Shows in Chicago this weekend

From time to time, living in the Chicago area, a night comes around when the ability to be in two places at once would still leave you in a real spot when deciding which shows to go to. Tonight is one of those nights. This is a pretty good weekend for shows in Chicago overall. So is next weekend, but more on that later.

First up for tonight's shows: The Gaslight Anthem, Against Me! and Cory Branan at the Aragon Ballroom. Gaslight is touring in support of their 2014 album Get Hurt. They have a good record when it comes to choosing openers for their shows. When they came to town during their previous album's tour cycle, they had Bouncing Souls with them. Cory Branan opened that show as well. This time they have Against Me!, who are supporting their best album in a long time. Transgender Dysphoria Blues is among my favorite albums of 2014 so far. Check out the shadow puppet video for "Black Me Out" below.

Also tonight, over at Township in Logan Square, it's a local lineup with Nai Harvest, Kittyhawk, Churchkey and Bedroom Sons. I know Kittyhawk puts on an entertaining show. I've listened to Bedroom Sons' recordings the most out of any of these bands. They have some great songs, so take the chance to see them. Davey interviewed Chris Dertz of Bedroom Sons back in December, read that here. Stream their 2013 album Can't Rely right here:

Still another show happening tonight: King Tuff, Cassie Ramone and The Lemons are playing at Subterranean in Wicker Park. Cassie Ramone, of course, was the frontwoman of the group Vivian Girls. She also has a band called The Babies. She played just a couple weeks ago at She Shreds Fest at Chitown Futbol. The Lemons also played that show. I just got turned on to The Lemons and the Chitown Futbol venue recently, largely in thanks to two recent articles. This one from Change the Rotation, in which D. Brawlins tells us what else went on around the city during Riot Fest weekend. The Chicago Reader's feature on the death of Animal Kingdom, a DIY show space in Avondale frequented by The Lemons, Twin Peaks and Ne-Hi, is a super interesting read. Watch The Lemons' appearance on Chic-A-Go-Go below.

Tonight begins Alkaline Trio's four night residency at the Metro, during which the pop punk mainstays will play each of their eight studio albums in their entirety. Which albums will be played on which nights? No one knows. Empires open the show tonight, Hide open Friday's show, All Eyes West open Saturday's show and Treasure Fleet open on Sunday night. All four shows sold out almost instantly, so if you were fast enough to get tickets, have a great time this weekend. The rest of us will not be bitter about it at all.

Friday night, do not miss The Murderburgers at Township. They are a Ramones-core band from Scotland, so who knows how often they are going to make it over this way. Their 2013 album These Are Only Problems is among the albums that I regret did not make it onto our best of 2013 bracket last year. It really should have been on there. I do not know what we would have taken off, but it should have made the cut. Stream it in full below. The whole lineup is solid, with Rational Anthem, Fuck You, Idiot and Nervous Passenger opening. This show is highly recommended.

Get out there and have fun this weekend. Don't forget to check our shows page for the best upcoming shows in Chicago, the suburbs and the DeKalb area.