RAIN: A BEATLES TRIBUTE Countless bands pay tribute to The Beatles, but few manage to make their audience forget they are just that: a tribute band. RAIN: A Beatles Tribute takes subject matter on the verge of being overdone - let's face it, tributes to the fab four have become a dime a dozen - and creates an experience that will have you forgetting the real Beatles broke up decades ago. Fresh off of Broadway, RAIN doesn't just go through the motions; they stage every iconic moment in Beatles' history to a T - from the stage setup and costumes to the body language, such as the foot-tapping Paul McCartney was notorious for. It's all done while rocking the best Beatles' songs. It's worth catching for the simple joy of hearing your favorite songs played live - and played well. $24.50 and up. Belk Theater.

DAMON MOON AND THE WHISPERING DRIFTERS From the moment Lungs, Dirt & Dreams began drifting through the speakers in all its magnificent Southwestern menace, I was gloriously, deliriously smitten. Some Peyote-crazed shaman had cobbled together desert-baked bits of everything awesome about the West - Castanets' ghost-town foreboding, Willie's red-headed outlaw tales, Black Heart Procession doom marches, epic Bill Elm guitar showdowns, early-Calexico sound collages. Damon Moon, it turns out, hails from Georgia, but my guess is that a good portion of the Whispering Drifters' six national tours have rolled through America's outback, and Mr. Moon has been taking diligent notes. With Jon Bell and Alex Kastanas. $5. Snug Harbor.

CALTROP Caltrop is one of those bands that can be forgiven for going four years between releases. The Chapel Hill quartet's material can be emotionally and technically complex enough to take that much time to properly unpack. New LP Ten Million Years and Eight Minutes, which is an intriguing challenge in the same way a good book is, is a prime example. Caltrop knows when to lay the sludge-blues on thick, when to give you whiplash with angular Don Cab-ish psych-math and when to back off and let guitarist Adam Nolton respectfully quote Hendrix and Duane Allman. And it's loud as hell live, making the Caltrop experience equally physical and aural. With Musket King and Chump! $5. Snug Harbor.

JUNIOR BROWN Picking, tapping, slapping, sliding and bending strings to his own will, Brown's been taking country music back to its pre-pop '50s and '60s glory for a couple of decades. His instrument, the guit-steel, a funky device that he created, combines an electric guitar with a lap steel that can make the crowd sway or rock the house on a moment's notice with a blend of Western swing, honky-tonk, Tex-Mex and rock. Rockabilly also invariably trickles into the fluid twang of his classic country foundation. $20-$30. Neighborhood Theatre.

Donna the Buffalo As the U.S. Olympic trials for canoe slalom wind down and an orange glow descends over the rapids, Donna the Buffalo will cap off the weekend's events at the U.S. National Whitewater Center before a finale of fireworks hit the sky. DtB have been infusing their brand of soulful roots music with elements of zydeco, rock, country and folk for two decades. The band's feel-good vibes are a conduit for dancing, while the lyrics lean toward the socially conscious. The band has plenty of new material as they continue work on their 10th album. Free. U.S. National Whitewater Center.

Cage the Elephant Kentucky garage rockers Cage the Elephant return to Amos' Southend on Friday the 13th to help the Charlotte venue celebrate its 21st anniversary. Cage's punk-infused songs have gotten them plenty of radio airtime, but it's the band's live shows that truly stand out. They're currently on the road in support of their sophomore album, Thank You Happy Birthday. Singer Matthew Shultz flails about, leaps into the audience and performs with reckless abandon. It's only the second time Cage has been in Charlotte. A must-see, indeed. With Bad Cop and Fusebox Poet. $21-$24. Amos' Southend.

NATALIE COLE With nine Grammy wins and 30 million albums sold, Natalie Cole could just rest on those laurels and the name of her legendary father, Nat King Cole. Instead, the songstress - whose career has spanned five decades now - is still trying new things. Cole will perform her jazz, blues and soul standards with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in a special concert event. $35-$85. Ovens Auditorium.

PERPETUAL GROOVE Perpetual Groove has plenty of the hallmarks of a classic jam band - an exhaustive touring schedule, fans who follow them to a different city every night and meandering, genre-melding grooves. Hailing from Athens, Ga., they're known for putting on a fine light show in conjunction with their blend of original songs and wide-ranging selection of covers, which includes everything from Talking Heads to Rage Against the Machine. Matt McDonald has returned to the band after four years, reuniting the original lineup. $15-$30. Neighborhood Theatre.

JOAN OSBORNE While booty-shaking divas clutter the airwaves, singers like Joan Osborne, with her blues-soaked voice, are out to save the world. She hasn't landed in hitsville since the '90s, but that doesn't matter, as her brash originals stand firm. And she can toss around a cover song with ease, which is nicely showcased on Bring it On Home, her recent recording of covers. The record marks a return to her roots - blues, soul and R&B - where she belts out fiery versions of old classics that can teach a trick, or dozen, to divas more interested in changing wardrobes than making ballsy music. With Lera Lynn. $25. Visulite Theatre.

SAFETYSUIT Though their debut album, Life Left to Go, was only released in 2008, it feels like fans have been waiting a decade to hear new music from the Oklahoma rockers who successfully infiltrated the mainstream airwaves while keeping an indie vibe about them. Fan favorites like "Stay" and "Someone Like You" put them on constant rotation when they first hit the scene. Now, they are touring to support a new slew of songs from their second album, These Times, which dropped in January. Opening for Daughtry. $44.60-$66.15. Ovens Auditorium.