[LO-FI NOISE POP] + FRI, MAY 1

Seattle quartet Versing are masters of lo-fi noise pop. Somehow both stripped down and soaked with fuzz, Versing evoke the deadpan rock of '90s icons like Pavement and Guided By Voices, taking turns with quiet, introspective pop and anthemic rock. The guitars are unimpeachable, a cacophony of joyously sloppy rock. {REV. ADAM MCKINNEY}

VERSING, w/ Lobsana, CHARMS, 7 p.m., all ages, 733, 733 Commerce St., Tacoma, $5, 253.226.9032
 

[CLASSICAL] + SAT, MAY 2

Chances are, you can hum the theme from Monty Python's Flying Circus, but do you know what it's called or who wrote it? That merry composition is "The Liberty Bell," and was written by composer John Philip Sousa, aka "the American March King." As befits his patriotic stature, Sousa was born in Washington, D.C. in 1854. Over the next 77 years, he gave us such familiar pieces as "The Thunderer" (trust us, you'd know it if you heard it) and a little number called "The Stars and Stripes Forever." If you took junior high school band, you know something by Sousa. Now get ready to hear him played for real, by Tacoma's justly lauded, 60-piece Concert Band. Mur'ca! {CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL}

SOUSA!, 7:30 p.m. Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, $11-$100, 253.591.5894

[DOWNTEMPO] + TUES, MAY 5

Brooklyn downtempo project Soft Fangs carries the weight of the world on its shoulders. This is unabashedly melancholy music, evoking the intimate, breathy, mournful sound of Elliott Smith. Frontman John Lutkevich sounds lost, adrift amongst the quietly tense instrumentation that propels Soft Fangs from devolving into sad bastard music. Listened to in headphones, Soft Fangs sounds like a friend whispering secrets into your ears, like a city-boy version of Iron & Wine. {REV. AM}

SOFT FANGS, w/ No Big Seal, Cloud Cover, the Breakfast Cowboy, 8 p.m., Deadbeat Olympia, 226 Division St. NW, Olympia, $5, 360.943.0662

[HIP-HOP] + SAT, MAY 2

The Jump Off is a hip-hop/college night hosted by promoter Black Sam (from Da Bronx) of Black Sam Entertainment, featuring guest DJs and the resident DJ UltraMega / Luvva J.  The inaugural Saturday features local Tacoma artists with Mars Got Bars co-hosting. {JOSE GUTIERREZ}

THE JUMP OFF COLLEGE NIGHT, 9 p.m., Charley's, 6520 19th Ave. W., Tacoma, $5 before midnight, 253.564.9454