Weekly Music Agenda
TUESDAY
>>If you like your rock hard, Rock and Roll Hotel is the place to be tonight. Burning Brides, who've been building a fanbase for nearly a decade now on solid riffing and opening slots with big names like A Perfect Circle and Queens of the Stone Age. Locals Wooly Mammoth (pictured) open, along with The Exponentials 8 p.m., $10 advance, $12 door.
>> Classic '80s college radio staples Hoodoo Gurus reunited back in 2004, and just kept on going. They'll be playing tunes from a career spanning over 25 years tonight at the Black Cat with The Fake Accents and Julie Ocean. 8 p.m., $20.
WEDNESDAY
>> Gimme indie rock! Everyone loves The National. One of indie rock's biggest acts at the moment brings their acclaimed show to the 9:30 Club. Joining the boys from Brooklyn are Raleigh's The Rosebuds & Doveman. The entire show will be terribly heartfelt, heartachey, and heartstring-tugging, and all that touchy-feely stuff the indie kids love. If you miss it Wednesday, the program will repeat itself on Thursday. $18
>> He only wants to be with you. He said so, I remember. That may have been over a decade ago, but Darius Rucker hasn't changed his tune, and Hootie & the Blowfish are still around, and not just on a VH1 '90s retrospective show. In fact, they play out in Vienna every year these days. If this was your pleasure, guilty or otherwise, Wolftrap has the nostalgia trip you ordered up. Patrick Davis opens. And all snark aside, for those who are headed to the show, the band requests you bring school supplies from the list on Wolf Trap's website, which will be redistributed to students in need at area schools. 8 p.m., $28-$40
THURSDAY
>>The red-headed stranger is riding back to town, on a tour titled "Last of the Breed", which is about accurate. There were few enough of Willie Nelson's caliber to begin with, and a lot of them are now gone. Nelson and two other living legends of country, Merle Haggard and Ray Price, take the Merriweather stage. 6 p.m. gates, $40-$75.
>>The Last Town Chorus are performing twice on Thursday in support of their most recent record, the critically-acclaimed Wire Waltz. Both shows are with Mark Olson (formerly of the Jayhawks). First up is an in-store at Borders at 18th & L, and then a show in the evening at Iota in Arlington. Borders, 12:30 p.m. Iota, 8:30 p.m., $15.
FRIDAY
>>Three Stars alums Meredith Bragg and the Terminals have become local favorites with their sweet and melodic sound. They'll be headlining a show Friday night at the Black Cat to celebrate the 3rd birthday of Kora Records, along with Donny Hue and the Colors, and Olivia Mancini and the Housemates. 9 p.m., $10.
>>The Rock and Roll Hotel hosts this week's funniest music-related event. Kicking things off is the bizarrely funny musical act Pleaseeasaur, who will be immediately followed by the unfunniest comedian you will ever see. Neil Hamburger's lack of comedic timing is both legendary and the true genius of his anti-comedy act, which will make you laugh the harder he tries not to make you laugh. If you catch my meaning. 9:30 p.m., $10 advance, $12 door.
SATURDAY
>>We mentioned last month that we were partnering with Blisspop and Brightest Young Things for a kick ass night of local bands. The time has finally come, and this Saturday is the night. The 9:30 Club will host sets by Georgie James, Soft Complex, and The Dance Party, with DJ sets by DJ Will Eastman. The latter three you know well from past Three Stars features, and Georgie James you know from Unbuckled and assorted other fames. Come join us as we dance the night away. 11 p.m., $10.
>> A little farther from home, but also of plenty of local interest, is a show down in Fredericksburg featuring Travis Morrison Hellfighters, who we reviewed in both recorded and live format recently, as well as Three Stars and Unbuckled alums Le Loup, Statehood, and Rocky's Revenge. The show is a one year anniversary party for Fredericksburg All Ages Shows.
>>Daddy Yankee has not had any big crossover reggaeton hits since "Gasolina," but he is still considered by many to be the king of that speedy Spanish tongued dancehall and hiphop influenced genre. He will be at the George Mason University Patriot Center in Fairfax. 8 p.m., $53-$83.
>>Under the Ethiopian calendar it is still 1999 (until September 12th). Celebrate the Ethiopian Millennium with a who's who of Ethiopian musicians including Mahmoud Ahmed, Neway Debebe, Maritu Legessese, Setegn Aregaw, and more at the DC Armory. 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., $45.
SUNDAY
>>The Meat Puppets have come a long way since their start as an early American hardcore band. 27 years and two break ups later, the Meat Puppets are back on the road again. The time to see them is now: before they decide (again) that they don't want to play together anymore. The Comas and Jay Reatard open at the Black Cat. 8 p.m., $15.
>> Leading Jamaican dancehallers Buju Banton and Beenie Man headline The One Love Reggae Fest 2K7 at the Crossroads. If you can get past Buju and Beenie's homophobia, you'll find some impressive material in their catalogs that they will surely deliver. 4 p.m., $40.
>>Chick Hall's Surf Club will soon be changing ownership, but for now, it is still featuring top-notch touring roots music acts. Tonight, Louisiana's Cory Ladet will be leading his zydeco combo. 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Steve Kiviat contributed to this week's agenda.