1. Have yourself a blast with some summer lovin’ as the Rio Theatre brings back its popular Grease Sing-a-long. The interactive nostalgia trip where audiences sing along to the 1978 classic, complete with lyrics on the screen, a bouncing ball, treat bags, costume contest and more, starts at 8 p.m. Aug. 26. For tickets and details, go to riotheatre.ca.
2. “Northern gothic band” Burmis Tree celebrate the release of their latest batch of moody country-folk goodness Aug. 27 at Backspace. It’s all part of Backfest, an all ages, mini alt-country festival, which also includes Rodney DeCroo and the Wise Blood, Shiloh Lindsey, HAMM: One Man Band!, Soul Proprietors, DJ Su Comandante and more. Doors at 5:30 p.m. Advance tickets available at Highlife Records, Red Cat Records, Zulu Records, via Backspace at 604-831-6263, and at Eventbrite.ca. Details at tonicrecords.com.
3. New York by way of Texas’s Parquet Courts continue their winning indie rock ways with their latest album Human Performance, which they’ll be supporting when they play the Vogue Theatre Aug. 27. Naomi Punk and Wishkicker open. Tickets at Red Cat, Zulu and ticketfly.com.
4. Give them credit, the members of Duran Duran have aged pretty well, adopting a “cool divorced uncle who’s enjoying the single life” look, despite years of singing “Hungry Like the Wolf” to adoring fans. Apparently the ’80s heartthrobs aren’t sounding too shabby, either. Hear for yourself when Simon, John, Nick and whoever the other guy is play Rogers Arena, Aug. 28, in support of their new album Paper Gods. Chic featuring Nile Rodgers opens. Tickets at livenation.ca.
