8 p.m., $5. Mando Saenz and Sarah Siskind open. From our Critics' Picks:
The Bittersweets build their pop-folk arrangements around the alto of Hannah Prater, who sports a sure-handed, easy sultriness in her lower register and a fragile beauty when shifting to a higher tone. But the trio's new album, Goodnight, San Francisco, eventually reveals that the band's greatest assets are the insightful, conversational lyrics of guitarist Chris Meyers, who has found a lovely delivery system in Prater's voice. Working in their new hometown, the Bittersweets (filled out by drummer, and former Counting Crow, Steve Bowman) enlist impressive collaborators—producer Lex Price, cellist David Henry, bassist Dave Jacques, guitarist Doug Lancio, keyboardist Jason Lehning amd steel guitarist Russ Pahl—for a stylish step forward. In an age of bombast and aggressive posturing, the Bittersweets prefer melody and nuance, coming across like a Fleetwood Mac for modern times. —Michael McCall
