Friday 11
THE MAE SHI, THE SHOW IS THE RAINBOW A review in the Austinist called LA band The Mae Shi a bunch of “dilettantes” and meant it as a compliment. It’s as fair a summation as any: their latest hit-and-run album, Heartbeeps (5 Rue Christine), is as short (ten songs in just under 16 minutes) as their attention span, but almost every note they hit is golden, or at least glittery. “The Meat of the Inquiry” has a demented bluesy lope, “Spoils of Injury” is shiny new-wave pop, and “Eat the Prize” begins and ends with a guitar riff that reminds me, inexplicably, of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Buck’s Boogie,” but turns into art pop with droning organ along the way. –Monica Kendrick
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Tubby, bearded redhead Darren Keen (aka The Show Is the Rainbow) shouts and coos and prances around onstage until he’s having a full-on panic attack while canned, discordant, fist-pumping tracks blare behind him. Like Gil Mantera’s Party Dream, it’s so ironic it’s almost scary–this shit goes deep. –Liz Armstrong
OHMEGA WATTS Portland MC and producer Ohmega Watts, aka Milton Campbell, combines old-school hip-hop and soulful, jazz-flavored grooves on his debut album, The Find (Ubiquity). He’s adept as both a rapper and a producer, building tracks out of samples of his own live playing, but it’s easy to drift off when the songs on the second half of the album veer into neosoul chill-out territory. Rjd2 headlines, DJ Relm plays third, and Glue plays second. a 9 PM, Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace, 773-478-4408 or 866-468-3401, $20, 18+. –Peter Margasak
Locals SSEEPAGE are a new noise-rock band fronted by Blake Edwards, aka Vertonen, who released a split LP with Nautical Almanac last year; Brent Gutzeit of TV Pow plays bass, though it sounds like he’s using guitar strings, and a gentleman identifying himself only as B., a veteran of a cappella hardcore group Jud Jud, plays drums.
MATISYAHU Matisyahu, known to his mother as Matthew Miller, is the world’s first Hasidic reggae star, but not too long ago the 26-year-old was just a wayward hippie dude who followed Phish on tour. A budding spiritual curiosity led him to Israel and an eventual conversion to Lubavitch Hasidism, the religion that runs through every song on Live at Stubb’s (Or Music), released this spring. The music may seem like a novelty–fiery kabbalistic mysticism preached by a dancehall toaster who occasionally dips into Hebrew and Yiddish–but with his sharp, idiosyncratic vocal style and inspired linguistic flights, Matisyahu sells it completely. A new album is in the works with Bill Laswell producing, which surprisingly makes me more excited than afraid. Pigeon John opens. 7:30 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, 773-549-0203 or 312-559-1212, $19 in advance, $21 at the door. All ages. –Monica Kendrick
