THE DREADKNOUGHTS, Vancouver, B.C.'s contribution to roaring, stomping Celtic punk, play the Cretin Hop tonight. Their description of themselves is awesome: "one part roaring sea shanty, one part haunting Irish melody, and a solid chaser of gut-crunching street punk.” They play with Reason for Existence, Reinkaos, Framework and They're Watching. 7:30 pm. $7. All-ages.
THE FRIENDS OF EMPYREAN shows — this year, a three part concert series — start tonight at the downtown coffee shop. Seattle indie band the Head and the Heart (who we wrote about here) play with locals Kevin Long and Kim Sorenson. 8 pm. $7. All-ages. (The F.O.E shows continue this weekend with performances tomorrow by the Globes, the Sassmatrons and Joel Howard, and on Saturday with Enola Gay, Henry Nordstrom, Hillary Susz and the Spokane Poetry Slam team.)
TRAIN chugs into town tonight to play the INB Performing Arts Center with Ryan Star. After breaking into the mainstream with their single "Meet Virginia," the band took home two Grammys for "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" from its second album. The hits kept coming, and the band took a years-long hiatus in 2006. They play tonight — likely those hit songs and stuff from their latest record, Save Me San Francisco — at 7:30 pm. $30 - $40. All-ages.
THE VILLA BLUES TRIO, a smoky, blues outfit fronted by 6 Foot Swing chanteuse (and Inlander employee) Heather Villa, takes the stage at Nyne tonight. You can read a little about Villa, who we included in our "Ladies First" a few weeks ago, here. Show starts at 9 pm. Gotta be 21.
COLLECTIVE SOUL could be the pride of Georgia for all we know. The band has had SEVEN singles ("Shine," "December," "The World I Know," "Where the River Flows," "Precious Declaration," "Listen" and "Heavy"). It kind of shocks me — gulp — how many of them I know the words to. Hit up the Fairgrounds tonight for their performance. $20. All-ages.
