KWUR Week is over, we had a blast, but there are so many other great shows coming up in the next few months!  In fact, this is turning out to be a banner semester for concerts in St. Louis, and you really don't have an excuse to miss some of the awesome live music that's coming our way (unless you hate live music, but if that's the case, you're probably not reading this).  Anyway, here are a few shows that I think will be excellent and that you should attend.  Remember folks, it's a positive feedback loop: if more people go to shows, more bands will want to come play here.  YOU can make a difference, and probably get drunk while doing it.

February 26th: JEFF the Brotherhood w/ Diarrhea Planet – The Gargoyle [event info]

This will be the fourth time the Brothers JEFF play St. Louis, and they've gotten consistently better every time I've seen them.  Sprung from the musically fertile loins of Nashville, they play rock n roll with a psychedelic twist; "kraut-punk," as it were.  Live, they are a hurricane of drums and 3-string guitar – in fact, it's amazing how much fist-pump, stomp-dance-inducing noise these two dudes can make.  The last time I saw them, I had so much fun that I woke up in my roommate's bed at noon with a crippling hangover that lasted until 8.  Party! 

Fellow Nashvillains Diarrhea Planet are opening, and I've not heard much from them.  However, based on their myspace tunes, I expect that a good, lo-fi-pop time will be had by all. 

March 4th: Dan Deacon – The Gargoyle [event info]

Get ready for maximum spazzing and lots of sweaty bodies moving together to the sound of a drum machine/synthesizer orgy.  I'm not sure if this is just going to be Mr. Deacon or if he's bringing a band with him, but I am sure that it will be wild.  Dude best bring that music-cart thing, I want some serious artist-audience interaction.  No word on the opener yet, but there are a lot of local bands that would probably fit this bill well (Gargoyle Committee, get Skarekrau Radio and really freak everyone out).

March 11th: CAVE, Skarekrau Radio, Bikini Acid, Ghost Ice – Pig Slop [event info]

CAVE are from Chicago by way of Columbia, MO, and their 2009 record Psychic Psummer is a fucking jam and a half.  Their drummer is an absolute motorik beat beast, anchoring the rest of the band's swirling guitars and synths and propulsing all of their songs into the land of kraut-raucousness.  Skarekrau Radio are from outer space or something and play weird – but great – noise rock.  Every time I've seen them, though, I've heard something different so I'm not sure what to expect.  Ghost Ice and Bikini Acid are also both very talented musicians, so basically come to this show if you want to get a good sense of what's going on in the St. Louis experimental/noise scene right now.

That covers the next few weeks or so, but I'm sure I'm missing a ton of great shows during that time.  Please cure me of my ignorance by posting your own show recs in the comments.