Somehow I've managed to miss both instances when Cursive has played music from their upcoming recording live. That's a first for me. When Happy Hollow was in its incubation stage, Cursive played a rough pre-studio version at O'Leaver's that was easily the best Cursive concert I've seen. So it was with great misgiving that I had to miss last night's Cursive show at The Waiting Room. I had no choice; I was working on this week's column - part one of two parts dedicated to Simon Joyner's Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll, which was reissued on Team Love earlier this month. Part 1 will be online here tomorrow. Part 2 goes online next week. So, sacrifices had to be made, and it looks like I'll have to wait to hear those new Cursive songs. Anybody go last night? Let us know how it went, here.

Tonight, two shows worth blowing a deadline for. Over at The Waiting Room it's the return of Head of Femur, who's out touring what I consider to be their best album, Great Plains. Opening is touring band The Heavenly States and Iowa City freak-out masters Poison Control Center, who I figured I'd never see on the Waiting Room stage as they were supposedly banned from Sokol Underground by the One Percent guys after a series of equipment abuse episodes. Why would One Percent want them to destroy the equipment at the club that they own? PCC usually plays at O'Leaver's and always puts on an entertaining, summersault-fueled rock show. $8, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, downtown at Slowdown, it's night one of two sold-out nights for Rilo Kiley. Opening is The Spinto Band, and Team Love recording artist Nik Freitas. Like I said, it's sold out, so don't even bother going down there if you don’t have a ticket.

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