Show me the music
Who needs sleep? A caffeinated, opinionated look at fall tours and concerts.

By Kimberly Chun and Sarah Han

Sept. 1

BARR A former member of Dogg and Pony, Los Angeles's BARR rocks the underground parties with his clever talky-rap-motivational-speaker-style performances. Coachwhips and San Francisco's answer to NIN, Snowsuit, also perform. Edinburgh Castle Pub, 950 Geary, S.F. (415) 885-4074.

Sept. 3

Public Enemy Politicized while you were still Pamper-ed, and taking time out from Air America and his career as the "Dark Dick Clark," Chuck D joins the crew for a hecka-lotta touring and two new albums. Fillmore, 1805 Geary, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Sept. 4

The Mall Think garagey new wave, rather than Hot Topic or Wet Seal. This local boy trio have the crowd dancing up a sweat with their angular and catchy keyboard-guitar jams. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. (415) 621-4455.

Usher "Yeah!" is right. No dropped drawers lately, but Usher Raymond has been delivering the goods live, fans say, performing both old and new material. Multi-hyphenate dropout Kanye West also continues to walk on water, delivering "Get Em High," "Slow Jamz," and "Through the Wire" in concert. Sept. 3 show sold out. Oakland Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakl. (510) 762-2277.

Sept. 5

Projekt Revolution Tour Is Linkin Park a guilty pleasure? Were you one of the rock snobs who fessed up to liking the last Korn CD? You wanted to catch Snoop Dogg's Soul Plane, right? The Used, Less than Jake, Downset, Funeral 4 a Friend, Ghostface, and others fill out this cavalcade of rockish miscreants. Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View. (415) 421-TIXS.

Sept. 9

Prince Rick James is gone, so hold on tight to our other reminder of '80s funk-rock supremacy. Hope he gives us a nice, long, two-and-a-half-hour lesson in Musicology, as he did recently in New York City. Oakland Arena, Oakl. (510) 762-2277.

Sept. 11

911 Power to the Peaceful Festival Shake your lil' peacemaker. Michael Franti and Spearhead head up a free show featuring an acoustic String Cheese Incident, Gift of Gab from Blackalicious, and John Butler Trio. Golden Gate Park, Speedway Meadow, JFK Dr. and 25th Ave., S.F. (415) 865-2170.

Sept. 15

Bad Plus Nirvana covers can't go wrong in some crowds. Bad means super-choppage good here. Bimbo's 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, S.F. (415) 474-0365.

Neil Young Whither Greendale? Shakey gets back to the basics and goes solo acoustic. Pie-eating legend Jonathan Richman and plucky harpist Joanna Newsom open. Berkeley Community Theatre, 1930 Allston Way, Berk. www.apeconcerts.com.

Sept. 17

Beastie Boys They're making a break from the boroughs – and it's about time. The hardest-working man in hip-hop, Talib Kweli, opens. Sept. 16 show sold out. Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Sept. 19

Alice's Now and Zen Fest Lollapalooza is dead; long live Now and Zen! Morrissey finally gets a chance to unleash his newest songs for Bay Area fans at this outdoor music event with Tears for Fears and Dashboard Confessional. Golden Gate Park, Sharon Meadow, Kezar and JFK, S.F. www.ticketweb.com.

Sept. 21

Jordan Knight In 1999 the former New Kids heartthrob was resurrected from the teenybopper graveyard with innuendo-filled threats on "Give It to You." Some of us are still wondering what "it" was. Maybe at this show he'll finally deliver "it." Independent, 628 Divisadero, S.F. (415) 771-1421.

Rock Against Bush Feeling punk'd by the current administration? Anti-Flag, Midtown, Tom Morello's Nightwatchman, Strike Anywhere, Epoxies, and Mike Park make it all better. Fillmore, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Sept. 22-23

Ryan Adams Gotta love the single spotlight trained on the savant at his last Warfield date. Gotta be puzzled over the adulation. Sept. 22, Warfield, 982 Market, S.F.; Sept. 23, Fillmore, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Franz Ferdinand Have another Scotch, um, Scot. F.F. bring new life to Austrian archdukes, manic pop-rock, and asymmetrical dos. The Delays open. San Francisco Design Center Concourse, Eighth and Brannan Sts., S.F. www.apeconcerts.com.

Sept. 23

Loquat The S.F. indie poppers can boast – their song "Swingset Chain" set the mood on the WB's One Tree Hill. 12 Galaxies, 2565 Mission, S.F. (415) 970-9777.

Rilo Kiley, Tilly and the Wall Which one's Rilo? The magnetic L.A. sweet-poppers host the naïf kiddie-indie hotties who just wanna tap-dance their way into our hearts and craniums. Bimbo's 365 Club, S.F. (415) 474-0365.

Sept. 24

Lila Downs Looking Frida Kahlo, feeling the intensity of life straddling cultural borders. Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon, S.F. www.apeconcerts.com.

Sioxsie and the Creatures-Banshees Black goes with everything, including the original goth goddess and her familiars. Warfield, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Sept. 24-26

San Francisco Blues Festival Blues – it's not for aging white-man meat anymore. The fest is going on 32 years, but it's still getting down while hoisting Chicago god Buddy Guy high as the headliner. Keeping it raw: T-Model Ford, Paul "Wine" Jones, and the Bobby Rush Show 'n' Revue. British blues-breakers like Fleetwood Mac vet Peter Green ready their next invasion. Fort Mason Center, Great Meadow, Marina and Laguna, S.F. www.sfblues.com.

Pixies Wake up and smell the so-dumb-they're-smart alterna-kids, a decade after the fact. Greek Theatre, Gayley Road at Stadium Rim Way, Berk. www.apeconcerts.com.

Sept. 25

Moore Brothers Gorgeosity. The Bay Area's first family of sweet, sweet harmony toast a new CD. Hotel Utah Saloon, 500 Fourth St., S.F. (415) 546-6300.

Sept. 27

Scissor Sisters Snipe – and snip – all you like: disco's not dead! There was no stopping the bare chest-and-caftan action at the last S.S. show at Slim's. Fillmore, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Oct. 1-2

Norah Jones Don't deny the DNA, dear Norah. There were standing O's at the Greek the last time around. Greek Theatre, Berk. www.apeconcerts.com.

Oct. 2

Ghost Frightfully amazing Japano-psych materializes stateside, trailed by Drag City labelmates White Magic and Six Organs of Admittance. Independent, S.F. www.ticketweb.com.

Oct. 2-3

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass GGP's not quite the country, but it gets pretty close at this free hootenanny. Steve Earle killed 'em at the last hoedown, playing a close-to-the-'grass set in a surreally green glade. This time check Ralph Stanley, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and John Prine. Nick Lowe and Jon Langford throw in for the Anglophiles. Golden Gate Park, S.F. www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com.

Oct. 5

Stefon Harris Quartet The San Francisco Performances jazz artist in residence vibes you, up close and personal. Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia, S.F. (415) 626-3311.

Oct. 12

Mush Records Tour San Mateo savants Her Space Holiday whirl through with Neotropic, Octavius, and Daedelus. All do their part to break down the beats. Bottom of the Hill, S.F. (415) 621-4455.

Taking Back Sunday Take it back. Please. We can't cope with Vagrant's best-selling emoheads done good. Warfield, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Oct. 14-Nov. 7

San Francisco Jazz Festival Tip a fedora to Fats Waller in honor of the centennial of the pianist's birth – Ruth Brown and Jay McShann will. Lady vocalists such as Etta James and Dianne Reeves grace the 22nd annual fest, as do global giants such as Caetano Veloso, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Hermeto Pascoal and up-and-comers from abroad like Malian artist Rokia Traore, and Norway's avant-new-guard Jaga Jazzist. Off the beaten trad path: the Jazz Passengers' accompaniment to the 3-D Creature from the Black Lagoon. Various venues, S.F. www.sfjazz.com.

Oct. 15

Bright Eyes Where's Winona? The Conor game continues solo, though expect hookups with openers Jim James of My Morning Jacket and M. Ward. Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, Bancroft and Telegraph, Berk. www.apeconcerts.com.

Oct. 15-16

Soulive So much hip-hop-doused fusion. So many slinky slip tops. Independent, S.F. www.ticketweb.com.

Oct. 18

Dillinger Escape Plan Walking in a prog, but dying to do something thrash? Mike Patton's buds rashly mix the two together on Miss Machine (Relapse). Slim's, 333 11th St., S.F. (415) 255-0333.

Oct. 23

Clinic No scrubs in the Brit band's operating theater. Slim's, S.F. (415) 255-0333.

Oct. 24

Helmet Huh? Who's back together? Time to take it in the eardrum again. Slim's, S.F. (415) 255-0333.

Oct. 28

Conspiracy of Beards Twenty singing men, one Leonard Cohen catalog – need we say more? Hemlock Tavern, S.F. (415) 923-0923.

Oct. 31

Hans Grüsel's Kränkenkabinet S.F.'s premier tap-dancing noise stars are hell on Halloween. Brace yourself for Brutallo horror camp and sets by Tarantism and Diatric Puds, a spooky doo-wop supergroup. Hemlock Tavern, S.F. (415) 923-0923.

Nov. 4

Delgados, Crooked Fingers Scotland's wall-of-sound bricklayers meet the rock-solid songcraft of an ex-Archer of Loaf. Bimbo's 365 Club, S.F. (415) 474-0365.

Nov. 9

The Faint, TV on the Radio Let the indie masses rave. The former paint it black with a new album, Wet from Birth (Saddle Creek), and the latter tout a new single, "New Health Rock" (Touch and Go). Beep Beep open. Grand Ballroom, 1300 Van Ness, S.F. www.apeconcerts.com.

Nov. 12

Les Savy Fav Savvy? Definitely fav when it comes to the ravings of madly acting-out vocalist Tim Harrington, backed up by his ex-Rhode Island School of Design rabble-rousers. Slim's, S.F. (415) 255-0333.

Nov. 13

Guided by Voices Raise your bottles of Bud to the rafters for a very special episode of GBV, as the prolific posse take their final lap around the United States in honor of their allegedly last album, Half Smiles of the Decomposed (Matador). Fillmore, S.F. (415) 421-TIXS.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Straight outta the Bay, these primal musical archivists wake from their slumber. Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell, S.F. (415) 885-0750.

Nov. 19

Devendra Banhart, Scout Niblett Imagine a Tiny Tim and Memphis Minnie cloning experiment gone horribly right, right up against a cracked and tousled U.K. folkie who's a dead ringer for early, noirish Cindy Sherman. Bimbo's 365 Club, S.F. (415) 474-0365.