When The Lights Go Down In The City

We reckon a good percentage of San Franciso music-lovers will be at Great American Music Hall this week, whether it's at one of the three sold out Arcade Fire shows or Saturday's sold out X show. We commend you, SF, your taste is impeccable. While you're down at Great American, SFist Emily recommends stopping by the box office to purchase your ticket for the Tsunami Relief Benefit on January 28th. A $20 donation gets you in to see performances by Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters) and Eric Bachman (Archers of Loaf). We smell another sold out show coming on.

If you like your Americana with a little dirt under its fingernails, tonight The Independent has Jesse Malin and Ball-Point Birds featuring Tim and Greg of Mother Hips. Malin's new record has appearances from fellow greasy-haired folkies Ryan Adams and Pete Yorn. Kaiser Chiefs have brought their deafening dance-punk buzz all the way from the UK down to the Popscene stage at 330 Ritch. SFist Mary-Lynn recommends Turn Records’ 5 year anniversary party at Cafe du Nord, featuring Track Star, Xiu Xiu, Dealership, The Dying Californian and Doctor Nurse (w/ members of The Contrail). Take this opportunity to congratulate the Turn folks on five great years, then slip your demo tape into their bag when they’re not looking.

Friday night offers great shows in every genre. Bottom of the Hill will have the stylish haircut crowd shimmying and slithering along to Von Iva, Scarling and Death Of A Party. Indie rockers can release all their nervous energy along with The Thermals and Oranger down at Cafe Du Nord. Relax to the ambient sounds of The Album Leaf, Rum Diary and Roots of Orchis at The Independent. Wave your hands in the air with Special Ed at Elbo Room with Coolie High and Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist. Or head down to Slim's to let X school you on how to rock a crowd. This ain't no rickety nostalgia ride; stay out of the first few rows if you're afraid to get spit or sweat upon.

X continues their sold out two-night assault on SF on Saturday night at Great American. Also on Saturday is Panache Magazine's 7 year anniversary with The Holy Kiss at Bottom of the Hill and Breakthru's 3 Year Anniversary Bash at Club Six. The Independent has the multimedia dance-drum-groove onslaught of The Mutaytor, which sounds like a can't-miss for fans of Burning Man and Cirque du Soleil. The music continues on Sunday with Colin Meloy of the Decemberists flying solo at Cafe Du Nord. Get those last scraps of dance out of your system before the weekend ends with Gold Chains & Sue Cie and The Lovemakers at Rickshaw Stop.

On Monday you can catch a solo set by Charles Bissel of the Wrens at Bottom of the Hill. We imagine that his solo stuff will be similar to the thoughtful indie rock of the Wrens, but with the sugar-pop of From Bubblegum to Sky also on the bill, perhaps it'll be a mixed bag of genres. Hypnotic yarn-spinner Paula Frazer provides the musical interlude for Porchlight's Storytelling Series at Cafe Du Nord. Another local chanteuse sings at Cafe Du Nord on Tuesday, when Odessa Chen plays Watchword's Issue 7 Release Party.

Slim's will be bursting with formulaic pop-rock madness on Wednesday night when Bowling For Soup, American Hi-Fi and Riddlin' Kids roll into town. We hope they play that one kooky, ironic singalong about something humiliating/hilarious/titillating that happened in high school. You know, the one where they namedrop Whitesnake, or Nintendo, or Paris Hilton? Jennifer Herrema from Royal Trux brings her patented sneer and her new band RTX to Bottom of the Hill. If you can't wait until the 28th to raise some funds, head to the Make Out Room for the AIDS Marathon Variety Show Fundraiser featuring burlesque dancers (Desire d'Amour, Rose Pistola and Cherry Lix), music (Andy McKinney, Ian Shaul, and Gil Guinan), juggling, a raffle and drag performer Tweak Turner. All proceeds go to the AIDS Marathon and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.