Our Critics' Picks

THURSDAY8/30

Music

THE GO W/ALL WE SEABEES After preceding the garage-rock euphoria by a smidge with 1999’s Whatcha’ Doin’ (which included contributions from one-time bandmate Jack White), The Go suffered through label troubles that delayed their return until the wave had passed. While 2004’s self-titled second album features a terrific glam-inflected garage stomp, it pretty much disappeared without a trace. On the follow-up, Howl on the Haunted BeatYou Ride, the band takes a left turn, forgoing their blazing rock for a tuneful psych-pop amble. Following in the footsteps of late-’60s British Invasion acts like The Kinks and The Zombies, their latest grooves to harmony-abetted melodies and easy-going rock shuffles. Opening are hearty local folk-rockers All We Seabees, whose songs feel as intimate as overheard confessions of guilt between long-illicit lovers. Like The Go, they’ve got a fine sense of melody as well as surprising guile and a graceful shimmy to lighten the step of their loping roots rock. 9 p.m. at The End —CHRIS PARKER

Music

JOE PAGETTA On his new EP Other People’s News, this Brentwood resident and WNPT staffer crafts moody folk-rock that explores different forms of faith. In “Back to the Sea,” an island fisherman wades back into the ocean after a devastating tsunami, while in “Both Be Wrong,” a couple turns to mutual forgiveness as a reason to continue. His songs have a crisp but easygoing sense of purpose, setting acoustic rhythms against melodies that chime with reflective optimism. His outlook is summed up in “Practice Makes Perfect,” where he links guitar pioneer Les Paul, Elvis and Jesus—all visionaries who ignored doubters on the way to extraordinary breakthroughs. Unlike those heroes, Pagetta isn’t out to change the world—he’s happy just helping people to see it in a more humane way. He’ll front a trio featuring bassist Dave Jacques and fellow guitarist Josh Pessar. 8:30 p.m. at Family Wash —MICHAEL McCALL

Music

PAT BENATAR W/LENNON The ’80s featured more than its share of tough rock chicks, but only the opera-trained Benatar consistently went multi-platinum and crossed over to the pop charts. By blending a punk-inspired look with simple-as-can-be pop-metal arrangements, she rose to fame with tough-girl anthems like “Heartbreaker” and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” before graduating to social-commentary tunes like “Love Is a Battlefield.” Her multi-octave voice, still a thing of wonder at age 54, gave personality and punch to the one-dimensional songs of her husband, guitarist Neil Geraldo, and keeps them in rotation on classic-rock radio. Although she’s continued to record, expect the set to concentrate on familiar oldies. Opening is former Hendersonville resident Lennon Murphy—who records under her first name—and whose ferocious hard rock stomp gains complexity from the lyrical depth of her songs. 7 p.m. at Wildhorse Saloon—MICHAEL McCALL

FRIDAY 8/31

Music

THE RENTALS After spending three years in Leiper’s Fork, Tenn., making a self-titled solo album that was only supposed to take a couple weeks, Rentals frontman Matt Sharp thought he might like some bandmates to keep him on task. Unlike the last incarnation of these catchy power-pop mavens, Sharp’s replaced the revolving door lineup with a steady band. Last month, they ended an eight-year recording hiatus with the release of The Last Little Life EP. All four songs reprise those winning Rentals elements: infectious melodies, plucky new-wave keyboards, touches of strings and great boy/girl backing vocals and harmonies. The highlight is a bubbly, self-deprecatory number in which Sharp bemoans all his worldly ambitions, short-circuited by a “date with procrastination” and the fortune to have gotten a “Life Without a Brain.” If indeed it’s autobiographical, the supple warmth of this EP is enough to forgive Sharp’s sins, so long as a full-length is forthcoming. 7 p.m. at City Hall. —CHRIS PARKER

Music

THE BLASTERSAlong with X and Los Lobos, these working-class barnburners gave the Los Angeles punk rock scene of the early ’80s a credible grounding in American roots music. A propulsive live band, The Blasters drew deeper than their peers on rockabilly and jump blues. Singer Phil Alvin’s exaggerated bravado fit the band’s concise yet swaggering sound perfectly. The lineup has continually evolved over the years—the departure of guitarist and songwriter Dave Alvin still matters most—but the band’s rep and deep catalog always attract top trad-rock players. That’s certainly the case now with John Bazz on bass, Jerry Angel on drums and Keith Wyatt on guitar. Their intermittent tours rarely reach Nashville, but few bands coming to town understand and respect the city’s music history as much as these guys. 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —MICHAEL McCALL

Shades of Black Theatre Festival

CRYIN‘ SHAME The first scheduled production in this local fest is Nairobi Cafe Theatre’s exploration of life in the ’hood at a hole-in-the-wall convenience store, where the proprietor runs a numbers racket. Local boyz come and go, exposing us to the weightier issues that affect their lives, including prison, rape, cancer, violence, drugs and more. Javon Johnson’s script is a talky piece, more about character than plot, though dramatic things certainly happen along the way. Director Stella Reed gives her players a wide berth in working the histrionics. The results are mixed, but there are patches of power in the performances of Kenny Dozier, Rodrikus Springfield and Rashad Rayford. A precocious youngster, Jordan James Woodard also proves to be remarkably poised. Through Sept. 2 at Darkhorse Theater —MARTIN BRADY