Kevin Bronson on August 21st, 2009

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[Birthday greetings go out to Tori Amos on Saturday. And I’ll probably forget something, but here’s what’s in store for the weekend – I’ll have a separate item on Sunset Junction a little later …]

Today: Welsh indie-pop septet Los Campesinos! [pictured] swing back through town for a show at the El Rey Theatre. Last year’s “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed” remains a fun roller-coaster ride, and the band will debuting material from a new album – their third in three years – to be released early next year. … Resurgent ’60s garage-rock greats the Sonics foreshadow their appearance at Sunset Junction with a show at the Echoplex, with Japanese Motors opening. … Steely Dan does the first of two nights at Gibson Amphitheatre – they’ll perform “Aja” tonight. Who’d have thought Steely Dan and “road warriors” would ever be written in the same sentence? … Also: Benji Hughes (with B.R.A.M. opening) at Spaceland; Hockey (with the French Semester opening) at the Echo; Mini Mansions at the Bootleg Theater; Tea Leaf Green at the Troubadour; ZZ Top at the House of Blues; Diana Krall at the Hollywood Bowl; anti-folk hero Paleface at Pehrspace; Lukas Rossi at the Viper Room; Sucker for Pumps at the Roxy; and Shane Alexander at the Hotel Cafe. Oh, and the 88 do a little how-to at the Apple Store at the Grove.

Saturday: It’s Day 1 of Sunset Junction and the street fair/music festival’s broad menu of musical offerings on four stages. The Delta Spirit, Island and Conor Oberst anchor the bill on the rock stage. … I deeply wish this show was on any other night – Harvey Danger brings its farewell tour to L.A. Sean Nelson and mates play Largo. … Steely Dan’s second night at the Gibson features a performance of their album “Gaucho.” … Kings of Leon play the Forum, and on another night I’d go just to hear opening band the Whigs in that setting. … Also: The Cult (with Year Long Disaster) at Club Nokia; the Matches (with Dizzy Balloon) at the Troubadour; Benji Hughes at Spaceland; Los Campesinos! at the Glass House; and the EP releases shindig with Seasons, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Odd Modern and the Health Club at Pehrspace.

• ||| Download: Harvey Danger’s third album “Little by Little …” And drop them a financial contribution.

Sunday: Day 2 of Sunset Junction beckons – featuring Built to Spill, Arrested Development, Morris Day & the Time and the Sonics, among others. … The Warped Tour closes out its summerlong run at the Home Depot Center. … Friendly Fires (with the Phenomenal Handclap Band) start a SoCal swing at the Glass House. …. Kenan Bell and Fol Chen head up the party at the Little Radio Summer Camp (2017 E. 7th St., downtown). … Also: Run Run Run at the Viper Room; Los Campesinos! at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa; the Widow Babies at Part Time Punks at the Echo; and Les Blanks and So Many Wizards at the Sunset Junction Afterparty at Spaceland.