OCEAN AGE, LORD HURON, SEA BELL

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) The colorful, daffy sounds of LA's Lord Huron are enough to bring heat to the chilliest winter night, dropping a safari dance party into the middle of Portland's wettest months. Excellent local band Ocean Age also make harmony-rich, inventively lush art-pop, and they'll be previewing brand-new material from their upcoming album. NED LANNAMANN

A complete listing of this week's shows can be viewed here.

Michael Lerner, the voice and reason behind the Merge-signed indie-pop group Telekinesis, just announced via Twitter that he's making the short trip down to Portland to perform some songs in the Ace Hotel lobby between 5 and 6pm this evening. Some of those songs might include tracks off his forthcoming second album 12 Desperate Straight Lines (currently streaming at NPR's First Listen), or recent covers of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" or Devo's "The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprize" he did with newly-recruited Telekinesis band mate Cody Votolato (who also happens to be playing at Beauty Bar tonight at 10pm). Whatever he decides to play, you'll be glad he did.

CRYSTAL BALLROOM 97TH BIRTHDAY: SALLIE FORD AND THE SOUND OUTSIDE, THE PARSON RED HEADS, ELIZABETH COOK, PANCAKE BREAKFAST, & MORE

(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) If there's one place that knows how to throw themselves a party, it's the Crystal! Which is exactly why you should attend the Crystal Ballroom's 97th Birthday Free-for-All, featuring four freaking floors of FREE fun, including musical guests Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside, the Parson Red Heads, Elizabeth Cook, as well as tours, Irish dancing, beer tastings, and... oh jeez, I'm exhausted already! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

NELS CLINE SINGERS, YUKA HONDA

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Nels Cline is a shredder. It may seem a little strange to use a descriptive noun typically reserved for the show-pony rock 'n' roll set on a free-jazz guitarist, but if you've ever seen Cline belt it out with the vocal-free improvisations of his Singers, or if you've caught Wilco since the accomplished axman joined their ranks, then you know the man is a force to be reckoned with—a frenetic master of the fretboard. Cline occasionally forays into less traditional jazz mores, but as an accomplice of Thurston Moore and Mike Watt, Cline can be expected to inject a healthy dose of noise and distortion to the set. Satriani? Malmsteem? Whatever. Nels Cline is a true guitar god.
BRIAN COOK

A complete listing of this week's shows can be viewed here.

8 1/2 DJS: BEYONDADOUBT, LINGER AND QUIET, NATHAN DETROIT, COPY, ZAC ENO, NEW DADZ, SEX LIFE, JEFFREY JERUSALEM

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Dance, mothereffer, dance! Join Holocene and a passel of great DJs (I'm no mathemagician, but there are 8.5 of them to be exact) for this second iteration of the all-star DJ dance party. Wear your glad rags, 'cause tonight you're going to dance 'til you can't dance no more. COURTNEY FERGUSON

TENNIS, DIRTY MITTENS, AIR WAVES

(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article about Tennis.

FORGETTERS, STREET EATERS, SOCIAL GRACES

(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) Read our article about Forgetters.

INTERPOL, SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS

(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) I can distinctly remember the first time I heard Interpol. There was no outcry of Joy Division plagiarism (sorry, dudes, aside from the voice, I'm still not hearing it), no visual component to the band (the suits, the hair, DUDES, WHY THE HAIR?), just the bold, alluring cover of Turn on the Bright Lights and the hypnotic spin of "Untitled" and me at a listening station in the otherwise lifeless University District Cellophane Square (R.I.P.) in Seattle. Musically, it's still a great album, even if it's marred by subsequent revelations of the band's other-than-musical missteps, including what The Stranger's Michaelangelo Matos rightly noted as "the worst lyrics in rock music." Live, Interpol are competent if a little lackluster—or at least they were before Carlos Dengler left. Proceed at your own risk. GRANT BRISSEY

A complete listing of this week's shows can be viewed here.

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THE THERMALS, GUIDANCE COUNSELOR, WAMPIRE

(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) The Thermals continue to employ the ol' work-hard/play-hard philosophy by performing shows at a furious clip and pulling from what seems like an endless bag of three-minute power pop ditties (all while maintaining their girlish figures and boyish good looks). They're a rock 'n' roll machine, in the truest sense. And whether vocalist/guitarist Hutch Harris is lashing out at Bible-thumping neocons or former lovers, it's always couched in a pristine pop melody. While their last two releases have shown a slightly more cuddly side to the trio, live the Thermals are just as hyperactive as they've ever been. Which is why everyone and their mothers go to Thermals shows. That, and they're a fucking blast. Tonight's your chance to give 'em a hot and sweaty sendoff before they head across the pond for a month. MARK LORE

THE GHOST OF A SABER TOOTH TIGER, LAURA GIBSON

(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) Read our article about the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger.

PORTLAND MUSIC AWARDS

(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) I could start on the cover and finish on the back page of this very paper and I'd still not have enough room to make my case against the Portland Music Awards. Here's the heavily abridged version: If you care about Portland music in any form, do not set foot inside the Crystal Ballroom tonight. The Portland Music Awards are an absolute con—there are Nigerian email schemes more trustworthy—masterminded by the clownish voice of failed rag Music Spectator, Craig Marquardo. One-time headliners Smash Mouth (not local) seemed to have vanished from the bill, meaning that even the worst band on the planet was embarrassed to be a part of this atrocity. While some musicians are blinded by the gilded veneer of a possible award for their talents—it's true, being a musician can be tough—the Portland Music Awards are not the answer. Do it because you love it, not for the opportunity to take home a useless trophy from some bullshit award show with zero credibility.
EZRA ACE CARAEFF

GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS, CHAMBERLIN

(Wonder Ballroom, 128 SE Russell) One doesn't really expect Vermont to be a hotbed of musical creativity. The austere and inventive folk reinterpretations of Sam Amidon and Mountain Man aside, the home state of Phish has spawned schools of noodly Phish wannabes, and little else. This theory applies to the Starbucks-groove of fellow Green Mountain Staters Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, a group of classic-rock retreads who look fantastic and sound totally familiar and uninteresting. (Lenny Kravitz fans probably love 'em.) After a few years twirling around the granola-jam circuit, Potter and the Nocturnals have mussed up their hair and glammed up their sound for a shot at the rock 'n' roll brass ring with 2010's self-titled record. At this point I wouldn't bet against them. For something a little more lasting, though, look to openers (and fellow Vermonters) Chamberlin, whose Bitter Blood is a heartfelt, skyscraping, lite-rock effort that's deep in maple-water sincerity and generally sounds fine.
NED LANNAMANN

A complete listing of this week's shows can be viewed here.

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