LPs to demonstrate audiophile stereo systems. While other prog-rockers evaporated in the 1980s, the Steamroller released a series of records, which, though titled "Fresh Aire," deftly fused Bach and Brahms to a groovy backbeat. Of course, it's not all schlock: Fresh Aire VI boasts seven seconds of the most glorious polyphony written in the last century. This stuff is noxiously catchy, so take Mom and/or Pop to this one. You'll save yourself the headache of deducing which Messiah to go hear/sing, and get your holiday excursion with the folks out of the way. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI
OXES, THE BUILDING PRESS
(Paradox) In the underrated tradition of the world's most complex, underground instrumental bands such as Hella and its iron-fisted godfather Lightning Bolt, Baltimore's Oxes have clubbed heavy music into a modern, pulpy symphony of artistic hardcore. The band runs on guitars in a devil-skirmish, and drum changes that will knife you in the back if you don't watch it. Or, if you prefer, go to Oxes' website for a description of one of their records: "...like a dragon giving a wizard a blowjob." In 2000, the band's interminable penchant for hilarity culminated in a split 7-inch with Arab on Radar, in which the Arab on Radar side was actually Oxes playing music in the style of Arab on Radar. Unfortunately, so goes the rumor, Arab on Radar didn't think that was so funny--maybe because Oxes' parody was musically better than AOR itself? JULIANNE SHEPHERD
BEACHWOOD SPARKS, LOVE AS LAUGHTER, THE GLANDS
(Graceland) This is a goddamn strong bill, so let's not waste a lot of time extolling the finer points of Beachwood Sparks, whose new record trumps the nostalgic echoes of their last with a whole new language that transcends the band's retro trappings, or Love as Laughter, whose new record rocks every bit as hard as their previous two (though I will always be partial to The Greks Bring Gifts). No. Let's testify to the greatness of the Glands. Arrive early and bear witness to this Athens, GA band's low-slung, harmony-dripping pop. Their record sounds like outtakes from the Beatles' Anthology 2. It's that good. SEAN NELSON
DJ KRUSH, DJ SUSPENCE & K.O.
(I-Spy) See Stranger Suggests.
