'60s Night
The Feed
In reality: A power trio whose increasingly impressive live show — and AM Gold-caliber piano-and-saxophone assault — makes listeners forget that it lacks a guitarist.
Artist covering: Jimi Hendrix
Why this will work: As last year's Clash covers set demonstrated, the Feed has no problem conquering the catalog of guitar heroes. Hendrix's riffs will be quite the challenge, but the band is certainly not afraid to tackle musical luminaries (see also its live Beatles and XTC covers).
The Hibernauts
In reality: A dreampop indie quartet indebted to Sloan, Flaming Lips and the Walkmen.
Artist covering: The Four Tops
Why this will work: Word on the street is that the band has hired a backing band to play Four Tops' tunes — leaving them free to perform choreographed dances in the style of the Motown heroes. 'Nuff said.
Murder City Players
In reality: The city's finest — and longest-running — reggae band; it turns 25 years old this year.
Artist covering: The Wailers
Why this will work: Since Murder City plays an annual fest in celebration of Bob Marley's birthday, it's already well-versed (and rehearsed) in his catalog.
Wormwood Scrubs
In reality: A bass-less, piano-heavy trio which takes its cues from burnished '70s classic rockers and pastoral English folkies.
Artist covering: The Guess Who
Why this will work: The 'Scrubs excels at crafting deep psychedelic grooves and funk-flecked rock riffs — in other words, just what you need to capture the Guess Who's sound.
Chapters
In reality: A dark, gothy band with a penchant for dramatic lyrics and She Wants Revenge-style synthpop.
Artist covering: Neil Diamond
Why this will work: It takes a certain amount of theatrical flair — read: boatloads — to tackle The Big D's catalog and mannerisms. Luckily, Chapters vocalist Vincent Marks has it in spades.
'70s night
LOGOS
In reality: A classic-rock-leaning trio that has opened for Todd Rundgren and other KSHE icons — all before two of its members can even legally drink.
Artist covering: Rush
Why this will work: The youthful band has the gnarled, wizened riffs and helium-filled vocals needed to handle Rush's oeuvre — and an uncanny ability to drift off into outer-space prog-land without floating away.
The Dock Ellis Band
In reality: A wistful, whiskey-soaked sextet that takes its cues from vintage country blues and pedal-steel heartbreak.
Artist covering: Alice Cooper
Why this will work: Dock Ellis co-vocalist Jesse Irwin possesses a 1,000-megawatt smile and a magnetic, charismatic personality — two things that also drive Cooper's horror-rock shtick.
Jon Hardy and the Public
In reality: Springsteen, Gram Parsons and Spoon all rolled into a roots/Americana/power-pop package.
Artist covering: Randy Newman
Why this will work: Like Newman, Hardy is meticulous about his lyrics and arrangements — and his crack backing band the Public is talented enough to tackle the intricate instrumentation.
The Blind Eyes
In reality: A mod-pop trio whose Jam jones is rivaled only by its love for early Elvis Costello.
Artist covering: Uh, Elvis Costello
Why this will work: Gravelly co-vocalists Seth Porter and Kevin Schneider out-Costello the bespectacled one, while the group's taut riffs and rhythms are pure This Year's Model.— Annie Zaleski
8 p.m. Friday, September 5, and Saturday, September 6. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street. $13 under-21, $10 over 21. 18-plus. No phone. www.bluebirdstl.com.
Modest Mau5
Once his shit's all the way together, Joel Zimmerman (a.k.a. Deadmau5) is going to explode. He seemingly can do no wrong — even his joke-band collaboration with Steve Duda, BSOD, illuminates a rare, untamed, scary talent. The pair's half-ass, just-for-yuks foray into electro-house yielded some great songs that are all the rage on Beatport, the dance-music Internet portal that's been a virtual cash register for Zimmerman since he appeared out of nowhere a year ago.
The pasty, dorky-looking Torontonian — he'd probably take that as a compliment — zoomed into focus in February 2007, when his apocalyptic progressive-house track, "Faxing Berlin," wound up on Pete Tong's radio show. In October, galaxy-busting DJ Tiësto threw Zimmerman's Justice-like cruncher "Arguru" on his In Search of Sunrise 6 compilation and then named him as the most notable producer of 2007 in a DJ mag interview, with which Armin van Buuren also publicly agreed wholeheartedly.
References like those are a nice start, but Zimmerman has bigger dreams. There's a restlessness to him, an aura of I want to be everything. Toward all that, what's he doing differently from other DJs? "Well, I have a very big mouse head I wear onstage," he says. "That's very different."
Yes, the big red smiley plastic mouse head. What's that about, some sort of advertisement for druggie stuff to turn our children into Dawn of the Dead? "I want to take the show out of the club and do a live show. Like, a show. We're developing a really big live show with big visuals. That's the plan for the rest of the year."
Well, not quite. There's also his new artist album, called Random Album Title. Released digitally on September 2, Title contains "Faxing Berlin" and songs like "Creep," a spooky, down-tempo piano experiment that's soundtrack-ready. Zimmerman also raves about a song called "I Remember." "Kaskade wrote a beautiful vocal line for [it]," he says. "The voice sounds so smooth."— Eric W. Saeger
9 p.m. Thursday, September 4. HOME Nightclub, One Ameristar Boulevard, Saint Charles. $15. 636-940-4333.
