Two A-Lists I Wrote For Two Good Gigs But I Missed The Deadline Because I Am Lame

Dedicated to my fallen brethren in blurbage Robert Christgau and Chuck Eddy

Friday 21
Rhett Miller
I didn't love Miller's solo bow The Instigator or the Old '97's most recent outing Drag It Up; both had the sounds-good-no-songs malady that thankfully is not the case on Miller's perfectly lovable sophomore stomp, The Believer. It kicks off with "My Valentine," a sex-during-wartime anthem for lovers of love and spring flingers everywhere. From there it bleeds into "Help Me, Suzanne" (the best "S"-song since St. Leonard's "Suzanne") and a whole bunch of tunes about love, sex and the universe that sound especially rich and fertile in this, the fecund season. For instance, on "Meteor Shower," the honeycomb-throated singer pines, "Love gets you in the gut/Takes the top off of your head/And makes you wish that you were dead." Sure enough, but with tunage like this to die along to, it can also make you feel mighty glad to (still) be alive. With Garrison Starr. $15; 8 p.m., First Avenue, 701 N. First Avenue, Mpls.; 612.338.8388.--Jim Walsh

Tuesday 25
Ike Reilly and Phil Karnatz

Reilly's band the Assassination is back home in Chicago after a tour of the East, Southeast, and Southwest. The fivesome's stop in Austin, Texas included a three-hour post-bar jam on the IRA tour bus with partyboy and massive Reilly fan Lance Armstrong on vocals and tequila. Look for a similar slapdash vibe tonight, as Reilly and guitarist Phil Karnatz takes a solo turn in support of his new online acoustic release The Last Demonstration, before heading into the studio to record a new record which Reilly reports will go for a decidedly punk-soul vibe. Openers to be announced. $15; 8 p.m., Turf Club, Snelling and University, St. Paul. 651.647.0486--Jim Walsh