Bright Eyes, Hurray for the Riff Raff Singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra’s band, Hurray for the Riff Raff, certainly started as more of a folk endeavor, but their new album Life on Earth is much too fluid to fit into that simple categorization. Filled with urgent songs about surviving in disastrous times, Segarra wails and warbles through the collection of tunes that vary from edgy, punky guitar-driven numbers to hip-shaking folk to sparse synth-laden anthems. All the while Segarra wrestles with the messy complications of simply existing as part of humanity with affecting, compassionate candor. Hurray for the Riff Raff swings through town to show off the new songs while opening for emo staple Bright Eyes.
Spokane Symphony Pops 3: Havana Nights For people who aren’t all that into the traditional classical music scene, the Spokane Symphony’s Pops series is most likely the peanut butter to your jelly. Pops focuses on highlighting culturally popular and significant music that leaves a lasting impact on society and this time audiences are traveling to Havana for a night of energetic and passionate music performed by the Mambo Kings, a five-piece, upbeat Latin jazz ensemble. The quintet has been performing together since 1995 and they’ve still got all their original jive. Hear musical selections from Cuba, Spain and Latin America, accompanied by star soprano Camille Zamora, and groove along in your seat to the jazzy beat.
Henry Rollins Even subtracting Henry Rollins’ card-carrying membership in the Punk Rock Legends Club courtesy of his stint fronting SoCal pioneers Black Flag, you’d be hard-pressed to hit one of his spoken-word performances and not walk away utterly entertained. Part stand-up comedy, part political diatribe, part travel log and part oral memoir — Rollins’ non-musical stage shows can inspire you to attack life with a whole new attitude, or at least to flaunt your inner attitude a little more proudly. His global travels have given Rollins a perspective far more wide-ranging than the one earned through the window of a tour van in the early ’80s, and you can bet the hot-button news of the day, from the war in Ukraine to the war on women in America, will bring some added fire to his appearance in Spokane.
Spokane Symphony: Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert There is no more iconic movie music than John Williams’ scores for the Star Wars films. But the series’ aural importance goes deeper than that. For many young fans, it’s the first time they realize the power of music in film or that symphonic arrangements can be thrilling rides and not just stuffy old guy music that parents like. When the opening theme hits, viewers aren’t only sonically whisked to a galaxy far, far away, it’s often the beginning of a galactic journey of musical exploration. Spokane Symphony embraces this by playing along with screenings of the original groundbreaking blockbuster, Star Wars: A New Hope.
The Flaming Lips At this point, we know what to expect when the Flaming Lips play live. And that is not a knock. The psychedelic pop rock band always delivers a wondrous live show with elements that fans already adore. You’re going to get the small handful of songs that are stone-cold cult classics (“Do You Realize?,” “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part 1,” “Race for the Prize,” “Fight Test”) and the rest of the tunes that may feel more like filler will be greatly boosted by emotive theatrics from singer Wayne Coyne, a veritable rainbow of colorful lights, Coyne rolling around in an inflatable hamster ball, etc. Just let the spectacle roll over you (perhaps literally) and bliss out.