FRIDAY, NOV. 6
Sun Ra Arkestra
It’s been more than 20 years since jazz pioneer Sun Ra departed this plane, but his Arkestra plays on. True to form, the ensemble remains a fluid project as lineup changes are the group’s only constant. The as-yet-uninitiated should pick up this year’s Live at Babylon, a sterling collection of mostly Ra-penned classics performed under the direction of Marshall Allen. It’s a tightly crafted set, anchored at points by the mind-bending “Ra #2” and exotic space lounge trip of “Satellites are Spinning,” along with the rest of the disc’s high-water marks. The Arkestra is still swinging, but it’s not like they show up in Cleveland everyday. Go check them out. (Eric Sandy), 8 p.m., $22 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.
Fuse TV Presents: Big Freedia Bounce Shakedown 2015
Has one truly lived prior to attending a Big Freedia show? It’s a question we ponder daily during our editorial meetings. The answer is a resounding hell naw. Big Freedia, the Queen Diva, helped popularize New Orleans bounce music, which pairs fast-paced, hip-hop-stylized beats against call-and-response lyrics. Check out some of her iconic joints, like “Excuse” and “Y’all Get Back Now.” If you aren’t shaking your ass on the twos and fours, then you’re doing it wrong and will be chastised publicly for such. Let Freedia do what she do. Listen, we caught her show a few years ago, and it’s just one big party. Bounce music is pretty easy and fun to get into; all you’ve got to do is dance. Azz everywhere. (Sandy), 8:05 p.m., $20. House of Blues Cambridge Room.
SATURDAY, NOV. 7
Lydia Loveless
Like any kid who grew up in the '90s, singer-songwriter Lydia Loveless was fed a steady diet of commercial radio and MTV. She eventually gravitated toward what she calls "that horrible pop-punk wave" of the early 2000s. But after she moved to Columbus, she began to embrace a different style of music that was much grittier than the pop-punk that was popular at the time. Since then, she's blossomed into an alt-country sensation with the potential to achieve the popularity of someone like Neko Case. (Niesel) 9 p.m., $12. Musica.
Shooter Sharp & The Shootouts
A dynamic figure out of Akron-Canton’s music scene, Ryan Humbert announced the formation of a new band recently with fellow musicians Brian Poston, Dan Nauss and Dylan Gomez. Shooter Sharp and the Shootouts come up to Cleveland tonight to delight with their classic-country, honky-tonk ways. As Humbert explains on Facebook, he and the band “will blaze through classic tunes from Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb, Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Willie Nelson and many, many more.” Sounds great to us! Humbert has garnered a nice amount of acclaim around these parts for his Nashville-influenced rock ‘n’ roll chops. (Eric Sandy)9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog.
SUNDAY, NOV. 8
GWAR
For 30 years now, those galactic "Scumdogs" known as GWAR have been touring the planet, making the most of a mythology that they've created about their origins as aliens from outer space. For live shows, they don elaborate outfits that make them look like they stepped out of that cantina scene in Star Wars, and they proceed to splatter the audience with fake blood. The band was dealt a serious blow when its leader Oderus Urungus died earlier this year, leaving the group without any of its founding members. And yet, the band has successfully regrouped to take the show back on the road. 7 p.m., $19 ADV, $24 DOS. The Agora Theatre.
Nikki Lane
Singer-songwriter Nikki Lane, who’s just completed tours with Shakey Graves, Jenny Lewis and Social Distortion, raised eyebrows last year with All or Nothin’, a terrific collection of twangy tunes produced by Black Keys’ singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach. The album made several “Best of 2014” lists when it came out last year. New West Records even released a 19-track deluxe version of the record, which includes the previously unreleased “Can’t Get Enough.” Thanks to the success of the album, Lane has quickly been crowned "The First Lady of Outlaw Country." She certainly deserves the title, even though her musical tastes are really quite eclectic. 8:30 p.m., $15. Beachland Tavern.
Rock n Roll to the Rescue
Earlier this year, Howard Perl, CEO of Howard Perl Productions, brought rock icon Chubby Checker to town for Rock & Roll to the Rescue, a benefit concert at Hard Rock Live. He’s just announced that classic rocker Eddie Money will headline Rock & Roll to the Rescue (Part 2). The event will benefit Geauga Humane Society’s Rescue Village and is the first Rocksino appearance for Money, a guy who regularly plays Cleveland and often talks about how much he loves Northeast Ohio, one of the first regions in the country to embrace his music. Rescue Village, the beneficiary of the evening, also offers VIP passes in exchange for donations online at rescueconcert.com. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. (Niesel). Hard Rock Rocksino.
The Saddest Landscape
Threading the strains of early-2000s emo through the post-hardcore needle, The Saddest Landscape holds a great under-the-radar position in multiple scenes. The band’s latest, Darkness Forgives, is a headbanging trip through their namesake. These are fast, pulsing journal entries from alienated minds. In tunes like “Souls Worth Saving,” singer Kyle Durfey spits his frustration through the speakers and waxes wrothful in rhyme. It’s either the perfect antidote or the most troublesome remedy for a bad day. We’ve all got demons; TSL just makes ‘em sound thrilling. (Sandy), 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Mahall's 20 Lanes.
