Ac/dc, the Poor

Erwin Center, Friday 26

Once upon a time, back in my youth, I was lucky enough to score tickets to see the Police and AC/DC on the same weekend. Because I was an impressionable high schooler, a big, bad upper classman convinced me that taking mushrooms (see "Roadkill") at the Police concert would be a good idea. It was. What was not, was keeping said illegal substances in the car and the police deciding to search the car, which was sitting on private property. Needless to say, my parents were not pleased when they had to retrieve me from the police station at 3am. Fifteen years later, missing AC/DC because I was grounded still smarts. I'm a little older and wiser now, so this time 'round, there will be no mushrooms. This time, I will see Angus, the guitar bookend of the modern riff continuum -- Louis Jordan/Chuck Berry/Keith Richards/Angus Young. This time, I will rock! Jimmy Young, Angus and Malcolm's nephew, anchors the Poor, an Australian hard rock band that sounds a lot like...

UPPER CRUST

Back Room, Friday 26

Speaking of AC/DC... Like their labelmates Los Straitjackets, Upper Crust have a gimmick. Instead of donning wrestling garb however, these Boston boys pretend they're Louis quatorze -- powdered faces, wigs, the whole Three Musketeers schtick. Could be dull if they weren't trying to be AC/DC (and sometimes, the Georgia Satellites), because according to Let Them Eat Rock, they're doing a pretty decent job of it. Your AC/DC ticket stub gets you in free. Look for Upper Crust at Emo's, Sunday 28, too.

NATHAN &
THE ZYDECO CHA CHAS

Antone's, Friday 26

When Nathan and his accordion heard that Buckwheat Zydeco got to do two nights at Ant-one's last fall, he was wounded. Maybe that's why the Creole furnace blasts for one night only at Austin's Home of the Blues. Be there.

FLACO JIMENEZ

La Zona Rosa, Saturday 27

Speaking of accordions... Seems we see more of Flaco's little bro', Santiago, in town than we do the original accordion tornado. Something reassuring, though, about the elder Jimenez playing La Zona Rosa while Mexican food and beer are consumed inside.

LEFTOVER SALMON

White Rabbit, Friday 26 & Saturday 27

Because Austin acts generally do well in Colorado, it's only fitting that their bands find a home-away-from-home here in Austin. This quintet does a ski-country exquivalent of the Bad Livers and the Ugly Americans -- at the same time. It's high energy, and quite loved at the Rabbit in this season of Dave Matthews.

ILUMINED HARTT

Dougherty Arts Center, Saturday 27

Because Hartt Stearns studied all forms of percussion with drum gurus from Nigeria to Brazil -- and apprenticed with American drum lords like Alex Acuna and Chester Thompson -- rhythms are all he knows. Iluminada, on the other hand, inhabits the land of bird calls where cooing, calling, scatting and luminescent harmonies fill the air. With multi-instrumentalist John Mills, Spencer Starnes, and the Bowie High School percussion ensemble, their musical journey travels the globe ending up back here, in Austin, in a classroom of world music.

DALE WATSON

Under the Sun, Sunday 28

As Dale Watson gets ready to head out on the road with HighTone's "Roadhouse Revival" tour, Austin's fave country rocker has time enough to stop off for an afternoon of free BBQ and beer, at Under the Sun, a vintage clothes/furniture emporium, which figures to have free music every Sunday in February. Worth a looksee.

MR. T EXPERIENCE

Emo's, Monday 29

"Let me introduce you to our dumb little band you might find hard to understand -- we've got a show even though we know no one's gonna go. We'll crank our second-hand Marshall stacks' dumb little knobs -- we're paying for them with our dumb little jobs. The guy at the bar says he thinks we're okay, we remind him of Green Day." -- "Dumb Little Band" from Mr. T Experience's new Lookout CD Love is Dead. Sez it all, I think.

DREAD ZEPPELIN

Liberty Lunch, Tuesday 30

This one-trick pony keeps leaping through the flaming hoops of Albionic Zeppelin music, with a frontman who probably does Wednesday-night poker with El Vez and Ted Roddy, and a ragga band to make Jimmy Page wish he were a rasta.

LITTLE SISTER, GIBB DROLL

Steamboat, Thursday 1

In a time when short 'n' punchy is the only thing on the radio, the word "jam" has gotten a bad rap. What, after all, is more musically sound than a bunch of musicians stretching out on their instruments? Nada, say the regulars at Steamboat who pack 'em in every week for tried-and-true bands like Little Sister. On this two-night stand, (Friday, February 2, also), our Sister is joined by Virginia guitarist Gibb Droll, and his band's answer to those beloved Austin jams. ALSO PLAYING

Friday: Spoon, Adults, Electric Lounge

Saturday: Peter Himmelman, Cactus Cafe

Sunday: Rich Harney Trio, Elephant Room

Monday: Michael Ballew, Saxon Pub

Tuesday: Cypress Hill, 311, Pharcyde, Austin Music Hall

Wednesday: Amy Tivens, Broken Spoke

Thursday: Storyville, Antone's