Music
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New Kids on the Block In third grade, my “girlfriend” brought a New Kids on the Block doll to school, and I remember becoming very, very jealous of it. I thought I was over it until I reached my teenage goth phase and saw the “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” music video. In the clip, singer Jordan Knight is wearing the sickest, gothiest Bauhaus shirt I’d ever seen. I’m still brooding with envy. Only New Kids on the Block can reawaken third-grade jealousies and make them linger into adulthood. With TLC and Nelly. All ages. WARREN LANGFORD Tacoma Dome, 2727 E D St, Tacoma, WA 98421 $55-$160 (children under 2 get in free) Wednesday, May 6, 2015, 7pm
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Rainbows Paurl Walsh (X-Ray Press, Degenerate Art) and Max Stein (Wild Ones, PWRHAUS) joined forces to create the pretty robot rock that is Rainbows. I imagine the local band’s origin story involves Walsh and Stein pillaging Value Village for children’s drum-machine toys to build their kit, coveting ones with dying batteries for that extra added warble. Sprinkle in some humorous song titles (“Gnar Gnar Binks,” “Hungry Hungry Hemoglobin”) and you’ve got magic. With Hautahuah, Noonmoon. 21 and over. DIANA M. LE Vermillion Art Gallery & Bar, 1508 11th Ave. Donation Wednesday, May 6, 2015, 7:30pm
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They Might Be Giants After 33 years together, TMBG remains a quintessential cult band that never made it big (and perhaps never sought such fame). John Flansburgh and John Linnell have had flashes of commercial success, like “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” “Boss of Me” (which became the opening theme to Malcolm in the Middle), and the Austin Powers theme song “Dr. Evil,” but who needs the the mainstream? Two guys with two million quirky song ideas, Flansburgh and Linnell always been slaves to their own whimsy-rather than the marketplace. Deploying their angular, power-pop nerd-rock sound, they’ve made albums for kids, albums about concert venues, and albums about science. This year the band revived its Dial-A-Song concept, releasing one song a week via dialasong.com (rather than the old telephone-answering machine of the ‘80s). Their new album, Glean, released last month, documents the first several weeks of new songs, with two more albums slated to follow. Tonight the duo will play two full sets of music, with no opening act. That means the faithful will be rewarded with both new tracks and old favorites dating back to the vinyl era when TMBG got its Brooklyn start. DAVE LAKE The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., Seattle, WA 98105 $27 and up. Thursday, May 7, 2015, 8pm
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14th Annual More Music with Sheila E. Sheila E. joins as Music Director during this celebration of the 14th year of this youth music program. The Moore, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98101 $15 Friday, May 8, 2015, 6:30pm
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Jupe Jupe You know that plane of good but generic alt/indie rock where every band sounds like the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and Coldplay combined? That’s where Jupe Jupe exists. There’s nothing actually wrong with the music, which probably lends it mass appeal. It also makes for a perfect live show-it’s catchy, it’s conducive to wriggling, and they play their instruments well. With the Gods Themselves, Ssnackss, Reptilian Children. 21 and over. DML Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave., Seattle WA $8 Friday, May 8, 2015, 9pm
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Katie Kate Do you ever wish The Knife would stop and rap for a while? “No, that sounds yucky!” Au contraire, Katie Kate seems to have stumbled upon the best method to bridge these styles (synth-pop and hip-hop) and the results are not nearly as awkward as you’re imagining. In reality, though, her tunes aren’t all just The Knife with rapping; they veer all over the place. Sometimes she’s rapping, sometimes she’s just singing, sometimes she plays guitar, and it’s all awesome anyway you slice it. With Erik Blood and Aeon Fux. 21 and over. WL Lo-Fi Performance Gallery, 429 Eastlake Ave., Seattle, WA 98109 $8 Friday, May 8, 2015, 9pm
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Pleather Pleather is a brand-spankin’-new band featuring Claire Nelson, a talented Seattle shredder who lent her bass-plucking skills to local DIY punk lords FF, and Andrew McKibben, the long-haired founder of one of this city’s best independent record labels, Couple Skate, as well as of the Northwest lo-fi-worshipping trio M. Women. This will be the band’s very first show, so you can say you were there when it alllll started at the future Seattle premiere of the harrowing rock-doc Montage of Pleather, out in 2035. With Chastity Belt, Mommy Long Legs. All ages. KELTON SEARS Cairo, 507 E. Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98102 $10 (presale tickets only) Saturday, May 9, 2015, 8pm
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Mandate “Remember when you liked Sonic Youth?” asks Mandate, the brand-new multimedia experience brought to us by local punk/video artist extraordinaire Clyde Petersen as part of Translations, the Seattle Trans Film Festival. While my interest is piqued by Petersen/the whole concept (this live musical performance is in a movie theater, mind you), invoking Sonic Youth in any era seems a bit dubious. Not for lack of trying, my Sonic Youth heyday was brief to say the least. That aside, I’m still curious-this is bound to be a spectacle. Also, it “contains adult themes and imagery,” so that’s definitely a plus. All ages. WL Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15 Saturday, May 9, 2015, 9:30pm
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Childbirth I love a good jokey punk band-especially if that band is Childbirth and has a serious feminist vagenda. And why can’t talking about menopause be fun? I also have a deep respect for any band who unironically enjoys and projects episodes of Pretty Little Liars behind them onstage. With Mommy Long Legs, the Dee Dees, Listen Lady. 21 and over. DML Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., Seattle, WA 98122 $5 Sunday, May 10, 2015, 3pm
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Harry and the Potters Snape’s alive! Just kidding, he’s dead, but Harry and the Potters are alive, and their musical incantations will have you J.K. LOLing and J.K. RAWKing all the way to Gringotts. Myself? I’ve read none of the books and enjoyed all but one of the movies. If you must know, it was Harry Potter and the Time-Traveling Werewolf Man. Listen, any band themed on a children’s book series featuring volumes way longer than any of the adult books I’ve ever read has my utmost support and well-wishes. Dumbledon’t miss this. All ages. WL The Vera Project, 305 Harrison St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $10 Sunday, May 10, 2015, 6pm
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Neil Diamond When he tells you you’ll be a woman soon, you’ll be a woman soon. When he says Caroline is sweet, you sing along in agreement. When he declares that he’s coming to America, you travel with him. His name is Diamond, but you already knew that. Tonight, the legendary crooner-74 years young-will pack the Key with a very particular demo: women from the baby boom (second husbands, boyfriends, and perhaps their daughters reluctantly in tow), raised on jukebox pop and AM radio, their ears transporting them back to teenhood at the first few bars of “Cherry, Cherry.” The man got his start penning songs in the Brill Building and placed early hits on The Monkees. He’s a part of musical and pop-cultural history, a complete egotist and ham, and utterly beloved by his fans. Lower Queen Anne will be ablaze with rhinestones tonight, and the tip jars will be full at Keys on Main during the preshow festivities. T. BOND KeyArena (Seattle Center), 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 $61 and up. Sunday, May 10, 2015, 8pm
