Music Forecast May 24-30

The Donkeys, with Advance Base
Everybody’s got a dark-horse band they firmly believe should be way more popular, and one of mine is the Donkeys, a San Diego act making some of the most likable folk rock I’m aware of currently. The band draws on American Beauty-era Grateful Dead and goes heavy on the Laurel Canyon beach-bum vibes — it’s all very mellow and beautiful and California, like a Toastered-out Instagram photo.
Tuesday, May 29, at RecordBar (1020 Westport Road, 816-753-5207)

David Liebe Hart Band
At South By Southwest back in March, I spotted a man who looked an awful lot like David Liebe Hart standing in a sea of people out on a main drag. “I think that’s David Liebe Hart,” I said, but the person I was with had no interest whatsoever in what I was saying, and I promptly forgot about it. But his band, the David Liebe Hart Band, played the fest this year, according to a thing I just read on the Internet. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he’s the guy who holds a bizarro puppet and sings about aliens (“Salame,” most memorably) on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. He is apparently in a touring punk-rock band, and based on these videos I just watched, it’s pretty strange.
Wednesday, May 30, at the Bottleneck (737 New Hampshire, Lawrence, 785-841-5483)

The Good Foot, with Making Movies
The Sunday before Memorial Day is always a reliable party night, and this year, Westport is making it extra easy on everyone who isn’t leaving town. In addition to the block party outside Kelly’s and McCoy’s (see Sunday in Filter), there’s a hot show at the Riot Room featuring a couple of local favorites: soul revivalists the Good Foot and Latin-inflected indie-rock act Making Movies.
Sunday, May 27, at the Riot Room (4048 Broadway, 816-442-8179)

Weir, Robinson & Greene Acoustic Trio
This relatively new group cuts a wide swath in the jam-band scene, boasting not only a member of the Grateful Dead (Bob Weir) but also Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes. Rounding out the trio is lesser-known Jackie Greene, who is something of a utility player in the jam crowd, having toured with Gov’t Mule and Phil Lesh & Friends, among others.
Saturday, May 26, at Crossroads KC at Grinders (417 East 18th Street, 816-472-5454)

Best Coast
The first Best Coast record sounded like some shitty old Hole demo and, to me, epitomized the music blogosphere’s sickening habit of hyping cool-seeming artists over talented ones. (The band’s leader, Bethany Cosentino, is pretty, has neat tattoos and dates the guy in Wavves.) Best Coast recruited Jon Brion to produce The Only Place, the band’s just released follow-up, but it doesn’t in any way resemble the loop- and string-laden soundscapes that are Brion’s trademark. It’s instead a collection of better, tighter, twangier rock songs — kind of like what Neko Case might record if she were younger and less articulate.
Sunday, May 27, at the Granada (1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence, 785-842-1390)