Mike D’s Top 5 Can’t Miss Shows of February

1. Thursday, Feb 8: Twin Foxes (CD Release), Weak Teeth, Darklands, Fine; 9pm; $6; All ages; AS220, 115 Empire St, PVD. Providence’s Twin Foxes are celebrating the release of their first album, Sleeping on the Attic Floor. I am kind of surprised that this is the first LP; the guitar-driven indie rock act has been kicking ass in Providence for a while, but I guess its been all EPs and splits so far. Two of the songs are up on their bandcamp already; you should check them out. It’s a strong Providence line-up, should be a great night. You might also want to bring a sleeping bag; a keytar playing bear is playing the club the next night.

2. Friday, Feb 9: Keytar Bear, Timecop Beach Party, Triangle Forest, Ruune; 9pm; $8; All ages; AS220, 115 Empire St, PVD. Timecop Beach reunion, cool. Triangle Forest, always great. Ruune, I’m not familiar, but intrigued by the double u.  BOSTON’S PREMIER KEYTAR-PLAYING BEAR?????!!!!!!!!! WELL NOW YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION!  First off, if this is the premier Boston keytar-playing bear, does that mean there are other Boston area keytar-playing bears? What’s his name? Is he nice? What other hobbies does he have? I NEED ANSWERS!

3. Thursday, Feb 15: Wiki, Tmose, Lando Tuesday, Delta / Chronic E, Hate Street Dialogue; 8pm doors / 9pm show; $12 advance / $15 day of; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St, Pawtucket. NYC rapper Wiki is poised to break out in 2018. He started in the NYC underground group Ratking, and started making waves releasing solo material and making high-profile appearances with big acts such as Run The Jewels. In 2017 he released No Mountains In Manhattan on XL Records, an artist-friendly label that only releases a few albums each year, but has been the home to huge artists such as Vampire Weekend, Radiohead and recently one of my other new favorites, King Krule. Make sure you get there early, as my moles tell me there is going to be a very big unannounced special guest (Spoiler alert: I booked it with Spocka Summa and I know who it is).

4. Saturday, Feb 24: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue; 8pm doors / 9pm show; $30 advance / $35 day of; All ages. The Strand Ballroom & Theatre, 79 Washington St, PVD. Party of the year happens in February and it isn’t Patriots-related. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue might be as close to a New Orleans party as I will get this year, and what better month than a couple weeks after Fat Tuesday? Trombone Shorty has been at this since birth; at 4 years old he performed on stage with Bo Didley at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. There are now several New Orleans Brass Bands leaving home to tour the country, none of them are as fun as Trombone Shorty. Get there early and wear some light clothing cause the dancing is going to make the club hot.

5. Saturday, Feb 24: The Low Anthem; 8pm doors / 9pm show; $17 advance / $20 day of; All ages; Columbus Theatre, Broadway, PVD. The Low Anthem are back, and bringing with them a new album, The Salt Doll Went To Measure The Depths Of The Sea that is out the day before on Joyful Noise Recordings. There isn’t any new material released as of press time, but there is a Youtube teaser that is only 30 seconds long but sweet none the less. A little birdie told me that NPR (I was drinking with said birdie, I might be wrong) will be streaming the record a couple weeks before the Feb 23 release date, so keep watch for that too.

Also worth noting: Feb 3 — Sisqo & Dru Hill @ The Strand; Feb 8 (& every Thursday in Feb) The Z-Boys residency @ Newport Blues Cafe; Feb 10 — The Mallett Brothers @ The Ocean Mist; Feb 17 — Matt Bellassai @ The Strand; Feb 18 — PVRIS @ The Strand; Feb 18 — Murphy’s Law / The Pourmen / Reason To Fight @ Alchemy; Feb 22 — Declan McKenna @ The Strand; Feb 22 — Portugal. The Man (sold out) @ The Strand; Feb 23 — Tigers Jaw @ The Met; March 1 — Lucero @ The Met; March 3 — Jonathan Richman @ The Met; March 3 — Soja @ The Strand; March 3 — Wyclef Jean @ Fete