In Stranger Suggests:

David Byrne

At age 57, this Talking Heads icon exhibited phenomenal athletic grace and stamina during his February concert at Benaroya. Byrne performed much of the two albums he recorded with fellow genius Brian Eno—as well as some of the Heads' most scintillating output—as if it were 1983, not 2009. Much of Byrne's appeal now hinges on nostalgia, but rarely do old chestnuts burn (down the house) as brightly as this spry New Yorker's avant-rock compositions. (Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 467-5510. 7:30 pm, $45, all ages.) Dave Segal

In Up & Coming tonight:

Tom Brosseau, Zera Marvel

(Tractor) Listening to Tom Brosseau's semi-nasal voice, you wouldn't initially think of it as a successful vehicle for the blues. (In fact, some of his tracks sound more like the ragtime classics that Robert Crumb has built a whole noncartoonist side career championing.) But combined with his minimalist guitar playing, some of Brosseau's sadder songs—especially "Rose"—definitely evoke some of that dust-bowl longing. If his tracks came with an old-record pop and hiss added in, you might get confused about when the songs were written. You can draw a family tree that would make perfect sense: Brosseau's folk is as much a full-blooded cousin to the blues as Josh Ritter's early work was kin to bluegrass. PAUL CONSTANT

Matisyahu, K'naan

(Moore) Writing about the Canadian-by-way-of-Somalia rapper K'naan back in March, I said, "Time will tell if [the just released] Troubadour jells into something as significant as [2006's] The Dusty Foot Philosopher..." And three months later, I can report that it has not. Still, consider that a testament to the brilliance of Philosopher, not a dis of Troubadour, which remains a sturdy if unspectacular release by a spectacular talent whose gifts are fully evident in his live show, which headliner Matisyahu will have to work his ass off to top. DAVID SCHMADER

Kelly O talks with Airpocalypse:

US Air Guitar Championships - Seattle Regional

Tell me what you're training for.
El Corazón is ground zero for the Seattle regional air-guitar competition. The survivor gets the privilege of competing in the nationals, where one of our nation's greatest will be chosen to represent the USA at the world finals in Oulu, Finland.

Are you worried about competition here in Seattle?
Absolutely. The ranks of great air guitarists grow with each passing day, and every competition brings a finer crop of new recruits. Seattle has several seasoned air guitarists at the moment, some of whom I have battled onstage.