MIKE DOUGHTY: THE QUESTION JAR SHOW
(Triple Door) Between his strong back catalog of nonsensical, non sequitur lyrics, and his storied struggle with vices—the drinking and the drugs—it’s a safe bet that fans might have a question or two for Mike Doughty. Recognizing this, the alt-rock songwriter is approaching his current tour not just as a mere dry run of material from the forthcoming Golden Delicious (due on ATO Records in January) but more so as the in-concert equivalent of DVD commentary. Pre-set, the audience can submit questions scrawled on slips of paper into an onstage jar; Doughty answers them one by one during the show. Stops in other cities have had the man discussing sexual positions, discontinued songs, drug-inspired lyrics, and robots. Let’s see if the Triple Door crowd can up the ante a bit. JOHN VETTESE

TEGAN AND SARA, NORTHERN STATE
(Showbox at the Market) While Tegan and Sara’s vocal harmonies play well live, sounding sweeter and less chipmunklike than they do on the duo’s recent release, The Con, their between-song storytelling and theatrics steal the show. At a recent Kansas gig, Sara (the chattier of the Quin twins) told a bizarre tale about a burly woman punching her at a Lez Zeppelin concert. The hostile stranger, she rambled, tried to forcibly unfasten her shirt—when she pantomimed this act, the smitten, largely female crowd whooped. Nonplussed, Sara scolded the audience. Later, when her riled-up fans failed to fall completely silent for her acoustic encore, she threw a tantrum, canceled her solo number and summoned back the band. Sara still qualifies as the softy sister, judging by Tegan’s cold (“I’m a bitch”) account of how she becomes emotionally distant with her partners before touring. Come for the folksy indie pop, stay for the unsettlingly honest banter! ANDREW MILLER