Music Forecast 8.7-8.13: Chicago and REO Speedwagon, Miley Cyrus, Young Jeezy and more

The Casket Girls

The best part of Savannah, Georgia’s Casket Girls isn’t the raw vocal talent of Phaedra and Elsa Greene. The sisters aren’t the strongest singers. The power of this group is Ryan Graveface, who has cultivated the group’s creepy dark-pop sound since its surreal 2012 debut, Sleepwalking. Graveface goes further with hazy and hypnotic songs and synths that wrap around the Greenes’ macabre lyrics on the band’s latest, True Love Kills the Fairy Tale. For anyone who is over dream pop, the Casket Girls are the stuff of nightmares.

Thursday, August 7, Czar (1531 Grand, 816-421-0300)

Chicago, REO Speedwagon

Chicago and REO Speedwagon’s co-headlining tour has only 24 dates. So Kansas City fans can count themselves lucky that Starlight Theatre made the cut. This is the first time that these legendary rock bands — both born in the Windy City in 1967 — have toured together, so there will be much to celebrate on Thursday. Don’t even try to, ahem, fight this feeling anymore.

Thursday, August 7, Starlight Theatre (4600 Starlight Road, 816-363-7827)

Your Friend, the Westerners

Two of Lawrence’s most buzzed-about acts take over the Granada Friday night. Make arrangements if you haven’t yet experienced the stirring warmth of Your Friend’s Taryn Miller or the static-ridden garage pop of the Westerners. Miller’s local profile has only risen since she signed to Domino Records in February, and the attention is well-deserved. In a live setting, Miller and her band deliver a subtle, chilling set likely to reduce you to a messy puddle of emotions. And the Westerners, along with Twinsmith and Paper Buffalo, are there to prime your soul for the aching.

Friday, August 8, the Granada (1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence, 785-842-1390)

OK Go

When I think of OK Go, the first thing that comes to mind are the music videos. Remember the treadmill-dance choreography in the video for 2006’s hit single “Here It Goes Again”? That was instant viral success (and a Grammy Award) for the Chicago band. And maybe that’s part of OK Go’s problem: Its fame is due to flashy gimmicks and regurgitated power-pop chords rather than substance. The band’s music is like a bag of potato chips: addictive for a few handfuls but not a real meal. Perhaps this will change with the forthcoming album, Hungry Ghosts, in October. Anyway, word is that OK Go has brought a confetti cannon on this tour, so that should be fun.

Tuesday, August 12, the Riot Room (4048 Broadway, 816-442-8179)

Miley Cyrus
It was only four months ago when Miss Miley broke our hearts by postponing her Kansas City concert date due to “an allergic reaction to antibiotics.” Now the wrecking ball is back in town, ready to scandalize the masses with her wagging tongue, hipbone-baring onesies and lewd dancing. Stop pretending that you’re not fascinated — or at least curious about what the ex–Disney star will bring to the Sprint Center stage.

Tuesday, August 12, Sprint Center (1407 Grand, 816-949-7000)

Young Jeezy

At 36, MC Young Jeezy — real name Jay Jenkins — may need to amend the first half of his moniker. He has matured a bit since his 2001 debut, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, and he has multiple Grammy nods (though no award) to show for it. The Atlanta rapper’s forthcoming album, Seen It All: The Autobiography, is already getting plenty of Internet buzz (thanks, in part, to a guest appearance by Jay Z on the title track), so expectations should be high for Jeezy’s Wednesday-night show at the Midland.

Wednesday, August 13, the Midland (1228 Main, 816-293-9921)