Long-Time Local Favorites at Moondog’s; Young Upstarts Visit Club Cafe (CPs Sat., 2/22/14)

1) Like Dave Mustaine exiting Metallica to form Megadeath or Eric Clapton leaving the Yardbirds and going on to Cream, guitarist Bill Toms left a band of Pittsburgh royalty, Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, and formed a band in a similar vein but all his own. Since the mid ’90s, Bill Toms and Hard Rain have forged their own legacy of working-class rock a la Springsteen. (Like the Boss, Toms even has a collection of headbands!) They’ve managed to lay down seven albums (and Toms did a solo one) and play countless shows. They will add two more to the tally with the weekend-long engagement at Moondog’s that starts tonight. 8:30 p.m. 378 Freeport Rd., Blawnox.

2) Falling Andes, a four-piece indie pop band with an impressively polished sound, is holding a CD release show for their second album. The band’s debut Frantic and its lead-off single “San Francisco” garnered some attention from music blogs and indie radio stations, and the new disc, though recorded independently, was mastered by a producer who has worked with the likes of David Bowie and The Beastie Boys. Head to Club Café today and you can say you saw ’em back when. Local singer/songwriter Mike Cali opens. 10 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side.

3) Jim Jefferies’ comedy routine is so risqué it once caused an audience member to punch him in the face. In 2008, the Australian comic disarmed a heckler with a bit of crude sexual innuendo, causing another person to jump onstage and sock him. For most crowds, though, Jefferies—with his ordinary schlub persona—is too funny and likable to hate, even as he rails about sex, religion, and societal uptightness in a way that would make George Carlin, his obvious influence, proud. He is currently starring in his own FX sitcom, Legit, but is also touring, coming to the Carnegie Library Music Hall tonight. 8 p.m. 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall.

4) Arguments & Grievances is an often uproarious podcast in which comedians debate ridiculous topics, such as drunk vs. stoned, Iron Man vs. Batman, and Saved by the Bell vs. Degrassi. (That last one is especially ridiculous because Degrassi, duh.) A&G is now recording shows live on its Nothing to Cry about Tour, with local comics in each city as the debaters. Tonight the show comes to the Corner Café with John Dick Winters, Shannon Norman and James Hamilton the contestants. 8 p.m. 2500 S. 18th St., South Side.

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