Bloglander

TONIGHT!

Toting glitter, eyeliner, bamboo flutes and tribal beats in by the bucketful, Koreshakti Tribal Fusion and Pax Lumina (who we wrote about last week) transform Empyrean into their own little slice of heaven — or HELL — tonight. The groups throw their "Haunted Forest" shows tonight. The first half is all peacocks and fairies, and in the second half the performance turns toward witches, ghosts, vampires. 8 pm. $10. All-ages.

TOMORROW!
Dammit Shins! Don't take the Fruit Bats from us. There's a good chance the popular Sub Pop band won't be stopping in our neck of the woods anytime soon since its main man, Eric Johnson, joined the ranks of the Shins. Just in case they don't, you might want to make the short trip to Pullman. They play the Bell Tower (125 SE Spring) tomorrow at 8 pm with Yarn Owl. $12. Check out stereopathicmusic.com for deets.

SUNDAY!
There's not a whole lot that the Ragbirds aren't. They rock. They play violin. They bring together African rhythms, gospel, Romanian fiddles. The Michigan band even — get this — patched together an "eco-touring" van, powering it with vegetable oil dregs. Check out our story on them here, and check their show out Sunday at the Seaside (and for the next three days at John’s Alley, in Moscow). $5. 7 pm.

MONDAY!
Probably your best day of music all week. Hit up the Knitting Factory for an unbelievable show by Eugene Hutz and his merry band of pranksters, Gogol Bordello on Monday night. And get there early: Forro in the Dark (a New York City band we profiled this week here) could be the next Gogol, we think. $25. All-ages. 8 pm.

Keep your bracelet from Gogol tightly fixed on your wrist and head on over to Nyne for the not-so-official Gogol Bordello after-party, featuring Buster Blue, Flying Spiders (Spokane supergroup!) and Matthew Winters. We'll post some videos to get you excited for this one on Monday.