[RAP] + THU., APRIL 21
Known for his extremely fast (sometimes called “chopper”) style and his rap-rock-influenced beats, Kansas City-born rapper Tech N9ne has been rapping since he was a small child. He has performed with many different groups, including Black Mafia and The Regime. Tonight, he returns to Pittsburgh, and will be performing with special guests Krizz Kaliko, Rittz, Mayday!, Stevie Stone and Ces Cru at Stage AE. Andrew Woehrel 6:30 p.m. 400 North Shore Drive, North Side. $27. 412-229-5483 or www.stageae.com
[NEW WAVE] + FRI., APRIL 22
Though best known for hits like “Rock Lobster” and “Love Shack,” Athens, Ga.’s The B-52s are far more than a novelty act. The band’s campy, kinda queer surf rock earned it accolades and record sales in the late 1970s and ’80s. Though the group was lumped in with the nascent new-wave scene, its combination of ’60s-style pop, post-punk, dance, winking humor and the alternating yelping of idiosyncratic vocalists Fred Schneider and Cindy Wilson was, and still is, totally unique. You can see these alternative-music legends tonight at the Palace Theatre. AW 8 p.m. 21 W. Otterman St., Greensburg. $38-85. 724-836-8000 or www.thepalacetheatre.org
[ANTI-FOLK] + FRI., APRIL 22
In case you didn’t know, April 22 is Earth Day. Tonight’s Earth Day Rising! Benefit Show at Nied’s Hotel finds Boston riot-folker Evan Greer and locals Anne Feeney, Slim Forsythe and the Pay Day Loners and LRAD joining together to combat corporate greenwashing and greed. Evan Greer is a trans/genderqueer political activist and singer/songwriter whose simple but optimistic songs are lyrical portraits of lost but hopeful American youth, and straddle the line between hippie and punk. AW 7 p.m. 5438 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $10-25. 412-781-9853 or www.niedshotel.myfastsite.com
[POWER POP] + SAT., APRIL 23
The witty and catchy guitar-pop of Los Angeles singer/songwriter Colleen Green is at once summery and filled with ennui. Her songs have a Ramones-like simplicity, and it’s clear that she has studied her pop-punk records, with cheeky album titles like Milo Goes to Compton and I Want To Grow Up. Though I wouldn’t call Colleen Green pop punk, she is opening for pop-punk band Basement tonight at Altar Bar, with Turnstile and Defeater. And while Green’s music might not be groundbreaking (“pop melodies + fuzzy guitars = a good time” is a tried-and-true equation), it’s well crafted and addictive. AW 8 p.m. 1620 Penn Ave., Strip District. $15-18. All ages. 412-263-2877 or www.thealtarbar.com
[SLUDGE METAL] + TUE., APRIL 26
New Orleans’ Eyehategod is known as a crushing and brutal heavy-metal band with throat-shredding vocals, but is just as well known for the band members’ hard-living ways. Though nihilism and substance abuse have long been associated with the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, Eyehategod takes things to almost parodic levels, with album titles like Dopesick and Take as Needed for Pain. But at the risk of sounding like an anti-drug PSA, you can enjoy Eyehategod’s murky, fatalistic doom metal without the use of hard drugs. Tonight, the band appears at Altar Bar with special guests Fight Amp and Snafu. AW 7 p.m. 1620 Penn Ave., Strip District. $18-20. 412-263-2877 or www.thealtarbar.com
