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I'm not going to insult you with acts that aren't touring (or even together) anymore. I've gotten sick of hearing things like, "Aw, you shoulda seen [insert cliché here] back when [insert another cliché here] was still with them!" Great shows, yes, but it's asinine to tell you you ought to see something that hasn't existed for the better part of one (or two, or three) decade(s).
Acts I'd sent you to see now...
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. They've got something to put off nearly anyone, but if you can listen to a wide, wide range of music in one song without pulling hipster attitude they absolutely rock. Swinging from metal (Obituary, not Iron Maiden) to Swans-ish pounding to folk to Weimar-era Brecht in tone, they always play with enthusiasm and amazing, extremely tight musicianship. They engage the audience, they engage the music and they want you to feel as well as hear what's happening onstage. Challenging songs of mourning for the Earth, departed friends, the Italian Futurists and James Joyce. Nice folks, too.
Mission Of Burma. That these worthy gents not only reformed after a 19-year layoff but are still an absolutely awesome live act is astonishing. The sound of the band straining at the seams to contain (but never tame) the twin poles of influence, The Stooges and Pere Ubu, wrings absolute joy from Miller's feedback and Conley & Prescott's thundering, loping rhythms. The only band I've ever taken an airplane to see.
Erase Errata. Jagged, stiff music, evoking the best of bands like The Minutemen, The Fall and Gang Of Four without becoming anything other than themselves. If anything I'd say the live show is more powerful than the recorded work, if only because the music has a visceral lurch to it that is best experienced at high volume and up close.
The Black Keys. For the record, I saw them play a two night stand opening for another band, but they threatened to steal the stage. Simple, stripped-down blues, shambling and rough-hewn, with none of the lighter-in-the-air B.S. that plagues acts like Big Head Todd & The Monsters. If you can see them in San Francisco you may get the added bonus of seeing national treasure Ralph "Uncle of the Drummer" Carney sit in with them on, among other things, slide sax. Wild show.
My concertgoing has tapered off over the years, due to age and time commitments, so it's tough to say who not to see. Big Head Todd & The Monsters, who opened a show I saw not too long ago, would be the most obvious example. The combination of jammy, vapid, technically proficient blooze and incredibly annoying fans would have driven me from the venue had I gone solo. (Folks, if you're going to dance you really ought to A) put the beer down, and B) not move as is every vertebra in your body formed a single, solid mass.) The worst shows are often so due to the audience or venue, and a common thread among the acts I list above is that none of them play terribly large shows (and, largely, draw engaged, intelligent crowds, myself possibly excepted). As well, both Sleepytime and Burma tour with their own sound crew, so it's a rare night when the venue defeats either band on that front. (Speaking of front, I love being front & center but it's never the place for the best sound. Generally speaking, anywhere within the first 10' in front of the stage is likely to be a dead spot for more heavily amplified sounds, such as vocals. If good sound is a must, find the sound board & stand there.)
I could go on about how good Guided By Voices were in 1995, or how terrible Mary's Danish was in 1990 (jerks, too, until they wanted something), but you can neither see nor avoid either of them. Other bands have changed so much since I last saw them that I'd be hesitant to send you to a show. The four above, though, are worth spending an evening in a crowded, strange-smelling room to experience.
