LA WeeklyFriday, March 15
The Black Ryder
The Black Ryder come from Australia but sound like they're from 13th Floor Elevators' own personal Texas, a land of endless desert where the guitars echo to eternity and where it's too hot to move fast. The Black Ryder concoct psychedelia that bleeds and boils at its own measured pace, and when the guitar solos come in, like on “Grass,” a stand-out from their 2010 album Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride, it's like watching a rattlesnake slither across hot asphalt. Naturally, they've got both practical and psychic connections to the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and naturally they prefer to record out in Joshua Tree and play with world-class mind grinders at the yearly Austin Psych Fest. In between they'll do this too-rare L.A. show, so get ready to be melted. –Chris Ziegler
Klubfoot USA
British punk rock's miserable 1980 implosion spawned a post-apocalyptic landscape littered with skinheads, ska wannabes, neo-goths, new romantics, bogus mods and, in what seemed the most inevitable evolutionary post-punk permutation, psychobilly. That mad, murky Gene Vincent-meets-Rat Scabies sound festered most virulently at a long-since-demolished Hammersmith cesspool known as Klubfoot, and had, by the mid-'80s, infected an international army of hooliganized youth. With wild weekender Klubfoot USA, a three-day, six-bands-nightly demolition derby of sound, the whole ghastly scene is bursting from remission like a lethal big-beat virus. Showcasing live-wire U.K. guitar slinger Tim Polecat's stellar modern rockabilly trio The Whammy, along with such hog-wild, old-school Euro psycho freaks as Mad Sin and Frantic Flintstones, our homegrown, 21st-century faves Rezurex and an additional host of scum-smeared psychotics, this one is guaranteed to deliver a bale of blunt force thrills. Also March 16-17. –Jonny Whiteside
Volbeat
If there were a rockabilly tribute to Metallica, it might sound something like Danish group Volbeat. Unlike its metal influencer, however, this Copenhagen quartet spikes up its bold hybrid with globs of punk and slicks it back with comforting, country-style motifs including harmonica and lap steel. Platinum sellers in Northern Europe, Volbeat, for all of their genre-mutating alchemy, never forget the seductive power of an epic melody or a festival-ready hook. “A Warrior's Call” is as heroically anthemic as its title implies, with a bombastic arrangement and vocal inflections that would make James Hetfield blush. “Heaven Nor Hell” is robust pop in rock clothing (and about as Southern-stained as a bunch of Scandos gets). Draped in the subculture-straddling imagery of cars, tats and low-slung axes, Volbeat could kill at Hootenanny or on any of metal's multiband juggernaut tours. –Paul Rogers
Saturday, March 16
The Adicts
With this their 35th anniversary, The Adicts are celebrating a milestone that very few collaborations reach. What's more, the band is commemorating this achievement with its original lineup relatively intact. The British group has been bringing its punk-rock circus on the road since the 1970s, and they're truly legendary for the effort. Upbeat rhythms and sing-along vocals make songs like “Viva la Revolution” ultimate party anthems, and Adicts frontman Monkey paints his face so extravagantly that it makes KISS look tame. The group's stage show involves bubble machines, giant beach balls, streamers and as much confetti as there is fire at a Rammstein show. (Read: a lot.) Joining Monkey are Pete Dee, Kid Dee, Scruff and Shahen, all dressed in A Clockwork Orange, droog-style uniforms and all bounding around the stage while simultaneously thrashing on their instruments and hosting the best party you've ever been to. –Diamond Bodine-Fischer
See also: The Adicts on Football Hooliganism, Masturbation, and Running Up $400 Bar Tabs
Beyond Wonderland
SAN MANUAL AMPHITHEATER AND GROUNDS
Gone are the days when raving made you feel like you were breaking conventional boundaries by participating in an underground experience. These days, your event is almost guaranteed to be legal, supervised and safe. So safe, in fact, that spring-heralding Beyond Wonderland is going down partially during daylight hours and boasts a respectable closing time of 2 a.m. The heavy-hitting lineup represents a healthy cross-section of electronic dance music, from the big-room, feel-good pop of David Guetta to the electro-house of Afrojack, the bottom-heavy trance of Marcus Schulz, the tech-house of Maya Jane Coles, the liquid funk of High Contrast and the steadfast drum 'n' bass of Ed Rush and Optical. If that sounds like a lot, just know that everything will be held together by the steady pulse of unfailing bass. –Lily Moayeri
Sunday, March 17
Joe Ely
PAPPY & HARRIET'S PIONEERTOWN PALACE
Like America itself, country music is too big and sprawling to be neatly encapsulated by any one particular geographic region or style. Nashville long has been the center of syrupy, mainstream country pop, while way out West, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard stripped down the artifice for a leaner, meaner and more honest form of country known as the Bakersfield sound. Over in West Texas, Joe Ely and pals Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock combined folk and rock & roll when they formed short-lived but vastly influential group The Flatlanders in the early '70s, launching what eventually would be called the alt-country scene. Ely has managed to stay relevant in his lengthy solo career, in part because he infuses his country music with rich strains of Tex-Mex and even flamenco. He's punk enough to have toured and recorded with The Clash and open-minded enough to blend genres with The Chieftains and Los Super Seven. He looks back on his life with newfound perspective (“I'm a Man Now”) and eternal wanderlust (“The Highway Is My Home”) on his latest album, Satisfied at Last. Also Saturday, March 16, at the Mint. –Falling James
Ambrose Akinmusire
Tonight marks the end of a Friday-Sunday run for trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire at Little Tokyo's Blue Whale. Oakland-born Akinmusire has been one of the hottest young musicians in jazz since his 2007 win at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. In recent months he's been on tour, performing as part of the tribute to the Miles Davis Blue Note recordings of the 1950s and as an ensemble member in the tour celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival. Akinmusire also holds down an adjunct instructor's chair at USC and often shows up at local jam sessions looking for fresh musical ideas. Blue Whale owner Joon Lee is impressed enough with Akinmusire to offer him a rare three-night weekend. Go find out why. Also Friday-Saturday, March 15-16. –Tom Meek
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