Acrassicauda/Wednesday, July 20
Ari Michelson
Baby, she's got fireworks.
Cock Block Party.
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Members of Iraqi band Acrassicauda have recently begun to express mild irritation that media outlets tend to focus primarily on the story of their life under the terrifying weight of Saddam Hussein's reign rather than on their music. Well, welcome to America, boys. Mind-boggling back stories don't get much more intriguing than this, and thanks to the 2007 Vice magazine–produced documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, most people are going to become aware of the band's work via that sensational conduit. Now that they safely reside in the States and are able to tour, it's up to them to make an impression with their live show. Significantly on their side this evening is the fact that legendary soundman Jim Anderson (of old-school Crocodile fame) will be on the boards at Slim's tonight. With Deathmocracy, Curse the Night. Slim's Last Chance Chili Shack & Watering Hole, 5606 First Ave. S., 762-7900. 9 p.m. $13. HANNAH LEVIN
Katy Perry/Wednesday, July 20
If there's one artist who wholeheartedly embraces pop's cheese factor, it's Katy Perry. The girl has no shame. In one music video from her most recent album, the platinum-selling Teenage Dream, she prances around and leads an army of gummi bears around an imaginary land called Candyfornia; in another she encourages listeners to "boom boom boom/Even brighter than the moon moon moon" while fireworks shoot out of her bra. In one song, she ponders what it'd be like to have sex with an alien; in another she chirps "I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock." Subtle. The catch here is that all these songs have been massive global hits—if her current single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" goes to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100, which it likely will, she will be the first woman in the chart's history—and the second overall, behind Michael Jackson—to score five #1's from one album. Good taste never has factored into history-making. KeyArena, 305 Harrison St., 628-0888. 7:30 p.m. $29.50–$45. All ages. ERIN K. THOMPSON
XV/Wednesday, July 20
Wichita, Kan., rapper XV got his first major buzz after dropping a project called Everybody's Nobody—his 12th mixtape in three years. The see-what-sticks approach (typified by a "40 Days, 40 Nights" series in which he dropped a new song every morning and evening for 40 days) is the hallmark of a blog-rap generation that's already forgotten the next big thing. But you can't say he's not connected with the right beatsmiths and collaborators, and in a world where everyone's an MC, XV has enough heart to make his odds better than most. Joining him on the bill is the even younger, even more hyped Casey Veggies—an L.A. rapper who just recently graduated from high school, and whose ability by this age nods at his greater potential. With Logics. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $15 adv. All ages. NICK FELDMAN
The Foreign Exchange/Thursday, July 21
Phonte Coleman's issues with record labels and with legendary producer and Little Brother collaborator 9th Wonder are no secret. Now fully independent of the former and at peace with the latter, his Grammy-nominated R&B partnership with Dutch producer Nicolay seems to put him in exactly the right place: manning the +FE label and its flagship act. Talking about the name of their most recent record, Dear Friends: An Evening With The Foreign Exchange, Phonte says: "It represented the whole vibe of what me and Nic wanted to make, something intimate like you wanted to just have a few friends over at the house and y'all just sit around and play songs together." Relying increasingly on Coleman's smooth and soulful vocals, The Foreign Exchange continues to grow closer together—in large part due to Nicolay's move to Coleman's native North Carolina—but further from hip-hop. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-7416. 8 p.m. $18. NICK FELDMAN
Kenny Chesney/Friday, July 22
Even though he doesn't live in Florida, Kenny Chesney personifies the Sunshine State. With its Redneck Riviera on the Gulf side juxtaposed with a boozy Caribbean vibe on its oceanic side and a whole lot of strip malls in between, Florida is the barefoot cowboy who'd rather go fishing than break a horse in a pair of Tony Llamas. Florida would rather wear a ripped muscle T and drink daiquiris than set up camp with a case of cheap beer and some wool-lined denim for warmth, and it'd rather bang a South American supermodel than the former 4-H champion with blonde pigtails. These exact descriptions could be applied to Chesney, an unstoppable force of branding who's shrewdly set himself up to inherit Jimmy Buffett's entire fan base once the head Parrot is relegated to the fishbowl-sized Margaritaville in the sky. With Billy Currington, Uncle Kracker. Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma, 253-272-3663. 7 p.m. $25–$79.50. All ages. MIKE SEELY
Jamie Foxx/Friday, July 22
Why ya gotta hate on the mellow R&B of Jamie Foxx? Sure, his music career is at best self-indulgent, but hey, occasionally 50-year-old white ladies want to back that thang up too. Your mom and, good Lord, your grandma love his video for "Blame It" because it's the perfect depiction of their dream nightclub: with velvet ropes that open to a magical world of celebrities they actually recognize and flattering low lights that make them look 40 again, thus plaguing every Christmas hereafter with the story of "their magical night with Richie Cunningham." But mostly these Boniva-poppin' babes love Mr. Foxx because he is handsome, smooth, and full of innuendo, but for some mysterious reason, completely sexually nonthreatening (wink). Tulalip Casino, 10200 Quil Ceda Blvd., Marysville, 360-651-1111. 7 p.m. $70–$125. MA'CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR
