More Tours to Fall For

(^Don't you love my rhyming skills? Door, chore, folklore...)

A lot has happened since I last posted fall tour info, and even though the days are getting darker earlier, the concert options are looking brighter than ever...

Didn't really want $100 seats for the Jonas Brothers World Tour this summer? Still remotely interested in checking out their protegee/Ken dolls, Honor Society? Honor Society will be playing a much more intimate show at Sonar, a Baltimore club the size of your closet in an area that will make the parents of many JoBros fans want to hop right back in their cars and take their kiddies to Port Discovery instead. But for the serious Honor Society fans, their show on Wednesday 9/30 should be the perfect antithesis to seeing them open for the JoBros. Get your $15 tickets here and wonder when the last time you could see the JoBros for that price was.

In case you didn't get tickets to Owl City's show this Saturday before they sold out, don't worry too much; there are other fish in the sea and birds in the electonica sky. Lights, often called Owl City's female counterpart (a moniker I completely disagree with, but whatever) is playing at Sonar on Saturday 10/3. Electronic indie trio Stars of Track & Field are opening. At Warped Tour, Lights performed one of the most awkward sets I ever seen (and I have seen Hottub, so I know awkward). There were over 150 people in the mosh, and I was one of the six who danced. The rest just stood there and gaped at her. I mean, she is certainly worthy of gaping at, but really, she's up there for half an hour; surely you can wrap your mind around her music within that time. Anyhow, when people have to shell out $12 for tickets, more than 4% of the crowd should dance. Get your tickets here.

Saturday 10/3 is actually a pretty huge night for Sonar, what with Geist's CD release party in the Talking Head Club and five bands playing a Sonar-sponsored event at Ottobar. Jay Reatard is headlining the Ottobar event, and if you're not the electropop type, his punk rock should provide some equally-electrifying entertainment for the night.

Is touring the East Coast every fall an annual tradition for Relient K? For the second year in a row, Relient K is coming to the area in October. Last year, I missed seeing them play at the 9:30 Club on a school night. This year, I'm going to miss seeing them play at the Recher Theater in Towson on a school night. Tuesday 10/6, to be specific. The same day they release their new album, which I'll talk more about later. Last year, their fall tour had a Halloween theme. This year, it's called "A Three-Hour Tour," so can we hope to see Matty T dressed up as Gilligan and Matty H as the Skipper? I think the guys would tell us there's always hope... More info on the tour with Barcelona and Copeland here.

Kate Voegele is coming to Rock & Roll Hotel on Friday 10/16 with Green River Ordinance. I saw the perpetually sunny Kate perform at Ram's Head a few years ago, and her on-stage exuberance matched only the love coming her diverse group of fans. Buy tickets here.

You might want to save your $16, though. The Friday after that, 10/23, though, mtvU brings out the big guns. Their inaugural Haloween-themed Ulalume fest will move in to the Merriwether Post Pavilion. Supporting acts Kid Cudi and Dead by Sunrise are sure to scare up a crowd before big-name headliners Paramore and AFI go in for the kill. With costume contests and other events that should put the "boo" in "booths" scattered around the pavilion grounds, this festival should be spooktacular. (Don't you love Halloween-themed puns?) Zip over to mtvu.com for all the details and ticket info. Hurry - I hear everyone's dying to get in (Oh gosh, I'm even making myself groan now...)

Give yourself a day off, then check out The Used at Sonar on Sunday 10/25. Or just go there instead of Ulalume because my incessant punnery has made you despise everything Halloween-related. (Sorry!) Get your tickets, along with a free song and uncensored music video, here.

Sunday 10/8, go to the Black Cat to get one last glimpse of local rocker-philanthropists Mae (buy a new song for $1 every month, and the money will buy materials for underfunded schools) before they jet off to Japan with Owl City. Or just for them to come home; they're only playing 3 shows in Japan. But still, isn't it so exciting when people tour Japan?

It's a pretty good season for electropop buffs: Pretty Lights is bringing his jazzy electronica to the 9:30 Club on Wednesday 11/18. Not to be confused with just plain Lights, Pretty Lights is actually not a pretty girl. (I think a name swap may be in order here.) He is actually producer Derek Vincent Smith, who brings a live drummer with him to live shows (as opposed to the dead drummers at... okay, I'll let it go). He also happens to be my newest favorite reason why electronic music is not all soulless, evil, and murdering other genres. To hear the instrumental beauty for yourself, download all three of his albums for the unbeatable price of free at his official site, give him a donation on his PayPal because, dude, you just three albums for free, then head over to his MySpace to leave a little more love and find some more info on his tour with Gramatik.

And last but definitely not least, Boys Like Girls is headlining one of the most exciting tours of the fall for the Fueled By Ramen crowd, supported by the dream team of Cobra Starship, The Maine, A Rocket to the Moon, and VersaEmerge. The only problem? It's not stopping in DC. But anyone who cares to travel a few hours to Philadelphia should be in for a treat on Saturday 11/21, when they play at Electric Factory. Tour dates & tickets here.