Death Cab for Cutie, Mastodon, Janiva Magness, Peter Mulvey, Jake’s Music Festival: Under-the-Radar Concert Picks

The Fuzzrites, The Boss Mustangs
9:30 p.m. Wednesday
$5
Charlie’s Bar & Grille, Grand Rapids

This week’s BIG radar-jamming shows will divide fans into two distinct rock camps and ne’er the twain shall meet: Nickelback (along with Bush and Seether) plays Van Andel Arena on Thursday, the same night that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band bring their “Wrecking Ball” tour to The Palace of Auburn Hills. Believe it or don’t, there were still tickets available Monday morning for both shows through Ticketmaster.

For the rest of you folks uninterested in casting ballots in the superstar sweepstakes – or unwilling to fork over monster bucks for monster arena shows – there are this week’s far more reasonable under-the-radar concerts around Grand Rapids. (Gee, there’s even a free performance by The Crane Wives at Cornerstone University on Thursday.) Believe me, a mind-jarringly fun selection awaits, starting with Wednesday’s tour-kickoff by West Michigan’s The Fuzzrites, garage rock’s answer to the question, ‘Whatever happened to hip and hazy electric guitars, hook-filled pop vocals and deliciously retro rock romps?’ The Grand Rapids band is promoting its Spinout Records debut, “Baby Cakes” (one of the winners of my Local Spins of the Year award) on a tour that will take it to Motown and Ohio later this week. At 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, the band plays Charlie’s Bar & Grille, 3519 Plainfield Ave. NE, along with labelmates The Boss Mustangs and DJ Claude Nine. Admission to this 18-and-older “rock ‘n’ roll freakout” show is $5.

Total Blam Blams, The Turnips, Nicholas James Thomasma, Muteflutes
5:30 p.m. Thursday
$15 advance, $20 day of show
The Intersection, Grand Rapids

Comedy meets riveting local music at Blandford Nature Center’s Benefit for the Animals on Thursday at The Intersection. It all starts with four comedians (Garrit Elzinga, Stu McAllister, Casey Stoddard, Adam Degi), before the music commences at 6:45 p.m. with the Muteflutes, followed by Nicholas James Thomasma, The Turnips and, finally, the edgy rock of the Total Blam Blams. Organizer Lori Martin tells me there will be T-shirt sales and a silent auction of a variety of items to help raise funds for the nature center, plus “some owls, falcons, turtles and other critters that people will get to meet and learn about between breaks.” Sounds like a howlin’ good time.

Local H, The Sleeves
8 p.m. Thursday
$12
The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids

Hard to believe, but Chicago-area duo Local H has been forging ahead with its punk-spiced rock since the late 1980s, and currently is touring ahead of a cleverly titled new album, “Hallelujah! I’m a Bum,” to be released later this year. Grand Rapids’ own The Sleeves open the show at The Pyramid Scheme. Get ticket details here.

Oh, and the Cleveland band that released one of my favorite albums of 2011, Mr. Gnome, brings its psychedelic indie-rock to The Pyramid Scheme at 8 p.m. Saturday, along with The Fencemen and Charles the Osprey, $8.

Janiva Magness
9:30 p.m. Friday
$10
Billy’s Lounge, Grand Rapids

California-based blues singer Janiva Magness had the best year of her career in 2011, winning industry kudos and captivating a burgeoning fan base here and overseas, thanks to a top-notch touring band that includes Michigan’s own Jim Alfredson of Organissimo fame. But she also experienced some of her lowest of personal lows, she told me in a recent interview, and “spent a lot of nights crying in hotel rooms” after losing eight people close to her and going through a divorce. But through pain comes brilliance, making her latest, aptly titled album, “Stronger for It,” a soulful, blues-rock treasure. On Friday, she brings her tour back to Grand Rapids, playing Billy’s Lounge with what she calls “the best band” she’s ever had.

Jake’s Music Festival
4-11 p.m. Saturday
Free (donations accepted, silent auction)
Wealthy Theatre, Grand Rapids

Jake’s Music Festival has done it again. The annual fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has assembled a who’s who lineup of electic West Michigan bands and solo artists: Delilah DeWylde & the Lost Boys, Michael Stephen Tryc, The Waxies, David Molinari and Creolization, The Fainting Generals, Karisa Wilson & Lynn Thompson, Kelsey Rottiers, The Nick Stevenson Band, Celtic Kilroy Cabaret, Flashing Blue Lights, Charlie Walker, Valentiger, Michael Schaeffer, the Cedar Springs High School Jazz Band and Tyler Caro. (By the way, these acts are listed in reverse order of their performances, with music starting at 4 p.m.) A silent auction will help the cause. Get details online here.

Death Cab for Cutie
8 p.m. Saturday
Tickets are sold out
Calvin College Covenant Fine Arts Center

Shoot, this concert – featuring indie-rock’s Death Cab for Cutie performing with the Magik*Magik Orchestra in the smallest venue of the tour – sold out insanely quickly, as college students and fans of this creative alt-rock outfit snapped up tickets and for good reason: This is a rare opportunity to see Ben Gibbard and Death Cab live in a unique setting as it tours behind its latest album “Codes and Keys.”

(BTW, I did see tickets from an online broker ranging from $90-$277 for this show, in case you’re really anxious to see this one at Calvin’s FAC.)

Mastodon, Opeth, Ghost
7 p.m. Saturday (doors open at 6:30 p.m.
$29 advance, $33 day of show
The Intersection, Grand Rapids

For those with significantly louder tastes, Georgia heavy metal band Mastodon brings its U.S. tour to The Intersection on Saturday, along with Opeth and Ghost. The Grammy-nominated outfit is touring behind its latest album, “The Hunter.”

Get ticket details here.

Peter Mulvey
6 p.m. Sunday
$18-$110
Seven Steps Up, Spring Lake

Prolific Wisconsin singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey has cultivated a strong following in Michigan with his wry humor and terrific songs. And he’s anything but conventional: A few years ago, I wrote about his “bicycle tour,” in which the musician strapped an acoustic guitar to the back of his recumbent bicycle and set off on an 1,100-mile trek that took him all the way to the East Coast.

This month, he’s touring behind a brand new album, “The Good Stuff,” a collection of standards, and the six-song “EP Chaser.” As part of the Seven Steps Up “Pin Drop Concerts” series (in which attentiveness to the live performance is a priority), this could be a special show for his West Michigan fans. Ticket details here.

Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com