The Best Concerts to See in L.A. This Week

By LA Weekly Mon., Mar. 18 2013 at 3:30 AM

Categories: Los Angeles Concerts

Lianne La Havas -- See Tuesday

Monday, March 18

The Specials
CLUB NOKIA
Even though The Specials instigated the massively popular ska revival of the early '80s, they're far from a typical ska band. Whereas many modern groups are happy to employ ska's peppy, jerky rhythms merely for escapist dance fare, the English band preferred to mix heavy messages into such infectious tunes as "Concrete Jungle," "Nelson Mandela" and the utterly sublime and appropriately haunting "Ghost Town." Sadly, chief songwriter Jerry Dammers isn't part of The Specials' latest reunion, nor is singer Neville Staples, although founding vocalist Terry Hall and early guitarist Roddy Byers carry on under the old name. Even now, with several new members (and several decades removed from their heyday), these Specials should still raise goose bumps with the echoes of their old hits. --Falling James

Tuesday, March 19

Black Francis
THE MINT
It's hard to imagine what indie and alt-rock would sound like these days if Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV had never been born. Going by the name Black Francis when he formed Boston band The Pixies in the mid-'80s (he'd later dub himself Frank Black for some of his solo recordings), the guitarist wrote strange but catchy songs that were distinguished by contrasting dynamics that were unusual at the time, with muted, quiet verses giving way to loud, gushing choruses. Nowadays you can't turn on the radio or TV without hearing some new band imitate Francis' quirky melodies and squiggly guitar lines, and everyone from Radiohead and Pavement to Nirvana and Francis' own idol, David Bowie, has sung his praises. His solo albums, surprisingly, receive far less attention than his work with The Pixies, but tonight the master reveals his songwriting secrets at this solo acoustic show. --Falling James

Lianne La Havas
EL REY THEATRE
Lianne La Havas keeps up the current English assembly line of youthful soul singers with her debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough? The LP was produced by Aqualung's master song crafter, Matt Hales, and features La Havas' own accomplished guitar playing. The instrument is an effortless complement to her breezy, neo-soul-pop vocal stylings, which fluctuate from soft and thin to husky and seductive. La Havas moves effortlessly (or at least she makes it sound that way) from the stripped-down "Lost and Found" to the lightly moody "Au Cinema" and the playful "Forget." Populated with love song after love song, Is Your Love Big Enough? inspires listeners to sing along on the first listen. That can only be a good thing. Also Wednesday. --Lily Moayeri

Wednesday, March 20

Imagine Dragons, Nico Vega
THE WILTERN
Imagine Dragons and Nico Vega touring together makes sense musically and personally. Both bands have the gall to convey their accessible songcraft in sonically unorthodox fashion, and this big-bang-for-your-bucks bill (which also includes winsome Aussies Atlas Genius) means that their hubby-and-wife singers -- Dragons' Dan Reynolds and Vega's Aja Volkman-Reynolds -- can travel together, and with their baby daughter. Imagine Dragons' dizzying rise to radio ubiquity (the Las Vegas group's debut album, Night Visions, only appeared this past September) can obscure the sheer craft of its cultured and timely takes on indie rock, including the mandolin-speckled "It's Time" and dubstep-dabbling "Radioactive." At heart an organically primal rock & roll band, L.A.'s Nico Vega lately have layered elements of insistent electronica behind the capricious and ludicrously compelling vocals of Volkman-Reynolds. --Paul Rogers