Talib Kweli

Live Music

David Banner + Talib Kweli, Outerspace, Jason Mraz, Sunn 0))), Tom Moon, Pierced Arrows + Watery Hearts, Ben Kweller

We all know stuntin’ is a habit for David Banner, but does he bring that swagger to the stage? With Talib Kweli on the roster, there’s no doubt. Kweli is known for his thought-provoking lyrics, Banner for his beats. Wondering why hip-hop’s Malcolm is doing a show with its Google? To teach. Many don’t know the socially conscious twinges in Banner’s music and are less aware of Kweli’s more light-hearted tunes. The two might be seperated geographically—Banner from Mississippi, Kweli from Brooklyn—but lyrically, philosophically, they’re closer than you might expect. (Shahida Muhammad)

David Banner

Outerspace + Apathy

As befits our seemingly permanent underdog status, Philadelphia has one of the more fertile underground hip-hop scenes in America, with Outerspace helping to lead the charge with classics like 2004’s Blood and Ashes. Another underground hip-hop hotbed? Connecticut. Yes, Connecticut. Outerspace’s Planetary and Crypt the Warchild welcome Connecticut’s finest emcee, Apathy, along with some of his Demi Godz crew and Army of the Pharoahs to our part of the galaxy for their God’s Fury album release party. (Kellie Murphy)

Jason Mraz

The wizard of oohs, ahs and fa la las brings his funky fedoras and folksy acoustic guitar to the Tower. The singer/songwriter’s smooth voice will have you humming along to catchy choruses and simple lyrics, his music encapsulating a wide array of genres blending folk, pop, hip-hop and rock. He’ll be performing the hits, naturally, and new material off his first record in nearly three years, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. At seats ranging from $75 to $225 a pop, the thought of Mraz stealing anything is maddening. Those fedoras must be made of platinum. (Anastasia Kotsosavas)

Sunn 0)))

Before Sunn 0))) every doomer, droner and stoner had one goal: ape Black Sabbath’s oh-so-solid riffs and lay the Cookie Monster voice on top. Then Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley’s behemoth took flight, and Sunn became the standard against which every metal group, ambitious in sound and concept, is measured. This show features Anderson and O’Malley with nothing but their guitars—no vocals, no guests, no Moog synthesizer. They’ll be playing their first recording The Grimmrobe Demos in its entirety. The album is a creation myth retold in flesh and fog and feedback. (Erica Palan)

Tom Moon

Let’s see, there’s the seemingly never-ending war in Iraq, health care is in a shambles and our financial market is in phase five of a massive meltdown. Seems like a good time to die! But before you pull that trigger or tighten that noose, thumb through Tom Moon’s new and ambitiously epic tome 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die—a comprehensive and diverse brick of a book so thick it makes Tolstoy’s War and Peace look like pussy shit—to help pick your swan-song soundtrack. Moon will be at Kelly Writers House to talk about his book, the process of writing it and the criteria a song must live up to to be considered vital. He’ll also be taking your questions. Here’s one: Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning? Really? (Brian McManus)

Ben Kweller

I miss the days when Ben Kweller was an awkward pimply teenager who banged melismatic Vanilla Ice covers out of a beat-up acoustic guitar in tiny coffeeshops. But that’s the stuff of vintage Kweller dwellers’ dreams (Sha Sha owners unite!). Since then Kweller’s all grown up and tours with big boys and a five-piece band. Now BK is back with his brand-new invention—the down-home country-style road-tripping themed But How You Lookin’ Southbound? Come in…, an EP of songs plucked from 2009’s Changing Horses plus a few bedroom laptop specials. It makes sense that it’s a special small-room tour for these rusty dust-ups about guitars, Jesus and the great blacktop beyond. (Tara Murtha)