Off-the-beat bands headed to Bloomington for Little 500 weekend concerts at Bear’s Place, Bluebird

Three 6 Mafia, Yellowcard and O.A.R. might be playing during Little 500 week, but they won’t be the only talent coming to Bloomington.\nDavid Bazan of Pedro the Lion, Lightning Bolt, Brother Ali and PSALM One will be performing in various venues in Bloomington during Little 500 weekend.\nDan Coleman, a freelance booking agent in Bloomington, said that he tried to schedule bands that were outside of the MTV mainstream genre in order to give the city an alternative to the bigger shows.\n“It’s not really that big of a deal for these bands to play here during Little 500 week, because they are pretty well-known,” Coleman said. “It’s more of a bigger deal for the town of Bloomington, so people have somewhere else to go, other than to the bigger bands’ shows.”\nBazan, Pedro the Lion’s frontman, will be performing at 8 p.m. on April 20 at Bear’s Place, 1316 E. 3rd St., Coleman said. Considered both indie and folk, he is on a nation-wide tour to promote his solo album, “Fewer Moving Parts.” Bazan’s performances typically include intricate melodies and are politically charged, according to his Web site.\nOut of Providence, R.I., comes noise rock band Lightning Bolt, who are also on a national tour and can be seen playing on April 21 at Uncle Fester’s House of Blooze, 430 E. Kirkwood Ave., Coleman said. Lightning Bolt has been called “manic” and “musically hyperactive” by a music review from the New York Press, and has drawn comparisons to avant-garde rock band The Boredoms, according to Coleman. The bass and drum duo are known to wear costumes while performing and sing incomprehensibly about silly topics, such as anarchy, political parodies and heavy metal clichés, according to the band’s Web site.\nFollowing Lightning Bolt’s performance will be hip-hop artists Brother Ali and PSALM One, who will be performing at 8 p.m. on April 22 at the Bluebird, 216 N. Walnut St., Coleman said. Brother Ali, the albino Rhymesayers Entertainment’s MC from Minneapolis, MN., has been a long-time favorite within the underground hip-hop scene, according to the label’s Web site. Together with Rhymesayers’ first female artist PSALM One, hip-hop fans and non-fans of Bloomington alike will hear an energetic and powerful performance from both musicians, according to the label’s site.\n“These groups aren’t necessarily lesser or unknown in the music scene,” Coleman said. “They just aren’t as big as the other bands who will be playing.”\nVenues and fans alike are anxiously awaiting the performances of these artists, he said. \n“It seems like the University goes out of the way to bring in these big bands, and the frats always have some hip-hop group or acoustic indie band come in,” Coleman said. “I just wanted to give the town something else to do besides drinking and going to the race.”