Friday7
ChaperoneWeezer
Saturday8
Samuel Blaser & Bobby AveyPieta BrownVulgar BoatmenWeezer
Sunday9
Agogic
Monday10
Distractions
Wednesday12
GenerationalsHouses
WEEZER Future pop historians may discover that Weezer’s late-career Horrible Period, defined by egregious Dr. Luke-isms and brutally inane lyrics, was just Rivers Cuomo pulling a perverse prank on fans who expected him to carry on as a power-pop auteur and not become the creepy, older, male Avril Lavigne. (His line about “messing with the journalists”—from the awful “Memories,” on Weezer’s awful Epitaph debut, Hurley—could be a clue.) The group’s decision to climb aboard the “classic albums played in their entirety” bandwagon and tour behind its first two records represents either an unspoken truce with long-suffering Classic Weezer diehards or a crass cash-in, but it kind of doesn’t matter which. The near perfection of both the “Blue Album” and Pinkerton has resulted in their elevation to respectable positions in the rock canon, where they’re safe from Cuomo’s hijinks. Tonight’s set will include the former from top to bottom; see also Saturday. 7:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 1106 W. Lawrence, 773-561-9500 or 866-448-7849, sold out. —Miles Raymer
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SAMUEL BLASER & BOBBY AVEY Swiss-born trombonist Samuel Blaser, who studied in New York and now lives in Berlin, doesn’t use the brawny, raucous sound most people associate with his horn. His tone is smooth, almost serene, and his improvisations are fastidiously precise—but this restraint and control doesn’t mean he plays it safe, and his sound is far from conventional. He can reference the spectral trombone multiphonics pioneered by Albert Mangelsdorff, but he’s not ostentatious about it—instead the technique serves the elaborate development of his melodies as just another tool. On the 2009 quartet album Pieces of Old Sky (Clean Feed), he and guitarist Todd Neufeld form a wonderfully loose front line that seems to pivot to approach Blaser’s simple, elegant themes from multiple angles, while bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Tyshawn Sorey support their patient explorations with a taut but airy net of rhythms. On this year’s Vol a Voile (Intakt), a duet with Swiss drummer Pierre Favre, Blaser demonstrates a rapport even more intense than the one he has with Neufeld, masterfully drawing out the lyricism in Favre’s richly considered tom patterns. For his Chicago debut, Blaser performs duets with young pianist Bobby Avey, who made his recorded debut on the 2006 album Vienna Dialogues (Zoho) as the handpicked partner of one of his mentors, saxophonist David Liebman. Liebman also appears on Avey’s impressive debut, A New Face (JayDell), whose bracing postbop balances a broad romantic streak against angular melodic shapes and jagged rhythms. Bass clarinetist Jason Stein headlines with a trio that also features keyboardist Jim Baker and drummer Charles Rumback. 10 PM, Heaven Gallery, 1550 N. Milwaukee, second floor, heavengallery.com, donation requested. —Peter Margasak
PIETA BROWN Languid and sublime, Pieta Brown‘s One and All (Red House) is the Iowa-born singer’s supposed breakthrough album, but whether or not it ever actually breaks through to somewhere or something, it’s the purest, most perfect version of her work yet. Brown, daughter of folk musician Greg Brown, ambles along the verge of country, and though she never does more than toy with the genre—using fine instrumental details like, say, a touch of lap steel—its loneliness comes through clearly. Her sweet, breathy voice carries shades of her stepmother, Iris DeMent, and of Rickie Lee Jones at her most focused, and the songs float over and around it—making the record feel like a gentle, ephemeral dream. Musikanto opens. 8 PM, SPACE, 1245 Chicago, Evanston, 847-492-8860, $15, $12 in advance. —Jessica Hopper
DISTRACTIONS Local indie-rock outfit Distractions has come up with a great sound, made from roughly equal parts classic psychedelic pop, hazy garage rock, and tweaky lo-fi experimentation. Having accomplished that, this brainchild of local singer-songwriter Tom Owens needs to figure out what to do with it. The band seems content to let the music meander as it pleases, and while this works as a strength when it brings to mind the addled discursions of some of underground rock’s most cherished four-track weirdos, more often than not it’s just frustrating. “We Were Better Off in the Rain,” from an upcoming single on Two Syllable Records, seems like a really nice middle-eight bridge searching for a song to partner with, but it’s just left wandering in circles. Sleeping in the Aviary headlines; Nothingheads and Distractions open. 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600. —Miles Raymer
HOUSES Chicago duo Houses formed in May and dropped their debut record, All Night (Lefse), in October; they made their live debut at CMJ in New York the day after the release, and now, almost three months later, they’re finally playing their first hometown show. Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Dexter Tortoriello and vocalist Megan Messina keep things simple onstage, augmenting their singing with a melodica, a tambourine, a MIDI keyboard controller, and a couple MacBooks. It’s not a lot to look at, but Houses have never been about overwhelming their audiences—as All Night makes clear, their music is about creating an inviting atmosphere from lush, airy electronic melodies, hypnotic beats, and the softly cooed vocal harmonies of a lovestruck young couple. With help from visual artist Alan Jensen, whose dreamy video projections will provide a backdrop to the band’s live set, Houses should make Lincoln Hall feel at least a little bit warmer. Helio Sequence headlines; Sun Airway, Houses, and California Wives open. This show is part of Tomorrow Never Knows. 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, 773-525-2501, $15, 18+. —Leor Galil
