Live Music Picks: August 17-23 

• Leah Pritchard via Flickr

THURSDAY 8/17
Cat Power, Phoebe Bridgers
Chan Marshall, going by her nom-de-tune Cat Power, is an indie singer-songwriter whose sound is marked by sparse instrumentation, yet profound depth of emotion and subject matter. Her recorded output, while not exactly what you would call prolific—nine albums spanning a career of more than 20 years—has evolved to smooth out the rough edges of her early releases through a more soulful mode of her middle-period album You Are Free (Matador, 2003). In the solo-performer identity she came to be known for, which we'll enjoy at the Twilight Concert Series, her voice can, by itself, both soar and explore the depths. Only a few years out of high school, special guest Phoebe Bridgers is an emerging folksinger whose initial 7-inch was released on Ryan Adams' label Pax-Am label last year. (Brian Staker) Pioneer Park, 350 S. 300 West, 7 p.m., $7.50 advance/$10 day of show, all ages, twilightconcerts.com

• Derek Bridges via Flickr

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, St. Paul & the Broken Bones
At the ripe old age of 31, Trombone Shorty (born Troy Andrews in New Orleans) isn't limited to the 'bone but is also fluent on trumpet, drums, organ and tuba. Adding some jazz and hip-hop rhythms to the mix, his outfit—Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue—brings some Louisiana-flavored R&B to the Red Butte Garden concert experience. His latest recording, Parking Lot Symphony (Blue Note, 2017) has a festive feeling, with originals as well as covers of The Meters and Allen Toussaint, and is a notable addition to the lauded jazz label's roster. Openers St. Paul & the Broken Bones, from Birmingham, Ala., is a six-piece soul combo that occasionally adds a trombone to the ensemble, with hot instrumental breaks aplenty. (BS) Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, 7 p.m., sold out, all ages, redbuttegarden.org

• Bradford Jones

FRIDAY 8/18
Smash Mouth, Cracker, The Romantics
Maybe I was unfair to Smash Mouth when, during their last visit to Utah, I said all their songs sound like Sunny D jingles. There's some goodness to be found early in their discography, before the ubiquitous-to-the-point-of-yuck "All Star" and its various late-period attempted call-backs. They're an odd headliner, though, over Cracker—one of the coolest bands to ever grace a stage, with gentleman, scholar and ace tunesmith David Lowery out front with his old friend and writing partner Johnny Hickman on lead guitar. Every album and every show is a feast of great songs—"Low," "Eurotrash Girl" and "Teen Angst," and plenty of deep cuts and new jams. (Sadly, recent setlists have not included "Ain't Gonna Suck Itself," one of the greatest major-label fuck-yous ever written.) The Romantics often get unfairly slotted into the one-hit-wonder column—but they have three tracks you oughta know: the dreamy "Talking in Your Sleep," "One in a Million" and perhaps their biggest hit, "What I Like About You." All three are solid power-pop gems—and speaking of deep cuts, these cats have plenty. Both bands definitely warrant a thorough dig on Spotify or YouTube or wherever you stream. (Randy Harward) Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater, 2250 Deer Valley Drive South, Park City, 5:30 p.m. (doors), $44-$79, all ages, deervalley.com

• Lorenzo Guerrieri

SUNDAY 8/20
Diamond Head, Visigoth, Truce in Blood, Riddled With, Seventking
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich's incessant gushing helped raise awareness about the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, which encompassed so many truly great but largely unsung bands. English riff machine Diamond Head was full of promise, but made too many missteps—including hiring inexperienced managers like original vocalist Sean Harris' mom. They might owe their career to Metallica, who covered three Diamond Head tunes—including a legendary take on "Am I Evil." Other than some 10 years of downtime split over two breaks, DH has remained active, releasing seven albums. Harris left in 2003, but the group continued with guitarist and founder Brian Tatler at the helm. Harris' second replacement, Australian Rasmus Bom Andersen, took over the mic in 2014 and sounds absolutely bitchin' on DH's latest, eponymous album (Back on Black, 2016). With Metal Blade recording artists (and local boys!) Visigoth, Truce in Blood, Riddled With and Seventking as support, it might get loud tonight. (RH) Liquid Joe's, 1249 E. 3300 South, 7 p.m., $15 presale, $20 day of show, 21+, liquidjoes.net

• Amanda Demme

TUESDAY 8/22
Die Antwoord
In our Best Summer Concerts issue (June 15, 2017), I wrote that "zef"—the word Die Antwoord uses to describe their music—was the South African equivalent of "redneck." While technically true, zef is Afrikaans slang for "gross" or "trashy." It can also mean "uncool." The alternative hip-hop/EDM trio composed of Ninja, Yolandi Visser and God (formerly DJ Hi-Tek) definitely look like trailer trash—especially Ninja (aka Watkin Tudor Jones), rail thin and angry with his gilded teef, rat-tailed flattop, smokes and tats like the cover of a circa-1985 junior-high notebook. Tiny, squeaky-voiced Visser—well, she's more heroin-chic-meets-kinderwhore-kewpie-doll-meets-Philip K. Dick. And God goes shirtless with a bucktoothed mask (whatever that's about). Their sound, however, separates them from the stereotype. Their music is a hallucinogenic blend of hip-hop, dubstep and J-pop with brains—and when you see the real-life couple up there stalking (Ninja) and floating (Visser) around while God drops beats, they're a force. Their trashy-cool aesthetic is likewise something to behold—a different kind of freakshow, if you will. Catch 'em now, because their upcoming album The Book of Zef (Zef) will be their last. They're not breaking up, but they've always promised to stop at their fifth joint and make movies instead. (RH) The Great Saltair, 12408 W. Saltair Drive, 8 p.m., $32.50-$35, all ages, thesaltair.com

• Anton Corbijn

WEDNESDAY 8/23
Depeche Mode, Warpaint
So many great memories of synth-pop giants Depeche Mode: Selling overpriced pinup posters from Star Hits magazine to classmates in junior high as locker décor, all the time puzzling over the fuss they made about these wispy English electronic musicians; watching their spellbinding D.A. Pennebaker-directed concert film/documentary 101 at the Tower Theatre; blasting the Black Celebration album during Arctic Circle closing shifts; camping out for tickets to the World Violation tour at Smith's on 900 East and 4500 South, playing wiffleball in the parking lot in the wee hours; going to said show up at Park West or the Canyons or whatever it was called back then, using a quilt to shelter from the rain, then sliding ass-first down the mountain when it got too muddy, then learning the show had been called off. The horrible letdown made the miracle next-day reschedule at the Salt Palace that much better. Which is saying a lot, because a Depeche Mode show evokes so many emotions—pleasure, pain, joy, numbness, anger, sorrow—over synthetic sounds that feel organic. The songs challenged us: "Blasphemous Rumours" and "Personal Jesus" dared us to doubt. "People Are People" encouraged acceptance and diversity 30 years before social justice warriors made a mockery of it. "Master and Servant" was sex-positive before sex-positive was a thing. "Somebody" was a paraprosdokian joke, making us all think it was a deep and abiding jones for someone special—until the punchline verse revealed it as an indictment of cloying co-dependency; a plea for a rational relationship with someone whom we can make and share memories with, and who will also challenge us to be better people. OMG—I think I'm in love with Depeche Mode. (Randy Harward) Usana Amphitheatre, 5150 S. Upper Ridge Road (6055 West), 7:30 p.m., $35-$140, all ages, usana-amp.com