Music Picks March 6-12 | Live: Holy Fuck, Gogol Bordello, Sweatshop Union, Xiu Xiu, Helio Sequence 

• Also Thursday: Matchbox Twenty (E Center); Voodoo Glowskulls (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Charging Frederick (Velour, Provo)

Friday 3.7
Larry Carlton, Robben Ford (The Depot); The Vandals (In the Venue); Yellowcard, The Spill Canvas (Avalon); Band of Annuals (Urban Lounge); Dane & The Death Machine (The Woodshed); Radio Rhythm Makers (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Dirty Copper (Liquid Joes); Blue Turtle Seduction (Harry O’s, Park City); Tally Hall, Good Morning Maxfield, Kid Theodore (Velour, Provo); Earth Crisis (Club NVO, Logan—Read Article)

Saturday 3.8
GOGOL BORDELLO
Gogol Bordello’s live show is an off-the-hizzy (hizzie?) party from start to finish. Now, we’re not talking about a crazy shindig where beefcakes smash beer cans over their heads. No. Gogol Bordello brings the noise and the thought-provoking conversation, weaving heated social and political commentary into their lively communal gypsy-punk anthems. Leader Eugene Hütz survived Chernobyl, so he knows a thing or two about valuing life—and, man, does he live it to the fullest. He doesn’t just wear his heart on his sleeve—he sheds all pretense to expose his soul, tendons and guts (of which he has many). Not one to shy from controversy, he takes on outmoded customs and misguided practices (see his extensive rant on the music industry) with infectious zeal. Each and every Bordello jam is oozing with virile passion. It’s raw. It’s sexual. It’s everything you need to experience after a long winter in Utah. The Paladium, 615 N. 400 West, 9 p.m. Tickets: SmithsTix.com

• Also Saturday: Brother Ali (early show Kilby Court, late show Urban Lounge); Linkin Park, Coheed & Cambria (E Center); Mad Party (Murray Super Theater); Cathexes, VCR Quintet (Addicted); Young Dubliners (The Depot); Lost by Reason (The Woodshed); The Hasbeens (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Afrobats (Playground, Park City); DJ Ruckus (Harry O’s, Park City); Mury, Broke City (Velour, Provo); Portugal the Man (Club NVO, Logan)

Sunday 3.9
SWEATSHOP UNION
Things are looking up. Until recently, touring bands often side-stepped Utah en route to more fabulous destinations—like, say, Boise. Now, out-of-state groups are not only penciling us in as a pit stop, but actually circling back from distant locales to play not one but two or even three dates in town. Canadian hip-hop collective Sweatshop Union is hitting Ogden tonight and will return in three days to turn on Salt Lake City and then Park City to their positive, sing-along sound. The seven-piece group rises above without being cheesy, seamlessly delivering in a diverse range of voices poignant lines about homogenized/sellout rappers, greed and ennui. Get in while the getting is good. Grab seconds on at Kilby on Wednesday, straight up binge at Celsius next Thursday. Brewskis, 244 25th St., Ogden, 10 p.m. Info: 801-394-1713 (with DJ Chassis)

• Also Sunday: Living Legends (Kilby Court)

Monday 3.10

THE HELIO SEQUENCE
Listening to The Helio Sequence’s latest release Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop), one (OK, one obsessed with anti-heroes and the Psychedelic Furs) can’t help but imagine the Oregon duo providing the soundtrack for an updated John Hughes movie. Maybe Pretty in Pink, with Maggie Gyllenhall as Molly Ringwald and James Spader as James Spader. The album’s title track, for example, would really complement scenes in which an outsider reclaims his/her pride by making a funky dress/telling off Spader/riding a BMX bike around town. In all truth, The Helio Sequence could probably score just about any film. Their music is quite simply atmospheric. They nimbly manipulate an arsenal of organic and electronic equipment so that on record it sounds like five-plus people making magic and onstage you completely believe that just two people can produce such a giant wall of shimmering sound. Bonus points for the drummer’s jack-in-the-box movements that make him appear to be having an enjoyable seizure. Double your pleasure by checking out these dudes tonight and then again, 10 days later at Velour. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix.com

• Also Monday: Winger (Club Vegas); Hillbilly Jihad (The Woodshed)

Wednesday 3.12
Charlie Parr (Outer Rim—Read Article); Peanut Butter Jam Concert Party (The Circuit); Sweatshop Union (Kilby Court); Les Claypool (The Depot)

Coming Up
Busta Rhymes (Harry O’s, March 14); Joshua James (Velour, March 14); Leslie & The Lys (Kilby Court, March 14); The Source Unsigned Hype Party (In the Venue, March 15); Helmet (Playground, March 15); Unwritten Law (Playground, March 16); Celtic Harpistry (Westminster College, March 17); Zion I (Urban Lounge, March 18); Serj Tankian (In the Venue, March 19); Dandi Wind, Jessica Something Jewish (Urban Lounge, March 19); Voodoo Darlings Burlesque (Woodshed, March 29)