Kevin Bronson on August 7th, 2009

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[Birthday greetings go out to Kristin Hersh, long may she rock …]

Today: Color me curious about this weekend’s shows by Elefant, the New York City quartet who made a modest splash with their tamed-for-radio dance-punk back in 2003-04. “Misfit” was pretty irrestistible, and the band’s male model-type frontman Diego Garcia did a great job of selling the rest of their catalogue. Now the band is ready to work on its third album (two new tunes on their MySpace) and is playing tonight at the Music Box @ Fonda and Saturday at the Glass House. … Also: The Black Heart Procession, with Circus Minor, at Spaceland; Herbie Hancock at the Hollywood Bowl; Los Amigos Invisibles and West Indian Girl at the house of Blues; Lyle Lovett at the Greek Theatre; the Zeros, along with Mike Watt & His Secondmen, at downtown’s Redwood Bar;”  Springfield, Mo.’s Ha Ha Tonka at the Bootleg Theater; the Shrine at the Troubadour; Mutaytor at the Roxy; Ready the Jet as part of International Pop Overthrow at the Knitting Factory; and Marcus Foster at the Hotel Cafe.

Saturday: It’s quite a day for festivals. You have Rock the Bells at the San Manuel Amphitheatre, featuring the likes of Nas,”  Damian Marley, Ice Cube, House of Pain, Busta Rhymes, the Roots, Sage Francis, the Knux and Murs. … And you have HARD Summer, the glowstick-heavy dance event at the Forum, featuring Underworld [pictured], Chromeo, Crystal Castles, A-Trak, DJ AM and Steve Aoki. .. And you have Morris Day and the S.O.S. Band leading the way at the Funk Fest at the Greek Theatre. … Also: punk rockers the Briggs at the Knitting Factory; Elefant’s Glass House show; C.W. Stoneking doing the first of two nights at the Redwood; Casiokids at Spaceland; the Dodos at the “Saturdays Off the 405” series at the Getty; Truth & Salvage Co., along with Andy Clockwise at the Troubadour; Nels Cline and Jon Brion at Largo; Honor Society at Club Nokia; Cosmo Topper on the final night of this year’s International Pop Overthrow at the Knitting Factory; and Chantelle Barry at the Hotel Cafe.

Sunday: Toots & the Maytals hold forth at the Hollywood Bowl. … Rodney Atkins and Jack Ingram play the Greek Theatre. … Also: Warpaint at Spaceland; Dave Insley at Grand Ole Echo at the Echo (early); and C.W. Stoneking’s second night at the Redwood.