The Ten Best Things to do in St. Louis This Weekend: September 16 to 18

What do you mean those mushrooms were "medicinal"?

It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming the return of fall and trying to find somewhere to stand in the Pageant for Bon Iver. But another week has come and gone, and you, as usual, have no excuse to be bored this weekend. DJ Lance Rock returns to St. Louis with his colorful friends (bring the kids!) and the Dead Milkmen get resurrected at El Lenador (leave 'em with the babysitter!). Those Darlins bring a whale of a live show to Off Broadway and the New Music Circle kicks off a kick ass 53rd season at the Kranzenberg Arts Center.

Friday, September 16th

Those Darlins
Off Broadway
With Wagons and Bunnygrunt
9 p.m. | $10
Tennessee shit-kickers Those Darlins promise heartbreak and bone-break. Come early for the New Belgium PreGame Party at 7 p.m. Endorsed by the King of France!

Margot And The Nuclear So And Sos
The Firebird
With One Lone Car and Rollercoaster Club
8 p.m. | $13
Lots of instruments doing lots of things, but that doesn't mean you'll miss the point if you're drinking heavily and cheering boisterously.

Lester Shy and the Shyphonic -- A Tribute To The Dead Milkmen
El Lenador
With Maximum Effort, the Fake Boys and the Doomanoids
8 p.m. | $5
Lowell, Massachusetts' join local heavies Maximum Effort and the (Doom Town plus Humanoids=) Doomanoids for a tribute to the punk legends Wikipedia will tell you is satirical. We guess the tongue is in the cheek a bit, but whatever: This will be a hell of a lot of fun.

The Skekses
Schlafly Tap Room
With Soma and Tok
9 p.m. | Free
"Local, hipster-blues-folk-country, genre-mashup duo" the Skekses joins the soon-to-be-Nevermind-covering Tok and Soma. Everyone's entitled to her opinion.

Saturday, September 17th

Joe McPhee's Survival Unit III
Kranzenberg Arts Center
New Music Circle Season Kickoff
7:30 p.m. | $15 ($7 for students)
The freshest music series over 50 years old anywhere in the country gets its start with saxophone magician Joe McPhee. These show don't happen twice, people.

The Milk Carton Kids
Off Broadway
With Tom Brosseau
8 p.m. | $12
The youthfully wise and weary Milk Carton Kids bring an arresting brand of folk to St. Louis. Joe Henry thinks you should go.

Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!
The Fabulous Fox Theatre
2 p.m. and 5 p.m. | $29.50 to $39.50
The kids show where Biz Markie teaches beatboxing and the host is a (St. Louis native!) DJ. Rock 'n roll cred abounds, but this ain't high-concept pretension really meant for adults. Even Devo settles down eventually (OK, bad example).

Lucky Boys Confusion
The Firebird
With Equal Squeeze and State And Madison
8 p.m. | $14
Confusion indeed! No one needs genres anymore, really, but Lucky Boy Confusion has a particularly wide-reaching grab bag. Horns! Rapping! Three-chord hooks! Just go hear it for yourself.

The Foo Fighters
Scottrade Center
With Rise Against
7 p.m. | $27 to $47
Oh, you've heard of this?

Sunday, September 18th

Dark Dark Dark
Off Broadway
With A Hawk And A Hacksaw and Pillars and Tongues
7:30 p.m. | $10
A bill that looks to the future of folk by mining its furthers edges, both Dark Dark Dark and A Hawk And A Hacksaw don't seem to much care when or where they're from -- they're looking for something more primal than that.