The Best Concerts To See in L.A. This Weekend: Nov 9-11

By LA Weekly Fri., Nov. 9 2012 at 4:00 AM

Categories: Los Angeles Concerts

Ute Lemper

Friday, November 9

Ute Lemper
SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Ute Lemper is already a masterful interpreter of sad/romantic/tragic balladry, whether she's bringing to life "Mack the Knife" and other cabaret chansons by Kurt Weill or transmuting the surly poetry of Charles Bukowski into song form. But tonight her wonderfully expressive pipes are supported by the full force of the Pacific Symphony and conductor Carl St. Clair. The German diva is often backed by smaller jazz-cabaret ensembles, so it should be some kind of an enchanted evening when she wends her way through a grand, string-laden orchestration of Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins" along with a trio of classic tunes by George Gershwin ("An American in Paris," "I Got Rhythm" and "Naughty Baby"). For all of her brassy declamations, Lemper will likely be at her most captivating when she brings it down and closes with a brace of intimate love songs by Edith Piaf. Also Saturday. --Falling James

Saturday, November 10

Sera Cahoone
THE SATELLITE
Sera Cahoone's background as a drummer with Band of Horses, Patrick Park and Carissa's Wierd did little to prepare the world for what her music would sound like once she struck out on her own as a solo singer-guitarist. The Seattle resident returns to the fundamentals with little more than her own acoustic guitar and perhaps a starkly clucking banjo and weepy lap-steel guitar or an austere piano accompanying her on such folk-country laments as "Only As the Day Is Long," "Evita" and "Happy When I'm Gone." What sets Cahoone's music apart is the languidly rueful tone of her vocals, which imbues her ballads with a confessional warmth that helps to stave off those cold Pacific Northwest winters. --Falling James

Those Darlins
THE TROUBADOUR
Didn't they kinda used to be a country band? But Those Darlins aren't so darlin' no more. Instead, they're making born-to-be-on-Burger Records garage pop that plops the Leave Home-era Ramones down in Nashville with directions to the liquor store and Lover's Lane. Recent album Screws Loose is a second take on the punk greats of '78: crass like the Dictators, creepy like the Cramps and hilarious like the Dickies. The Southern drawl adds plenty of character, as on the let-'em-down-easy song "Be Your Bro": "I just wanna beat each other up on the playground/stay up till stupid late o' clock to see who can drink the most/... put a bunch of eggs in the microwave ... " Swap out "Hey! Ho!" for "Yee haw!," and you'll be ready to go. --Chris Ziegler