Monday:
Halloween on a Monday is a bit of a let down. You’ve already donned your costume and bobbed your fill of apples, and all that’s left is to egg a few motorcades and hit the discount candy bins at CVS. It’s damned anticlimactic. Much like the two orchestral “Want” albums Rufus Wainwright put together after enticing us all with two strong opening efforts (on Dreamworks, natch; pays to be a legacy). Nevertheless, Rufus is an excellent songwriter, as you’ll have the chance to observe tonight at (a sold out) 9:30 Club show. Avoid opening act OK Go at all costs.

Meanwhile, the Velvet Lounge is hosting its own Hallow’s Eve fete, featuring onetime D.C. darlings Exit Clov. Where have they been? Gigging regularly, it turns out. Buzz overload must switch off our recognition of some bands like a blown fuse. Forgive us, Clovers, you’re back on the radar.

Tuesday:
This week in Chuck Brown: fresh off his Katrina benefit at the State Theater, Chuck visits 9:30, where you can go and go for a cool $35.

There are people out there who will swear by Al Burian, who carry around his Burn Collector zines like they were the holy gospel. Many of those people were, we think, weirded out by Al’s work in Virginia-based Milemarker, a band known for its crazy, synthed-out post-something hardcore (where before he played lovable melodic regular hardcore, or something). But it grows on you. And as it says in Burn Collector 4, page 21, that’s the way music ought to be. $8.

And here’s one from our good friend DCist Amanda: A funk band (is this right, Amanda?) monikered thusly – Midnight Spaghetti and the Chocolate G-Strings, is playing the State Theater in beautiful Falls Church. We hear the lead singer has a masters from Carnegie Mellon and wears a helmet with trophies duct taped to it. Check that shit out. $5 presale, $7 at the door.