A busy night just got busier — Australian rockers Wolfmother are playing a surprise show [update: at 6 p.m.] at the Roxy. It’s for Yahoo! Music, and Andrew Stockdale [pictured] and his (new) bandmates, who teased L.A. audiences with a show back in April at the Natural History Museum and who crashed last weekend’s Sunset Junction to play a set at nearby El Cid, are fanning the flames toward their new release, “Cosmic Egg,” due in October. … Not that anybody could steal the Dead Weather’s thunder — Jack White, Alison Mosshart and mates play a noontime set at the Third Man Records pop-up store (the Regent Theatre, 448 S. Main St., downtown) and tonight play the sold-out Mayan Theatre. Fans already were camping out at the pop-up store on Tuesday night. … Speaking of secret shows, M.I.A. is doing one for Dim Mak Records somewhere downtown. Tickets sold out yesterday. … Dawes continues its residency at the Echo, and opener Andrew Lynch will be debuting a new batch of music. … Fruit Bats headline Club NME at Spaceland. … Nice to see Cake has sold out the Music Box @ Fonda. … Swedish rockers Dungen play the Troubadour. … And Music Go Music and Rainbow Arabia get all dancey at Bordello. … Also: Chris Isaak plays the Greek Theatre; Deerhunter at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts; John Vanderslice does an in-store at Vacation Vinyl (4679 Hollywood Blvd.); Anya Marina plays the Hotel Cafe; and On Blast rocks the Silverlake Lounge.

Photo by Jeff Koga

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[Friend of Buzz Bands Doug Kresse was on hand at Spaceland on Saturday night and passed along this account:]

By Doug Kresse
Not even a power outage a half-hour into his set could sap the energy and heart from 81-year-old country music legend Charlie Louvin on Saturday night at Spaceland. With a backing cast of local musicians and guest turns from the likes of Lucinda Williams, Louvin carried on in the dimness of emergency lights and delivered a heartfelt set rich in the art of storytelling.

After sets by Frank Fairfield and local treasure Mike Stinson and his band (who would become Louvin’s backup band), Louvin took the stage in front of a packed house about 11:15 p.m. Plenty of fellow musicians populated the crowd, including Chris Isaak. With occasional turns from guest vocalists, Louvin sang a lot of his great gospel hits, and classics like “I Don’t Love You Anymore.”

Then, around 11:45, the lights flickered and everything went black inside the club. Emergency backup lights kicked on, and the Spaceland crew scrambled to keep the show on the road (somehow the sound system was not affected). Working with little light, Charlie and the band shifted to working without the reliance of the sheet music.  At one point, bassist Rob Douglas attempted to scan the sheet music, trying to get the chords down, but Louvin just told Douglas not to worry. He helped the bassist and Stinson along, and the set went on in conditions that may have rattled many musicians — but not these.

Later, Louvin welcomed Lucinda Williams on the stage to sing with him. But one of the things I’ll remember most were the stories Charlie told between songs.  He connected with the audience, recounting a life of great memories.  One was the time — long ago — that he and a band had just finished a long set, were packing up to go home, then saw some miners, just getting off their shift, who suggested it’d be wise to play some more. Louvin honored their request. He also told of the times when club patrons who talked during a set and disrupted it (not an uncommon occurrence in Eastside environs) were “carried out.” His anecdotes spanned several decades.

It’s clear Charlie Louvin has created a rich history of music — and added to it with Saturday’s show. In the midst of what to him was a minor inconvenience, he showed true class.

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