In Up & Coming:

Duran Duran

(Marymoor Park) No one benefited more from the strange gifts of fledgling MTV than Duran Duran. Back in the old days, MTV not only played music videos 24 hours a day, it played the same three-dozen music videos 24 hours a day—and at least a quarter of these belonged to Duran Duran, a band canny enough to illustrate their glossy pop hits by dragging their dashing selves to exotic locales for unprecedentedly dramatic videos. Lucky for all, their Sri Lankan—travel soundtracks proved to be pop songs with staying power, as tonight's performance by the now-28-year-old band (!) makes clear. DAVID SCHMADER

A Drink for the Kids: Telepathic Liberation Army, Unnatural Helpers

(Cha Cha) Tonight kicks off the Vera Project's annual Drink for the Kids fundraiser, where a bunch of booze-loving Vera supporters spend a week touring their favorite bars in various Seattle neighborhoods as an excuse to raise glasses (and money) for children. Throughout the week, guest musicians and local notables will be hosting events in Ballard, West Seattle, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, and the Central District, and all you have to do to help out is drop by between the hours of 6 and 10 pm and order an alcoholic beverage. That's it. It's that easy. Your money will go straight to the Vera Project. It's the one time of year where the more drunk you get, the more you help a child. Find the whole schedule at www.adrinkforthekids.org. MEGAN SELING

Double Dagger, Arbitron, Chk Minus, Brain Fruit

(Comet) On their recent Thrill Jockey album More, Baltimore's Double Dagger flex stealthy, sinewy rock that balances brains, brawn, and emotional heft with admirable equilibrium. In the vein of Fugazi, Mission of Burma, and Volcano Suns, they're Rhodes Scholar athletes of caustic sound, summoning anthemic energy with dependable white-guy moxie. You will probably mosh to this, but thoughtfully and at acute angles. Local unsigned trio Brain Fruit intrigue, thanks to a glowing report of live prowess from Mr. Grandy and their one MySpace song, a hypnotic basement-jam Can salute that suggests more interesting things caroming around their noggins. Also: All Brain Fruit members drum. I love when that happens. DAVE SEGAL

Sugar Skulls, the Screaming Cherry Blossoms, C'Mon C'Mon

(Funhouse) Seattle quartet Sugar Skulls play a loose, diverse strain of prog rock that doesn't lose its sense of fun and tunefulness amid all the tricky time-signature shifts and key changes. The lineup of Ursula Beatrice Stuart (bass/vocals), Heidi Nebel (keyboards/vocals), Julie Baldridge (six-string violin/vocals), and Kory Christian (drums) revels in unpredictability, and their list of influences is a confounding blend of highbrow prog heavies, quasi-novelty acts, as well as Slayer, Prince, Sun City Girls, and John and Alice Coltrane. I'm pretty sure they're serious about all of those. Whatever the case, Sugar Skulls are one of the city's most interesting bands, and their dizzyingly frenetic song "Paganini's Party Pants" actually lives up to its title. DAVE SEGAL

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