Boston: Four Concerts Worth Seeing This Weekend

Indie Rock
Who: Youth Lagoon with Gem Club
When: Thursday, November 17, 9 p.m.
Where: TT the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St., Cambridge, 617-492-2327, ttthebears.com.
Cost: $10, buy tickets here.
Why? Boise’s Youth Lagoon is on the verge of blowing up — and catching him while he’s still essentially a one-man show playing small venues is the very definition of a good idea. And locals Gem Club have been on the up and up since releasing their album Breakers at the end of September — they’ve been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered, and Tiny Desk Concerts, and recently debuted their video for single “252” on Spinmagazine.com.

World Music
Who: Tinariwen with Sophie Hunger
When: Friday, November 18, 8 p.m.
Where: Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, 617-562-8800, thedise.com.
Cost: $20, buy tickets here.
Why? The group’s most recent album, Tassili, featured members of TV on the Radio, Wilco, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and was recorded entirely in the Algerian desert. The band itself is made up of Tuareg nomads who play guitar and beat-driven bluesy rock beneath sand scratched vocals and hand claps. At once soulful and arresting, this is a show that’s not to be missed.

Photograph by Doron Gild.

Sultry Beats
Who: Phantogram with Exitmusic
When: Saturday, November 19, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Royale, 279 Tremont St., Boston, 617-338-7699, royaleboston.com.
Cost: $15, buy tickets here.
Why? While Phantogram’s electro-tinged guitar and synth ditties probably rest safely in the realm of shoegazing, but this is the kind of show you could get lost in — in a good way. The New York?based pair just released their aptly-named Nightlife EP, and coupled with the dreamy, whisper-sodden beauty of Canadian duo Exitmusic (whose single, “The Sea” is one of my favorite tracks of the year), this is the show you should hit up if you’re looking for ethereal, psychedelia-tinged trip hop.

String Theory
Who: Itzhak Perlman with Rohan de Silva
When: Sunday, November 20, 3 p.m.
Where: Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, 617-266-1492, bso.org.
Cost: $40?$83, buy tickets here.
Why? It’s no secret that Israeli-born Perlman is a violin virtuoso worth seeing — the man picked up a violin when he was three years old and was giving recitals by the time he was 10. He studied at Juilliard and has played the Ed Sullivan Show, Carnegie Hall, and the White House; has launched a networking music program for students; has won four Emmys and 15 Grammys; conducts orchestras all over the world, and has been awarded numerous honorary degrees by Brandeis, Harvard, and Yale — to name a few. So what have you done today? Probably none of those things, but getting a ticket to this gig might just be the next best thing.