Otoboke Beaver with Drinking Boys and Girls Choir and Scrunchies @ First Avenue—These four hyper-stylish Japanese women blew my damn mind when they played the Fine Line last February, and here they are again barely a year later in a bigger room—let’s hope this becomes an annual late-winter tradition. Excuse me for quoting myself: “Otoboke Beaver frolic with the collective ferocity you can only harness when you know, you just know, that what’s best in life is to be way cooler than the losers you hate,” I wrote in my review, and that’s just a hint of what their thrashy noise-punk does. Their lyrics and song titles are a giddy bilingual mess; here’s a bit of the translated Japanese lyrics to the English-titled “I Am Not Maternal”: “Having let my parents meet their grandkid/Their grandkid, their grandkid/I immediately put it back in my belly." My only regret is that I couldn’t see as much of drummer Kahokiss as I should have. (Look. At. Her.) Learn from my mistake and get there early to secure a good spot. As a bonus you’ll also get to catch the openers, Korea’s fun-as-hell Drinking Boys and Girls Choir and great local punks Scrunchies.

Black Widows (Residency) with Rabeca, ELOUR, and burlesque by Kalico de Vil & Sundae Moanin @ Hook and Ladder

Derecho Rhythm Section @ Icehouse

Ticket to Brasil Quintet @ KJ's Hideaway

Dirty Lowdown Fools @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Throwback Thursdays with DJ Bootsy Ballins @ Palmer's

Gaelic Storm and the High Kings @ Pantages Theatre

Beth Orton with Pneumatic Tubes @ The Parkway

Nomadic Playground @ ROK Music Lounge

Scent Reality, Moy Dukksen @ Schooner Tavern

Marielle Kraft with Noah Derksen and Daphne Jane @ 7th St Entry

Team Bad Decision @ Studio B

Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club

A Killer's Confession with Mike's Dead and Odds of an Afterthought @ Turf Club

American Muscle, Mullet, Dummy, Neo Neo's @ White Rock Lounge

The Monday Club @ White Squirrel

Selfish Teammate with Stressica, The Controversial New ‘Skinny Pill’, VISA カード@ White Squirrel

Friday, March 8

Biggie Tribute Party @ Acadia

Odetari @ Amsterdam

Excision Night 1 @ Armory

Art Vandalay with Scott Zosel @ Aster Cafe

Andrew Broder @ Berlin

Trailer Trash @ Bunkers

Sharita @ Caydence Records & Coffee

The Boot, the Silverteens, Speed Riders @ Cloudland

Songs of Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, and Regina Spektor @ Crooners

Maggie's Afterglow: Katie Gearty and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

The Finalists: Jesse Larson, Nicholas David, Audra McLaughlin, Terry McDermott @ Crooners

Chastity Brown with The Laurels String Quartet @ Dakota

Lars Nelson Band, Mildly Human @ Driftwood

Swingin' on a Star + Miss Shannon's Dance Lessons @ Eagles 34

Mechanix @ Eagles 34

Hall of Mirrors @ Eagles 34

Cherry Glazerr with Wombo @ Fine Line

Two Door Cinema Club with Joywave @ First Avenue

TJ Plenke and John Seymour @ Ginkgo

Power Up! Women’s Day Music Fest @ Hook and Ladder

Liz Draper @ Icehouse

Grass House @ Icehouse

Chris Hepola and House on Fire @ Jazz Central

Trevor McSpadden @ KJ's Hideaway

Chad Johnson and the MN-T’s @ KJ's Hideaway

JVNA Live @ The Loft

The R Factor Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe

OG Zaza @ Modist Brewing

Jesse Uribe @ Myth Live

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 @ Orchestra Hall

SPCO: Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings @ Ordway

Jenny Lewis with Hayden Pedigo @ Palace Theatre—Last month the Minnesota Daily’s Sommer Wagen profiled three “non-men” local music acts, focusing on how one band in particular, pop-punk heavyweights Paramore, influenced them all. I’m betting you could write a similar piece about the profound influence of Jenny Lewis, the Rilo Kiley frontwoman/solo artist whose crystalline voice and elite songwriting have surely impacted multiple generations of indie musicians. And here’s the thing: Lewis, 48, remains as artistically vital as ever. A former child actor who enjoyed critical plaudits (in addition to gross salivating) from the earliest days of her music career, Lewis now has a five-album solo discography that matches the output of her indie-rock band from 1999 to 2007. The latest release, last year’s Joy'All, is the weakest of the bunch, but that’s not saying much; the breezy, Beck-inspired LP still boasts a handful of classic tracks like “Psychos” and “Cherry Baby.” This woman’s hit rate is simply staggering.—Jay Boller

Sparrowhawk, Lifestyle Shakes and Mean Magic @ Palmer's

Dervish @ The Parkway

Witness Chamber, Apex Predator, Slug @ Pilllar Forum

Littleton, Radiator Girl, Pearl Parkway, Carcetti @ ROK Music Lounge

Hurricane Harold's All Star Revue @ Schooner Tavern

Tropidelic with Ubi of Ces Cru and The Palmer Squares @ 7th St Entry

Chill Time @ Terminal Bar

The Gentlemen's Anti-Temperance League @ 331 Club

Top House @ Turf Club

The Dollyrots with Gymshorts, Surly Grrly, DJ WRRC @ Uptown VFW

Twin Temple @ Varsity Theater

Volant @ White Rock Lounge

Loser Magnet with No Tagbacks, Linus @ White Squirrel

Saturday, March 9

Fanny Pack! A Burlesque & Variety Show @ Amsterdam

Excision Night 2 @ Armory

The High 48's Bluegrass Brunch @ Aster Cafe

Two Harbors @ Aster Cafe

Dave King @ Berlin

Chase & Ovation @ Bunkers

Solid Air @ Caydence Records & Coffee

Baharat with Robin Hood Was Right and Eslicky Ricardo @ Cedar Cultural Center

Boy Dirt Car, Necroviolence, Ice Climber, Shadow on Glass @ Cloudland

Shabby Road Orchestra @ Crooners

Arne Fogel @ Crooners

Maggie's Afterglow: Katie Gearty and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

David Cook @ Dakota

Rock U Winter Showcase, Noslo @ Driftwood

Unattractive Giant Monster, Shrimp Olympics, and Marsgarb @ Dusty's

Blank Human, Morp Gorp, and New Age Karen @ Eagles 34

Eternal Juke @ Eagles 34

NC Kenny Elementary Fundraiser @ Eagles 34

Ministry @ Fillmore

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades with Henhouse Prowlers @ Fine Line

Ricky Montgomery with Noah Floersch @ First Avenue

Back To 1957: A Celebration of Ghanaian Independence @ Granada

Twiztid with Blaze and ABK @ Green Room

Buffalo Galaxy, Dang Ol Tri’ole (Double Album Release) @ Hook and Ladder

Hipshaker MPLS @ Hook and Ladder

Potential New Boyfriend @ Icehouse

Lamont Landers @ Icehouse

Tanner Taylor @ Jazz Central

Jessie Street Band @ KJ's Hideaway

Will Schmid Quartet with Henry Berberi Trio @ KJ's Hideaway

NOTD @ The Loft

The Good, the Bad, the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ Kwey @ Modist Brewing

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 @ Orchestra Hall

SPCO: Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings @ Ordway

RAGEFUTURE CHROME with DJ Nanobyte, Bigg Kiaa, Yare, Rick So Breezy, Thomas C. Gorton and Chase Vibe @ Palmer's

A Sunken Ship Irony @ Pilllar Forum

Tiny Daggers, Nothing to Do., Speakeazie, Adult Video @ ROK Music Lounge

Crooked Dice @ Schooner Tavern

Mary Timony with youbet @ 7th St Entry—Timony is one of those musicians who prefers to create as part of a band: Throughout the '90s with Helium, and in the '10s with Wild Flag and then Ex Hex, she has sought out group contexts for her husky voice and ingenious guitar work. In fact, her new solo album, Untame the Tiger, is only her fourth in a 30-year career, and her first in nearly twenty. It came about under dire circumstances—she'd been caring for her parents and both died while she was recording this album, and the lyrics (for instance, “A brand-new day, it still hurts like hell”) can be predictably distraught. Yet as always Timony maintains a thoughtful distance from the words she sings, so that rather than expressing what she feels, she seems to be pondering her emotions.

Jamie Quinn / Destroy the Planet @ Terminal Bar

Voltage Controller @ 331 Club

Jarad Miles & the Ancient Waves, Pleasure Horse, Wish Wash @ 331 Club

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears with Shane Guerrette @ Turf Club

Venturer, Barnacle, and Rigby @ Underground Music Venue

Chase Matthew @ Uptown Theater

Malamanya @ Uptown VFW

Tornillo @ Varsity

Martin Devaney, Lucy Michelle @ White Squirrel

J-Mo On the Beat & the J-Lighters with The Grieving Pines, Johanna Mathews @ White Squirrel

Comets ov Cupid @ Zhora Darling

Sunday, March 10

Kolton Moore & The Clever Few with Jordan Nix @ Amsterdam

Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Dave Power’s March Madness: Nelson Devereaux Trio with Kevin Gamble @ Berlin

Dr. Mambo’s Combo @ Bunkers

Mary Gauthier with Jaimee Harris @ Cedar Cultural Center—Addicts like to tell themselves (and anyone who’ll buy the next round or share the needle) that substance abuse fuels their creativity, but the career of Mary Gauthier, which only got underway after she got clean, is closer to the truth. And as proof that self-knowledge can’t be rushed, it took 15 years of sobriety before her breakthrough album, Mercy Now, truly captured what it was like before for her and what happened to make her life better. Gauthier got a bit writerly in subsequent years, as much-praised lyricists will do, but then she released the bracing Rifles & Rosary Beads, a collaboration with Iraq War vets and their families, which transcended the writing exercise it began as. Gauthier’s most recent, Dark Enough to See the Stars, is a straightforward collection of love songs and mourning songs. “You’re my girl/In this broken heart, fall apart world,” she sings on the lead track to her partner, singer-songwriter Jaimee Harris, who not only harmonizes there but will be opening tonight.

Lutheran Heat, Sidewalk Diamonds, DJ Nato Coles @ Cloudland

The Tanner Taylor Trio @ Crooners

The Big 70s Singalong @ Crooners

Tab Benoit @ Dakota

Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood

Blue Canyon @ Eagles 34

Robinson Roundup @ Eagles 34

TC Ramblers @ Eagles 34

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

KOYO, One Step Closer and Anxious with Life’s Question @ Fine Line

Music of Taylor Swift + More for Kids with Bri & The Antiheroes @ First Avenue

Services (Album Release) with Killed By Kiwis, Emily Rhea, and True Lust @ Green Room

Red Hot Django Peppers @ Icehouse

Mayyadda + Vie Boheme @ Icehouse

Kevin Burt & Big Medicine Feat. Ken Valdez with Erin McCawleys’ Harrison St. Band @ KJ's Hideaway

SPCO: Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings @ Ordway

Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's

Mystery House with Chris Hepola and the Real Chuck Norad @ Palmer's

Sherwin & Pam Linton and The Cotton Kings @ The Parkway

Music Jam @ Schooner Tavern

The Snuts with The Dalmatian Club @ 7th St Entry

Emmy Woods & The Red Pine Ramblers @ 331 Club

The Surfrajettes with The McCharmlys @ Turf Club

Your Arms Are My Cocoon @ Underground Music Venue

Intervals and Hail the Sun @ Varsity

Jeff Ray & Phil Heywood @ White Squirrel

St. Paul Songwriter Rounds @ White Squirrel

Monday, March 11

Only Every Monday @ Acadia

More Light + Digital Parts @ Berlin

Tab Benoit @ Dakota

Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34

Other Country Ensemble @ Eagles 34

Square Dancing @ Eagles 34

Wayne Hancock @ Hook and Ladder

Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s

DJ Brian Engel @ Palmer's

Powfu with Cody Lawless and Jomie @ 7th St Entry

Open Mic @ Terminal Bar

The Eclectics @ 331 Club

Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club

Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club

Laetitia Sadier with Susan James @ Turf Club—Former Stereolabber Sadier's fifth solo album, Rooting for Love, doesn't accentuate her distance from her old band; instead she follows its various stylistic dabblings (fromage-pop, krautrock, and other Euro delicacies) in personal directions. As always, Sadier's polite vocals tiptoe through such ornate melodies you can miss the dark lyrics underneath if you don't listen up (or parlez-vous)—in "You Belong to Me," for instance, it sounds like a brutish husband, jealous of his wife's professional standing, decides to slap her around.

Out4Blood @ White Rock Lounge

Mumblin’ Drew’s Oldfangled Orchestrators Monthly Residency @ White Squirrel