Kevin Bronson on October 16th, 2009

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[This weekend’s concert calendar is more crowded than the 405 on a Friday afternoon. Superstars, stars, shoulda-been-stars, rising stars, fading stars – this weekend has it all. And it’s topped off by Sunday’s performance at the Greek by modern-day supergroup Monsters of Folks … see below for the word on the street about that. Here’s the lineup, and a couple under-the-radar picks:]

Tonight: Danish quintet Spleen United [previously posted download] are massive on the other side of the pond – above is a video of the band performing to a crowd of 50,000 at the 2008 Roskilde Festival – and just getting started in the U.S., playing smaller clubs. Their short trip to southern California brings them to the Bootleg Theater tonight. For fans of Depeche Mode, Muse and techno made by rock stars. … After I was smitten by Thao Nguyen at SXSW, she and her band – Thao With the Get Down Stay Down – have made a great album, “Know Better Learn Faster” (out next week on Kill Rock Stars). She gives a sneak peek when she headlines the Echoplex. … It’s shoegazer heaven upstairs at the Echo, with the grouping of A Place to Bury Strangers, Darker My Love and All the Saints. … Aimee Mann closes out her fall tour at the Wiltern, supported by Fountains of Wayne. … It’s highly regarded Ghostface Killah at the Key Club. … Los Lobos, fresh off a performance earlier this week at the White House, headlines the House of Blues. … And at Spaceland, I Will Never Be the Same headlines, with a new group, AMvsFM (ex-Slow Signal Fade) debuting. … Also: Kaskade at the Palladium; KMFDM at Club Nokia; Dan Deacon at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts;”  Mike Watt & His Secondmen at downtown’s Redwood Bar; the Ringers, the Ruse and Oh No Not Stereo at the Viper Room; Kelly Joe Phillips at McCabe’s; Manhattan Murder Mystery at Echo Curio; the Accused at the Knitting Factory; at Nico Stai’s free show (and video shoot) at the Ghettogloss gallery on Melrose.

Saturday: The very likable but itinerant garage-rock trio, the Ettes [pictured] – they once called L.A. home – just released a new album, the kinda-punky, kinda-country “Do You Want Power.” They open for Juliette Lewis at the El Rey Theatre. … A pretty nifty pairing at Club Nokia – Irish-English punk veterans the Pogues with L.A.’s own punk-reggae outfit the Aggrolites. … Roger Daltrey headlines downtown’s Orpheum Theatre. … Main Squeeze man” Glenn Tilbrook appears with Marianne Keith at the Hotel Cafe. … And the bill topped by red-hot Brand New and Manchester Orchestra plays to a sold-out Palladium. … Also: Patrick Watson & the Wooden Arms at Largo: Everlast at the Key Club; Wax Tailor at the Troubadour; Brandi Carlile at the Wiltern; KMFDM at the Glass House; Horse the Band at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts; and Wavves, with the Soft Pack, at the Echoplex.

Sunday: In case you’ve been sleeping the past couple of months, Monsters of Folk are Jim James, Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Mike Mogis. Their self-titled debut album is getting thumbs-up everywhere, and I hear that their Greek Theatre show (there’s no opener) will span three hours, meaning fans will get a lot if not all of the album, as well as some of the principals’ solo work and perhaps some covers. Should be quite a night. … L.A. electro-funk quartet Casxio celebrates the release of its “Seventeen” EP with a show at Cinespace. … San Diego’s Black Heart Procession marches to the Echoplex behind the release of its gripping new album, “Six.” … Flashback: Butthole Surfers and the Melvins play Club Nokia. … And a free show at Spaceland offers up Haim, Michael Runion, the Pink Snowflakes and Two Guns. … Also: Gogol Bordello at the Grove of Anaheim; Brand New’s second night at the Palladium; Aztlan Underground at the Troubadour;”  and John Wesley Harding and Chris von Sneidern at McCabe’s.