Fun.
Buckle up. Fun.'s takeover of pop radio has just begun. It all started at the beginning of the year, when "We Are Young," the first single from the New York City band's second album, started picking up airplay, thanks in part to a spot on Glee. Days after "We Are Young" aired in a Super Bowl commercial, it rocketed to the top of the charts. Four months later, you can't flip through the radio for five minutes without hearing the song. And now, just as it's starting to dip on iTunes, along comes the second single, "Some Nights" — which is also the name of the album that has another three or four songs waiting for radio saturation. Part Broadway showstopper, part Queen-style art-rock, and part super-nerdy indie rock, Some Nights is one of the year's most surprising hits, especially when you consider that practically nobody besides a handful of pimply geek-rock fans heard the trio's 2009 debut. It's bigger, better, and, yes, a whole bunch of fun. So stop resisting already and give in. — Gallucci
With Now, Now. 8 p.m. Thursday, June 14. House of Blues. Tickets: $20, $17 in advance; call 216-523-2583 or visit houseofblues.com.
Destroyer
Over the past two decades, Dan Bejar has evolved Destroyer from a low-fi folk group to a band that's consistently exploring a range of styles and sounds. Bejar says he and the seven other musicians who make up Destroyer these days are all about bringing up a specific time and place: "We're going for an aging, wine-sloshed, late-night-song feel." Bejar — who's also a member of the New Pornographers — compares his role to a soul singer leading an ace group as it lays down blues-rooted grooves. "Everyone is a pretty bad-ass musician, so we're flying pretty fast and loose," he says. That means songs from the entire Destroyer catalog are being tweaked for the stage. "This band has probably learned twice as many songs as any Destroyer band in the past," says Bejar. "We're playing songs that haven't been played in ages and some that have never been played in the studio. It's nice to assemble a group of people, present the skeleton of something, and see what happens." — Adam Burroughs
With Sandro Perri. 9 p.m. Friday, June 15. Beachland Ballroom. Tickets: $15; call 216-383-1124 or visit beachlandballroom.com.
Brad Paisley
No artist can be all things to all fans, but Brad Paisley comes pretty damn close. His brand of country music is a hybrid of traditionalism, cowboy-hat pop, and gritty Southern rock. He packs his songs with insight, schmaltz, and a wicked sense of humor. And he is, without question, an explosively gifted guitarist. Since his 1999 debut, Who Needs Pictures, he's released nine studio albums, and he holds the record for the most consecutive No. 1 songs —10 to be precise — on the country chart. Paisley has won close to 50 awards from various music organizations, including three Grammys. His backing band, the Drama Kings, has remained mostly the same for the past 13 years. He's been married to a hot actress for nine years, with whom he has two sons. He's appeared as a cartoon version of himself on South Park. And he's a Browns fan. If he gets some free time and cures a disease or two, we're guessing sainthood can't be far behind. — Brian Baker
With the Band Perry and Scotty McCreery. 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 15. Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls. Tickets: $28.50 and $64.25; call 330-920-8040 or visit livenation.com.
Greg Laswell
Greg Laswell has always looked at both the highs and lows with his music. He can capture the brightest moments with an elegant melody, or reveal darker ones with his emotional lyrics. In many ways, the 38-year-old singer-songwriter from San Diego is recording his life's journey with open-diary candor. On his recently released fifth album, Landline, Laswell continues to look at life from all angles on tracks like the sizzling single "Come Back Down" and the slow and intimate "It's Settled Now." If his music sounds a little familiar, it's probably because Laswell's infectious hooks and tender songwriting have graced tons of TV shows over the past decade, including Grey's Anatomy, House, and NCIS. His solemn arrangement of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was even covered on Glee. Onstage, Laswell is earthly and approachable, chatting with fans between songs and cracking jokes. He even asks his openers to join him for a song or two from time to time, inviting even more intimacy. — Ben Gifford
With Elizabeth Ziman. 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16. Beachland Tavern. Tickets: $15, $12 in advance; call 216-383-1124 or visit beachlandballroom.com.
Ceremony
Bay Area hardcore punks Ceremony have been making records for seven years, but they finally nailed that sweet spot between fuck-all noise and an amped-up determination to make some real music on Zoo, their fourth album, which was released earlier this year. There's not a whole lotta subtlety in either the band's shotgun riffs or frontman Ross Farrar's lyrics, most of which are about how much people suck and how he's this close to giving up on humankind altogether. But that's kinda the point. Not too many bands playing around in the genre these days sound as vital as Ceremony. There's an old-fashioned ruggedness to the group's DIY way of doing things — they've slowly worked their way up the indie chain — and the end result: Zoo isn't a pretty record, but it's a lot more accessible than their past efforts. And in turn it's way more direct at selling you its message. Onstage the band still refuses to play any other way than the one it grew up with. That stubbornness takes it to a completely different place. — Michael Gallucci
With White Lung, Homostupids, and Ultra Ultra. 8 p.m. Sunday, June 17. Grog Shop. Tickets: $10; call 216-321-5588 or visit grogshop.gs.
