Music Picks: Diana Krall, Concrete Blonde, Herbie Hancock

Concrete Blonde

TROUBADOUR

PHOTO BY RAZOR & TIE

Casino Madrid: See Thursday.

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLLINS

The Woolly Bandits: See Saturday.

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Singer/bassist Johnette Napolitano and guitarist James Mankey's Concrete Blonde have been carrying the post-punk/alt-rock torch since the early '80s. Always a critics' fave, the band's records on the old IRS label defined a deeply felt, often savagely melancholic sound, as heard on their hits "Joey" and "God Is a Bullet." This is an electrifying live band that places a premium on rocking very, very hard, and they're given special gravitas by ex-Sparks fella Mankey's painterly instrumental settings and Napolitano's genuinely poetic articulations on gang violence, urban decay, alcoholism and other unfunny stuff. Along with drummer Gabriel Ramirez from the rock en Español band Maria Fatal, they'll rip songs from a new album (their first in seven years) scheduled for release in late 2012. —John Payne

thu 8/30

Don Carlos

LEVITT PAVILION, MACARTHUR PARK

Veteran reggae vocalist Don Carlos has always been a fascinating combination of conflicting characters, often presenting as the classic cut-and-run renegade yet remaining a solid, reliable craftsman. One of the founding voices in the critical vocal trio Black Uhuru, Carlos is the cat whose colorful, free flights of evocative, beyond-scat vocal lines gave the band such a distinctive sound. Yet he walked away almost as soon as the band became an established and cherished reggae sensation. Such devilish impulse is a bit puzzling, but Carlos has always pulled it off: His voice has a sweet, shadowy quality that insinuates its way deep into the inner heart of a lyric, displaying a singular kicked-back, smoldering soul passion that has enabled him to navigate, quite credibly, thank you, as both a boss roots radical and a lively dancehall chanter. He also brings a trove of fine numbers like "Soldier Man a Come," "From Creation," "Plantation" — classics all. And for free? Like, wow! —Jonny Whiteside

Casino Madrid

COBALT CAFE

When these San Diegans unleashed "4:42 Reminds Me of You" last summer, they struck commercial metalcore's mother lode. The song squeezes all that's exhilarating about the genre into three minutes: Frontman Joe Demaio spits bitterness toward a lost love in two contrasting timbres (deranged demonic screech and deranged guttural grunt), with an obligatory sing-along hook courtesy of pretty-boy guitarist Marcelo Sedano, while kick drums batter like Aleppo artillery and lurking electro keys lend contemporary glow-stick gloss. Though the recording never reaches the titular 4:42, Demaio clearly needs no reminding of "you." Like most Casino Madrid material, "4:42" culminates in a breakdown so epic in intent, and so expert in execution, that time itself almost appears to regress for a few seconds — just like when that breakup call hits. —Paul Rogers