Modest Mouse
Louisville Palace
Tuesday, Oct. 3
A truly unique and consistent indie band that landed commercial success by tearing and splicing rock, new-wave and post-punk, forming something that hits the right balance of catchy and strange.

Phantogram
Mercury Ballroom
Friday, Oct. 6
An electronic duo that mixes underground hip-hop beats with sugary pop vocals and scattered indie rock elements, Phantogram sounds like a louder versions of Lana Del Rey — someone who takes the general sound of pop, and carves off the vast majority of the bubblegum, making something more lean and smart than what Cumulus pushes. More or less, Phantogram is one of the bands that proves that pop can be fun without being ridiculous.

Boa
Zanzabar
Saturday, Oct. 7
A psych-rock leaning group that also carries folk and jam-band sensibilities, Boa plays a breezy, harmony-filled style that certainly owes a debt to artists such as The Band.

Orginalli, Sam Humans
Thursday, Oct. 12
The Cure Lounge
A sludgy, hard rock band that lives on a steady diet of power chords and bluesy licks, Orginalli hits with force, a throwback to the old gods.

New Bravado, Parallel Colors, Together in Dust
Kaiju
Saturday, Oct. 14
With straightforward, blistering garage rock, New Bravado has that lovable muscular rock-’n’-roll sound, without overdoing it, instead crafting dreamy lyrics that run under a booming structure.

New Bravado – I Don’t Mind (Official Video) from Michael Tyler McDaniel on Vimeo.

Katy Perry
KFC Yum Center
Monday, Oct. 16
She rode a robotic lion on the field at the Super Bowl, which is the sort of thing that makes big-name pop shows fun.

Deer Tick
Headliners Music Hall
Tuesday, Oct. 17
An alt-country/dive bar rock band that hasn’t spent much time on the road lately, Deer Tick just released a double album — one disc acoustic, the other electric — looking to pick up where they left off.

Jack Holiday Halloween: Radiohead
Haymarket
Saturday, Oct. 28
Jack Holiday and the Westerners will be playing a Halloween cover set of Radiohead classics from Ok Computer and In Rainbows. 

Elizabeth Cook
Zanzabar
Saturday, Oct. 26
An evocative singer-songwriter who wrote one of the best songs about the ring of frustration and terror that addiction causes (“Heroin Addict Sister”), Elizabeth Cook is a gifted storyteller whose work is sharp and relatable.

Victor Wooten Trio
Headliners Music Hall
Monday, Oct. 30
Widely regarded as one of the best best players ever to live, Victor Wooten is a straight-up savant, who can seamlessly glide through genres.