THURSDAY FEB 6
Bad Boys Jam: 9 p.m. Brothers Lounge.
Alex Bevan/Rachel Brown & the Beatnik Playboys: 7 p.m., $10. Nighttown.
Eclipse Movement: 8 p.m., $10. Musica.
Chris Hatton (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.
Imfromcleveland.com & Dirty Jones present The Shake Up with Nuke Franklin / Brian Baker/Common Ave/Archie Green: 9 p.m., $10. Grog Shop.
Jack of Heart/Mr. California/Royal Blood: 9 p.m., $5. Now That's Class.
Jam Night with Tower City Blues: 8:30 p.m. Grillers Pub.
The Main Squeeze/The MuckleBuck/Acid Cats: There are now so many musical threads that filter into the jam band scene that it's sometimes difficult to parse out an individual band's inspirations. Not that that matters too much, of course. (I mean, on the one hand, we're just here for the music, right?) But the Main Squeeze does a real fine job of making an analysis as multifaceted as possible. The band mashes up funk and soul with zeal, producing a full sound that can morph into an entirely different beast at a moment's notice. Their live show — the main act — has garnered acclaim and excited praise for a while now, riddling tonight's Cleveland appearance with anticipation. They've dropped two stellar albums (2011's First Drops being a terrific primer to the band). There's a bright future ahead for these guys, and the music they've already put out there has had time to develop a full-bodied life on the stage. 9 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. (Eric Sandy),
Spyder Stompers/Rebecca Wohlever: 8 p.m., 8 p.m. Barking Spider Tavern.
FRIDAY FEB 7
Acoustic Basement Tour: Now in its second year, this offshoot of the Warped Tour features punk bands playing unplugged. This particular installment brings Transit, Hit the Lights and Brian Marquis to town. It also includes Newark, Ohio-based Front Porch Step, Jake Mcelfresh's acoustic solo project. The "group" has just released its debut, Aware. Songs such as the title track and "Drown" push Mcelfresh's earnest vocals to the front of the mix. The music has rightly drawn comparisons to Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Saves the Day's Chris Conley. 6:30 p.m., $12 ADV, $14 DOS. Mahall's 20 Lanes. (Jeff Niesel)
A Concert for Open M featuring House Popes/Freez-R-Burn/Brick Road Ramblers/Brian Lisik: 8 p.m., $10. Musica.
Greensky Bluegrass/Tumbleweed Wanderers: 8 p.m., $17 ADV, $20 DOS. Beachland Ballroom.
Hollywood Slim/The Del Rios: 8 p.m. Barking Spider Tavern.
Uncle Leo (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.
G. Love & Special Sauce: Not many of the alt-rock and hip-hop acts that MTV made famous in the '90s are still kicking. G. Love & Special Sauce is the exception. Twenty years ago, the singer-guitarist G. Love and his two-piece band released their self-titled debut and had an instant hit with the woozy blues-meets-hip-hop number "Cold Beverage." In the two decades since that album's release, Love and crew have consistently toured and recorded; they received a good second wind in 2003 when Love and singer-songwriter Jack Johnson collaborated on the Johnson tune "Rodeo Clowns." Love's forthcoming album, Sugar, which will be released on April 22, reunites Love with upright bassist James "Jimi Jazz" Prescott and drummer Jeffrey "The Houseman" Clemens for the first time in eight years. The band will perform its first album, G. Love & Special Sauce, in its entirety during tonight's first set. 9 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. House of Blues. (Niesel)
Macabre: 7 p.m., $10.40. Agora Ballroom.
Mistake by the Lake presents Petrus Fest with Dog Lady Island/Andrew Coltrane/Arlo Zyvo/Moltar/Witchbeam/Fragments/Jason Rodriguez + Stopped Clock/Black Vision: 9 p.m., $10. Now That's Class.
Outlaws I & I/Ras Gato's Gullah Gumbo: 10 p.m., $7. Grog Shop.
Carrie Rodriguez: 8:30 p.m., $20. Nighttown.
Schwartz Brothers: 8:30 p.m., $6. Beachland Tavern.
Soul Music & Other Soul Music for the Soul: 6 p.m., $5. Happy Dog.
Tegan and Sara/Jessica Lea Mayfield: Oasis proved that putting siblings together in a band isn't always a great idea. The Gallagher brothers fought like arch rivals out for blood. Yet for sisters Tegan and Sara Quin, who formed Tegan and Sara nearly 15 years ago, feuding hasn't been part of the equation. "We have our conflicts and debates," says Sara Quin. "We've just learned to manage them with a gentler approach over the years. We were raised to keep our battles private whenever possible and our career is no different. I would be beyond humiliated to air our grievances publicly about one another. We have built thick skin and an array of skills to keep the conflict mostly at bay." It probably helps that the band's popularity continues to escalate. With its latest album, Heartthrob, the group sought to "expand and build" its fanbase, so it opts for a poppier approach and emphasizes the synth-pop side of its sound. That doesn't take away from the band's deeply personal lyrics and terrific vocal harmonies. "Even though this record is more 'produced' sounding, we've always had to dig through very dense compositions in the rehearsal stages," says Quin. "Our records have become cleaner and beefier but even on previous albums there were dozens of great ideas that came together to create the music. It's always a mystery to try and discover which of those ideas need to be there to create the most interesting version of the song live." 8 p.m., $35-$40. Masonic Auditorium. (Niesel)
Velvet Shakedown: 9:30 p.m. Brothers Lounge.
SATURDAY FEB 8
The Black Angels/Roky Erickson & the Hounds of Baskerville/Golden Animals: 8 p.m., $22. Beachland Ballroom.
Blackberry Smoke/Delta Spirit: Last year, the guys in Blackberry Smoke were on a tour that found them switching between arenas and clubs as they alternately opened for Zac Brown Band and headlined their own club dates. Their show at House of Blues was a sellout and the band — Southern rockers who proudly carry on in the tradition of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band — came off as some kind of newfangled version of the Black Crowes as it mixed country, blues and rock into a sonic stew with its own, particularly delectable taste. Tonight's show should be just as thrilling. 8:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $22 DOS. House of Blues. (Niesel)
Hard Day's Night Headlines Kent Beatles Fest: 8 p.m., $15-$18. The Kent Stage.
Adrian Krygowski/Joey Beltram/Oldboy (in the Locker Room): 9 p.m., free. Mahall's 20 Lanes.
Brian Lisik (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.
