A hip-hop extravaganza
For hip-hop fans, this is one of those shows where you have to pinch yourself.
The entire eight-man Living Legends crew, including Murs (fresh off of Rock the Bells), is coming to The Knitting Factory for only $10.
Regarded as “eight of the dopest grown men with microphones you’ve ever heard in your life,” Sunspot Jonz, Luckyiam/PSC, the Grouch, Eligh, Aesop, Scarub, Bizarro/Bicasso and Murs are adamantly indie hip-hop heroes, equipped with unconventional rhyme patterns, freefalling flows, acrobatic beats and references to Optimus Prime and Tolkien books.
Act like you know when Living Legends comes Saturday at 7 p.m. to The Knitting Factory, 919 W. First Ave., with support from Spokane’s Bad Penmanship rhyme collective, featuring the return of Terms None the Wiser, Gun of the Sun and Mirrored Katz (see Spin Cycle on Page ). Tickets are $10, through TicketsWest, www.ticketswest.com, (509) 325-SEAT.
Journey to a new singer
A mainstay of 1980s arena rock, Journey has been without iconic frontman Steve Perry for more than a decade.
The road to his replacement in the band took an interesting turn with the addition of Journey’s current lead vocalist, Filipino singer Arnel Pineda.
Pineda sings an eerily spot-on Steve Perry. Seriously, go to YouTube and type in “Arnel Pineda Journey Don’t Stop Believing.”
That’s how the band discovered him, too, after guitarist Neal Schon saw Pineda singing Journey covers on the Internet.
Pineda was apparently met with undercurrents of racism as one fan message board said “Journey is an all-American band and should stay like that.”
Keyboardist Jonathan Cain told the Martin Independent Journal, “We’re international now. We’re not about one color.”
Journey debuted its new lead singer in February and released the album, “Revelation,” – Journey’s best-selling album since its 1996 reunion record, “Trial By Fire” – in advance of a summer tour with Heart and Cheap Trick, which comes Monday at 7 p.m. to the Spokane Arena. Tickets are $35-$75, through TicketsWest.
Club hoppin’
•New York noise two-piece Japanther brings its dense dance collage tonight at 9 p.m. at The Blvd., with support from Seattle two-piece Dimples and a new project from Aaron Bocook (The High Holies, Impact Exploder), Godbear. Cover for the all-ages show is $8.
•Spotucky Radio celebrates two years of broadcasting progressive Americana and alt-country tonight at The Swamp, 1904 W. Fifth, with live music by The Dry County Crooks and Williston. The live broadcast of the show starts at 8 p.m. on KYRS Thin Air Radio (92.3 and 89.9 FM). Cover for the the show is $5.
Spotucky Radio airs live on Fridays from 6-8 p.m. on KYRS.
•Former Spokie Dave Hannon comes back from his new (old) home in Tacoma to run a three-week tour with his acoustic pop cohort Kristen Marlo.
The tour kicks off Thursday – two days after Hannon’s birthday so buy him a drink at Caterina Winery, 905 N. Washington St. Local favorite Dane Ueland opens the show at 7 p.m. Cover is $6.