Live Music Picks: September 21-27 

• Double Shot Records via Wikimedia

FRIDAY 9/22
Brenton Wood
Hit this L.A. soul legend's page on Spotify and check out the top five tracks. You'll probably know at least his signature 1967 hit, the deliciously blissful crush tune "The Oogum Boogum Song." It's been in some movies like Colors (1988) and Almost Famous (2000), and TV shows like Duck Dodgers (2005) and Eastbound and Down (2010). You might also know some of the other four, like "Gimme Little Sign," from the same year. Once they play, you'll wanna hear more, 'cause Brenton Wood's music is the best kind of soul, the kind that snaps you out of the doldrums and makes you wanna dance in spite of yourself. There's gonna be a lot of smiling faces at Liquid Joe's tonight, particularly the ones who missed his performance there last year. (Randy Harward) Liquid Joe's, 1249 E. 3300 South, 7 p.m., $20 presale; $25 day of show, 21+, liquidjoes.net

• Jim Arbogast

SATURDAY 9/23
JJ Grey & Mofro, The Magpie Salute
They talk about paying your dues, but there aren't many musicians who've worked harder than JJ Grey. His rendition of the blues idiom is often working-class soul catechism, at times funk revival, always honest and gut-wrenching. Emerging on the touring circuit from Jacksonville, Fla., in the early '00s, and originally billed as simply Mofro, Grey released two acclaimed albums—Blackwater (2001) and Lochloosa (2004)—on the Fog City label before deciding to do business under this current, more specific name with Country Ghetto (2007), the group's first album for blues boutique Alligator Records. His songwriting has fused the storytelling of old-school country singers with the instrumental proclivities of blues, funk and Southern rock. Their most recent release, Ol' Glory (Provogue, 2015) is their eighth, and while it flies the blues/funk flag high, it's not the Stars 'n' Bars, either. The Magpie Salute unites Rich Robinson—guitarist co-founder of the Black Crowes—with a host of other musicians whose sound recalls that band's classic heavy blues-rock groove, and reminds us why that particular combination of musical elements is deemed classic to begin with. (Brian Staker) Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main, 7:30 p.m., $25-$75, all ages, live-at-the-eccles.com

• BASTIANBLUE1 via Wikimedia

TUESDAY 9/26
Buckethead, Brain and Brewer
Buckethead doesn't need the KFC bucket on his dome, or the Michael Myers mask—the prog metal/experimental rocker could blow minds just by playing guitar. But you've got to admire this mysterious mofo for pickin' a gimmick and stickin' with it, especially one that enables him to enjoy offstage privacy without TMZ worrying about if he likes Extra Crispy or Original Recipe in the bedroom. It also frees him to indulge any urge, whether it's trotting out his collection of cool and gory toys, dancing like a robot or tossing buckets to fans, encouraging them to let their own freak flags fly. But he's never more impressive than when he's playing his axe with extraterrestrial precision and soul. To borrow Bucket's own words, scribbled on a CD given to local artist Erik "E-rok" Johnson in gratitude for his cover design on the eponymous 2001 debut by Bucket's side project Thanatopsis: His talent is from the tombs. When you see this expressionless, 6-foot-6 dude-kid with the crazy long arms and lanky fingers that seem to move slowly (if at all) but play so many notes—you have to wonder if he didn't emerge from the Royal Tombs of Ur speaking Sumerian and playing a lute of fire. Tonight he's flanked by likewise supernaturally gifted ex-Primus drummer Brain (Bucket's bandmate in Guns N' Roses, Praxis and other projects) and bassist Del Rey Brewer (aka musician/composer/producer/engineer Daniel Monti), so expect things to get extra weird. (RH) The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, 7 p.m., $23 presale; $25 day of show, 21+, depotslc.com

• Andrew MacPherson

The Doobie Brothers
All these years, and still nobody has any idea how The Doobie Brothers got their name. Just kiddin', stoners—that one's as easy as the vibe that accompanies pretty much any song by these rock elder statesmen. It infuses all of their songs, whether it's early-period stuff—the jubilant roadhouse rocker "China Grove," the barefoot Huck-and-Tom number "Black Water," the working-class keep-on-keepin'-on jam "Long Train Runnin'"—or even softer, moodier keyboard-driven Michael McDonald-era songs like "What a Fool Believes," "Minute by Minute" or "Takin' It to the Streets." Whether they're singing about a party town, going with the flow, love requited and otherwise, past mistakes or protests, the group oozes an infectious, liberating optimism. That's why they're timeless, and why the origin of their name is both relevant and not. After close to 50 years and with so many hits deeply rooted in popular culture, "Doobie" refers to the band more than anything else. (RH) Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main, 8 p.m., $50-$125, all ages, live-at-the-eccles.com

• DR_ZOIDBERG via Wikimedia

TUESDAY 9/26
Scorpions, Megadeth
If you grew up in their pre-internet heyday, German rock band the Scorpions seemed a bit odd. To the average American teen, Germany meant Nazis, Hogan's Heroes, Porsches and lederhosen. Seemingly everything written about the band whipped out the word "Teutonic" (whatever that meant). Klaus Meine's vocals sounded like Ozzy harmonizing with Colonel Klink and Werner Herzog (the super famous documentary filmmaker) and we ignorant Yanks struggled to even say the names of these new heavy metal heroes. But man, those songs had a rock 'n' roll fluency that transcended language barriers—they were loud, raucous, smart, accessible and just different enough to be interesting, with a social and political consciousness that belied the stereotypes and stigmas of their country of origin. And onstage, they're virtually peerless, with a stage show full of bells and whistles made compulsory because they must match the band's musicianship, which is still as sharp and dangerous as the tip of their titular mascot's tail. As for Megadeth, they've still got chops, but their previously provocative lyrics are now cartoonishly impotent now that frontguy Dave Mustaine revealed himself as more of a birther than a thinker. Just avoid reading interviews with him and it'll seem like the good ol' days. (RH) Usana Amphitheatre, 5150 S. Upper Ridge Road (6055 West), 7 p.m., $35-$90, all ages, usana-amp.com

• Michelle West

WEDNESDAY 9/27
Heavy Dose tour sendoff, Scenic Byway, Season of the Witch, Green River Blues
Before going on hiatus, Heavy Dose, a local trio with brio, heads out on the road to celebrate the release of their debut self-titled EP. On it, producer/local music legend Terrance DH somehow performs the Herculean feat of capturing and balancing the stoner-psych band's rifts in the psychic fabric, including the epic "Ted Nugz (Ain't No Devil)," which moves miles beyond the perennial beginning-guitarist's tutorial of "Cat Scratch Fever." The band has obviously listened to the Nuge's early work with the Amboy Dukes—their own journey to the center of your mind probably detours through, cough, Toquerville. The EP spans only two songs, but that's a plenty-heady dosage, with Levi Jones' reverb-y, overdriven guitar doin' some heavy carburetin'. Rounding out the bill are laid-back hip-hop group Scenic Byway, self-dubbed pagan psych-rockers Season of the Witch and psych-blues group Green River Blues. (Brian Staker) Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 8 p.m., free, 21+, theurbanloungeslc.com