Music Forecast for the week

Steely Dan
Last year, Kansas City welcomed one half of Steely Dan, when Donald Fagen stopped in with Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald as part of the Monsters of Yacht Tour, as it was called (by me). Thursday, we get the real deal: Fagen, his partner in crime Walter Becker, and probably about eight of the most technically accomplished touring musicians on the planet, burning through hit after immaculately produced hit on a late-summer Starlight stage. Sometimes when I’m in a bad mood, I think about how I’m going to this show, and then I feel better.
Thursday, August 25, at Starlight Theatre (4600 Starlight Road in Swope Park, 816-363-7827)

The Low Anthem
The Low Anthem sounds quite a bit like Fleet Foxes, but I wouldn’t call the Rhode Island quartet a trendhopper. They’ve been plowing those gentle, pastoral Americana fields since right around the time Sun Giant surfaced. The band is quite comfortable cozying up to a nostalgic past, though. Its latest, Smart Flesh, was recorded in an abandoned pasta factory, and the group has been known to cover Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen live. No complaints here.
Monday, August 29, at RecordBar (1020 Westport Road, 816-753-5207)

TV on the Radio, with !!!
The guys in TV on the Radio sit calmly and unchallenged atop the Brooklyn music scene, a hub for some of the most talented (and cutthroat) bands in the country. How’d they get there? By absorbing many of the borough’s past and present trends — shoegaze, art-punk, dance-rock, neo-soul — and then masterfully fleshing them out into a singular, visionary sound. !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) indulges in one of those trends — dance-rock — but does a more charming, sexier version of it than its legions of peers.
Saturday, August 27, at Crossroads KC at Grinders (417 East 18th Street, 785-749-3434)

Fourth of July and the ACBs, with Full Bloods
An idea for your Saturday: Watch two strong national acts at Grinders (TV on the Radio and !!!), then walk three blocks and see two of the more likable bands in the area. Lawrence’s Fourth of July plays ramshackle folk rock in the style of Silver Jews and Pavement. The ACBs’ sound has evolved from power pop to a more tender, precise pop rock in the past few years, but the group is no less dynamic live. Both acts tend to draw a party, and the Brick will be happy to accommodate.
Saturday, August 27, at the Brick (1727 McGee, 816-421-1634)

Season to Risk, with Cherokee Rock Rifle, In the Grove and the Jorge Arana Trio
These days, we know Steve Tulipana as the owner of RecordBar and the frontman of Thee Water MoccaSins and Roman Numerals. But Tulipana earned his cred in the ’90s fronting Season to Risk, a post-punk, hardcore act that was signed to Columbia Records for a couple of albums. The band has played a handful of reunion shows the past few years. Expect some very muscular, loud, roaring rock.
Friday, August 26, at the Riot Room (4048 Broadway, 816-442-8179)

Sonic Spectrum Tribute to Tom Waits
My initial thought about a Tom Waits tribute was that his music is so distinct, anybody trying to do it justice would fail miserably. Waits’ persona provides a counterweight to some of his songs that otherwise aren’t so great, and there’s no shortage of people out there living their lives as bad Tom Waits impressions. But then I thought about Rod Stewart’s cover of “Downtown Train,” which is actually kind of good outside the context of it being a Waits song. Then I heard American Catastrophe was playing, and I thought, Well, maybe this will work after all. With Hipshot Killer, Adam Stafford, Steve Tulipana, Mark Lowrey, Shay Estes and Jeff Harshbarger.
Sunday, August 28, at RecordBar (1020 Westport Road, 816-753-5207)