Kevin Bronson on March 26th, 2010

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[Can’t remember a busier weekend for good stuff. Really. So wish Stefani Joanne Angelina Germotta – that’s Lady Gaga to you – a happy birthday, and I’ll see you at a show:]

Tonight: Metric, who played a surprise set Thursday night at a charity gig at the Roxy, headline the Palladium.  Codeine Velvet Club and Nico Vega. … Jay-Z plays to a sold-out Staples Center. … Radar Bros., supported by Bell Gardens and Extra, celebrate the release of their sixth album “The Illustrated Garden” at Spaceland. … Foreign Born plays Club Underground at the Echo. … Yacht was pretty fun when I caught them at SXSW; they headline the Echoplex with a cast of openers including  Bobby Birdman and Small Black. … Copeland plays to a sold-out El Rey Theatre. … Moses Campbell celebrates the release of their album “Would Are You? Who Is Anyone” at Pehrspace. … New Orleans’ Big Sam’s Funky Nation rocks the Mint. … And piano man Dustin O’Halloran plays at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. … Also: Ted Leo & the Pharmacists at Pomona’s Glass House; Hank III with Jackass at the Roxy; Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore (with Frank Fairfield) at McCabe’s Guitar Shop; Danko Jones at the Viper Room; The Paper Chase at the Bootleg Theater; Three Bad Jacks at the Troubadour; the Splinters and Jeff the Brotherhood at the Smell (they also play an in-store at Origami Vinyl at 6 p.m.); Spindrift and Magic Mirror at the Redwood.

Note: See separate post on weekend festivals.

Saturday: Field Music, the U.K. quartet whose tightly woven indie-pop has won them a cult following and increasing acclaim, headline the Bootleg Theater, supported by L.A.’s Learning Music (John Wood is just about to embark on the third year of his album-a-month series and recently got some love in the press about it). … Ovideo celebrates its album release with a 7 p.m. show at Vacation Vinyl. … The Ted Leo & the Pharmacists tour moves to the Troubadour, and the Morning Benders head south to the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. … Japan Nite 2010 at the Viper Room features Omodaka, Chatmonchy and Red Bacteria Vacuum. … The “Band With Haiti” charity event at the Tribal Cafe in Echo Park features Thee Invention, Graveyard Institution, Electric Children, and Indicator. … And excellent, small local shows abound:  Dirt Bird, Wet & Reckless, Kissing Cousins, Modern Time Machines and Wrong Way Driver at Mr. T’s Bowl; the Like at the Smell; 60 Watt Kid at Echo Curio; and the Fay Wrays and Dead Ponies at Pehrspace. … Also: The Quarter After and Ojos Rojos at Spaceland; the B-52’s at the Canyon Club; Graydon at the Hotel Cafe; and Pierced Arrows at the Redwood Bar.

||| Download: Field Music, “Each Time Is a New Time”

Sunday: Big night at Disney Hall, where a sellout crowd will see Air headline – with local dude AM opening. … Nellie McKay plays the Alex Theatre in Glendale. … KAV is back from the U.K. and will play a show at the Viper Room. … Surfer Blood, joined by Turbofruits, plays the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. … And Save Our Souls (along with the Shrill, who celebrate their album release, hold forth at the Roxy. … Also: Giant Cloud, Le Switch and the World Record at Spaceland; the Refugees at McCabe’s; W.A.S.P. at the Key Club; and Michelle Brent at the Mint.

Photo: Metric by Andrew Kendall.