RECOMMENDED AND NOTABLE CONCERTS
FRIDAY 22
Avett Brothers 8 PM, UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine Fitz & the Tantrums, Capital Cities, Beat Club 6 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 1106 W. Lawrence A
SATURDAY 23
Cults, Sacco, Mood Rings 9 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark Mowgli’s, Royal Teeth, Ambassadors 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 1375 W. Lake
SUNDAY 24
Paramore, Metric 7:30 PM, UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine
MONDAY 25
Robbie Fulks & Don Stierberg 7 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia
TUESDAY 26
Lupe Fiasco Julia Klee, Small Houses, Ty Maxon 9 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport
WEDNESDAY 27
JUICY J It’s been more than two decades since Jordan Houston (aka Juicy J) cofounded Three 6 Mafia, a Memphis crew whose menacing party raps helped codify crunk before it petered out (but didn’t quite break up) at the end of the aughts. As rap writer Jeff Weiss details in a recent a Spin profile on Houston, when Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar in 2006 for the song “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” it brought the group to Hollywood, exposing them to the harmful effects of reality TV and ill-conceived high-gloss crossover collaborations (sorry, Tiesto). Houston returned to Memphis to recharge, and at 38 he’s rapping with the intensity and an enthusiasm of a hungry teenager. On his recent third album, Stay Trippy (Taylor Gang/ Kemosabe/Columbia), Houston outshines guests many years his junior: he’s more fun than Wale (who drops some half-assed bars on “Bounce It”), more lucid than Lil Wayne (who almost sleepwalks through the club banger “Bandz a Make Her Dance”), and more competent than Big Sean (who regrettably appears on “Show Out”). The Young Chop-produced “No Heart No Love” proves Houston to be an agile crossover artist who can handle a Top 40 rap sound without shedding his past—with his Tennessee twang and sturdy, springy flow, he delivers uncut observations of street life as easily as he rattles off rhymes about purple drank and getting head on a Mike Will Made It song with Miley Cyrus. — LEOR GALIL Machine Gun Kelly and Saguto open. 8 PM, UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine, $17-$49. A
Vanessa Carlton, Birdcloud 8 PM, City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph Chance the Rapper 7:30 PM, Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine A
THURSDAY 28
Joey DeFrancesco Trio 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth