The Get Up Kids/Wednesday, February 2
Joshua Brott
Bassnectar's under there somewhere.
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If you thought you'd outgrown heart-on-your-sleeve, power-chord-laden emo, you probably broke up with the Get Up Kids at least six years ago, right around the time they said they broke up. But one reunion tour, an EP, and a full-length later, the '90s emo heroes are back—now playing with synth and drum machines and grown up far past "Campfire Kansas," "I'll Catch You," and that impossibly chipper cover of The Cure's "Close to Me." Instead, they come back with scuzzy guitar riffs, garage wails, and odd '80s new-wave beats—even if it's not Something to Write Home About, it's a good night to rewind for everyone. With Steel Train, River City Extension.Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442. 7 p.m. $21. All ages. MARY PAULINE DIAZ
Bettye LaVette/Thursday, February 3–Sunday, February 6
"I was singing R&B back in '62, before you were born, and your mama too," Bettye LaVette wailed on 2007's Scene of the Crime. LaVette's four-decade career serves as a master class on pain, perseverance, and refusing to be pigeonholed. Her voice is a precision scalpel that slashes, guts, and reinvents, effortlessly going from spine-tingling to heartbreaking in just a few bars. On her genius 2010 release Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook, she makes Ringo Starr's "It Don't Come Easy" deep, the Moody Blues' "Knights in White Satin" soulful, and ignites the Who's "Love, Reign O'er Me," Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" and McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" to a level almost too beautifully painful to take in. With Jon Cleary. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., 441-9729. 7:30 p.m. $26.50. MA'CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR
The Blow/Friday, February 4
The Blow hasn't released an album of new music since 2006's whimsical and charming Paper Television, so Khaela Maricich isn't on the road to pitch a new record, but "Because the fans demand it!", according to her publicist. The Blow's previous releases—most of them on K Records—are collections of whimsical, charming pop songs. Now they're moving on. "We have cooked the material since the last time we were out," Maricich wrote on her website. "We added a chapter and gave one of the characters a sex change. We are building something here, and anyone who wants to can watch as it grows." One of the added chapters is her collaboration with her girlfriend, installation artist Melissa Dyne. She creates dynamic onstage visuals by swirling together light, sound, and video elements while Maricich, backed by percussion and samples, delivers a few haphazard monologues and sings some old songs and some new—enough to please her current fans and intrigue some new ones. With Sonny Smith. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-7416. 8 p.m. $13. ERIN K. THOMPSON
Sarah McLachlan & Friends/Friday, February 4
Predictability isn't always a bad thing. It's why restaurants have regulars, everyone loves Night Court, and your dad drank Oly stubbies. Sarah McLachlan might be the most predictable recording artist on the planet. Her ballads—they're almost always ballads, barely approaching mid-tempo at their most rambunctious—are emotional, introspective, and ethereal. She's sort of a hyper-ethical eco-mother, the type of individual who could easily be lampooned on Portlandia, even though she calls Vancouver, B.C., home. She's gorgeous, and so is her voice. In fact, she's among the most gifted vocalists in pop history. She'll never be taken for edgy, but is there another person on the planet whom you'd rather have sing you into a virtual rose-petaled bath? (Listen to "I Will Remember You," and the answer won't be no.) She's got her formula, she sticks to it, and the result is a sold-out Paramount. With Butterfly Boucher, Melissa McClelland. Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 682-1414. 8 p.m. Sold out. MIKE SEELY
Scribes/Friday, February 4
When the studio Scribes was recording at was broken into and robbed, everything was stolen—including the master versions of the tracks he'd already laid down. Which is why the young Seattle rapper's second full-length record is fittingly titled What Was Lost. And if the first leak—a monster of a track called "Monster"—is any indication, the record will be worth the extra effort. Scribes is doing it big for his release party with two Grynch-hosted shows—an early, all-ages version featuring support from KnowMads and Kung Foo Grip and a late edition with Super Fire, JFK, and Hush'd Puppies. He says he's never felt so close to death, but with great sacrifice comes great reward. Nectar, 412 N. 36th St., 632-2020. 5 p.m. All ages. 10 p.m. 21 and over. $6. NICK FELDMAN
Bassnectar/Saturday, February 5
Bassnectar, the nom de plume of San Francisco DJ and producer Lorin Ashton, is a mysterious creature. In press photos, you'll rarely see his face, as it's usually covered by his massive mane of scraggly hair, which makes him look like a '60s hippie peacenik. He actually tweets things like "dreams are so amazing . . . I love experiencing an alternative reality." But there's nothing really placid or harmonious about his music: Ashton concocts dubstep beats with sudden, jerking time-signature switches and layers upon layers of rapping and singing samples. His latest release, last year's Wildstyle EP, has a head-banger of a title track—"Wildstyle Method" sounds like a jumbo jet with a cabinful of rowdy, bass-loving DJs taking off from a runway while a little kid chants "Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo." Yeah, it's weird, but it's also completely hypnotizing. With Filastine, Superdre. Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 682-1414. 8 p.m. $25 adv./$27 DOS. All ages. ERIN K. THOMPSON
