OK Go, Erasure, This is NOLA, Joe Ely, the Blues & Barbecue, and Music Movies

Our picks for the week ahead include the Crescent City Blues and Barbecue Festival, This is NOLA, OK Go, Generationals, Crobot, Joe Ely and Susan Cowsill singing "American Beauty."

Our picks for the week ahead include the Crescent City Blues and Barbecue Festival, This is NOLA, OK Go, Generationals, Crobot, Joe Ely and Susan Cowsill singing "American Beauty."

Friday: Generationals, Arum Rae, 10 p.m., One Eyed Jacks: The seeming ease of Generationals’ songs makes it possible to take them for granted, but as Alix, their new album demonstrates, they come up with attractive, catchy songs with remarkable frequency. (tickets) Also on Friday: Erasure, Superhumanoids, 8 p.m., House of Blues (tickets); Johnny Sansone, Luke Winslow King CD-release party, 11 p.m., Blue Nile; Brother Ali and special guests, 8 p.m., House of Blues’ Parish (tickets); Brand New, 9 p.m., Civic Theatre (tickets); Dan Kroha, King Louie’s One Man Band, The Lonely Lonely Knights, DJ James Weber, 10 p.m., Saturn Bar; Soul Asylum, R. Scully’s Rough 7, 10 p.m., Tipitina’s (tickets); Mickey Factz, Lyriqs da Lyraciss with Nesby Phips, Pluto, Kaye The Beast,” 10 p.m., Gasa Gasa (tickets); Charlie Parr, Miss Tess and The Talkbacks, 9 p.m., The BEATnik (tickets); Khris Royal’s 5th anniversary birthday bash w/ Khris Royal and Dark Matter, The Madd Wikkid, Christin Bradford, 9 p.m., Freret Street Publiq House (tickets); Rebirth Brass Band, Josh Garrett Band, 10 p.m., The Howlin’ Wolf (tickets); Drowners, Bully, 10 p.m., Circle Bar; Gareth Emery, Unicorn Fukr, Michael Medina, 11 p.m., The Republic (tickets); Prom Date, Deathless, Another Green World, 10 p.m., Hi Ho Lounge

Saturday: OK Go, 10 p.m., Tipitina’s: OK Go has been so inventive with their videos that it’s easy to overlook the very good, inventively catchy songs underneath them. The now-you-see-it/now-you-don’t video for “Writing’s on the Wall” almost obscures the New Order-ly song from the band’s new-this-week album, Hungry Ghost. (tickets) Also on Saturday: Keys N Krates, gladiator, Thugli, midnight, House of Blues (tickets); Susan Cowsill’s Covered in Vinyl, feat. the Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty,” 9 p.m., Chickie Wah Wah

Sunday: The Wailers, Mighty Mystic, 7 p.m., House of Blues: There is only one original Wailer in The Wailers, but they still hit a deep, powerful groove, and they’re still Marley-centric despite having passed away 33 years ago. They’re touring to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Legend, a greatest hits collection with Marley, and they’ll play it in its entirety. (tickets); Tiny Ruins, 8 p.m., The BEATnik (tickets); The Peculiar Pretzelmen, Dirty Rotten Snake in the Grass, Rouchambeaux, 10 p.m., Siberia (tickets)

Tuesday: Joe Ely, 9 p.m., Chickie Wah Wah: The Texas country folk blues rocker has always had a little more rock ’n’ roll in his blood that fellow Flatlanders Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. He has a new novel, Reverb, with a description that sounds a lot like his Ely’s younger days,  Also on Tuesday: Warpaint, Liam Finn, 8 p.m., The Republic (tickets); Ziggy Marley, 8 p.m., House of Blues (tickets)

Wednesday: Crobot, Southern Arrow, Madfro, 9 p.m., The Howlin’ Wolf: The heavy rock band recently released its debut album, Something Supernatural, and time has only made the band harder and tighter. (tickets) Also on Wednesday: Mama Rosin, Leyla McCalla, Luke Allen and Helen Gillet, 6 p.m., Siberia (tickets); Little Gold, HiGH, The Lovie Dovies, 9 p.m., Gasa Gasa (tickets); Macy Gray, The Honorable South, 8:30 p.m., Tipitina’s (tickets); Holy Ghost Tent Revival, 8 p.m., The BEATnik (tickets); Pocket Aces Brass Band, 9 p.m., The Howlin’ Wolf’s Den (tickets)

Other Stuff
Friday night, the Crescent City Blues and Barbecue Festival starts in Lafayette Square with performances by Little Freddie King and Ana Popovic. It continues all day Saturday starting at 11 a.m. with headliners Los Lobos and Joe Louis Walker, and on Sunday with Bobby Rush and Mel Waiters topping the bill.

Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Deslondes, and Coyotes top the bill Friday at The Joy Theater for the first installment of “This is NOLA,” monthly series of shows that focus on New Orleans’ contemporary culture. The show is free; RSVP at ThisIsNola.org for priority entry.

The New Orleans Film Festival is on now and continues through next Thursday with screenings of films around the city. Check the festival website for a complete schedule, but I’m looking forward to Jingle Bell Rocks!, a documentary on Christmas music that shows Sunday night at Canal Place; Big Star: Live in Memphis, featuring the final incarnation of the band (Monday at the Joy Theater); and The Last Kamakazis of Heavy Metal, a documentary on struggling Chicago band Hessler (Wednesday at Canal Place). The festival concludes Thursday with Joe Lauro’s documentary The Big Beat on Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, which will screen at the Carver Theater at 7 and 10 p.m. If I get ambitious, I’ll also try to make it to documentaries on Nat King Cole and the Rahsaan Roland Kirk.