The Dodos @ King Tut's, 3 Sep

About five seconds into San Franciscan duo The Dodos' opening number - Trades and Tariffs - things go wrong; the tambourine/snare drumbeat is nice and steady but singer Meric Long's guitar shuts off. Something about "a damn cable" somewhere. Long tells drummer Logan Kroeber to keep the beat while he fiddles around and tries to find the disconnected culprit. We're now at that awkward point of a live performance where technical difficulties start to make everyone a little nervous. Kroeber stays with it - pounding away - but soon starts to slow down, a little more, and then stops. "Just kidding!" he yells and then keeps on with his crazy beat. Everyone laughs, Long finally fixes his problem, and the rest is virtually flawless: pop melodies engulfed in psychedelic acoustic-percussive folk, fingerpicking, alternate tunings, aluminum bin clattering, breakneck blues strumming, heads moving, and the occasional yelp. And when the Dodos catch this stride, even technical flaws can't stand in Long's way. Seriously, this boy can play. [Jorge Marticorena]