Rock Picks: Os Mutantes, Hall and Oates, Bat for Lashes, Davila 666, Maia Sharp

The Pretenders, Cat Power, Juliette Lewis at the Greek Theatre
Tonight you get two great divas for the price of one, along with an opening set by the dilettante musician/actor Juliette Lewis, whose overly mannered Mick Jagger imitations should provide some unintended comic relief, and a distinct contrast with the no-bullshit headliners. (Still, you’ve got to give Lewis some credit for being brave enough to risk comparisons with such iconic singers as Cat Power and Chrissie Hynde.) Power follows with a set of languidly enchanting ballads, blending her gorgeously mournful vocals with Memphis-style soul music. There is a convulsive and cathartic strength to Power’s songs, even as they pierce you deeply with a heartbreaking and bottomless sadness. Hynde is similarly engrossing on such ballads as “The Nothing Maker” and the countrified “One Thing Never Changed,” from the Pretenders’ excellent 2008 CD, Break Up the Concrete (Shangri-La), but she’s equally adept at Dylanish wordplay on an uptempo rocker like “Boots of Chinese Plastic” or when she tells her Samson-like boyfriend, “Don’t Cut Your Hair.” The Pretenders even trip out a little amid the spacy shimmers of the radiantly glowing gem “Almost Perfect,” which is, indeed, almost perfect. (Falling James)

Grant Peterson

Cracked actors: The Warlocks

David Sherry

Tangled up in blue dreams: Bat for Lashes

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Also playing Thursday:

PATTI SMITH at Santa Monica Pier; MIA MAESTRO & A. ROBINSON, BUDDY with IAN BALL, FRANK ORRALL, ANNALIESE at the Hotel Cafe; NICKELBACK, HINDER, PAPA ROACH, SAVING ABEL at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater; LAST AMERICAN BUFFALO, THE OUTLINE, MISSISSIPPI MAN, GET BACK LORETTA at the Bootleg Theater; LILY & THE LADIES at the Echo; ISRAEL VIBRATION, GIANT PANDA GUERILLA DUB SQUAD at the Key Club; COLIN HAY at Largo at the Coronet; TIM EASTON, WAKE UP LUCID, FARAWAY PLACES at the Redwood Bar.