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Trust Us: MSTRKRFT, Allah-Las, HartBeat Weekend and more stuff to do this week

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Allah-Las plays Beauty Bar September 5.
    • Coldplay at T-Mobile Arena

      Before you ever hashtagged your feels, there was Coldplay, the British alt-rock quartet that bleeds its heart out while massaging yours in the process. Its melodic ardor will knead your emotional knots during its first public headlining show here in eight years. With Alessia Cara, Bishop Briggs. September 1, 7 p.m., $30-$180. –Mike Prevatt.

    • Portico at Makers & Finders

      Makers & Finders has a lot going for it already—wonderful coffee, an easygoing vibe, a menu of Latin-inspired comfort dishes and more. But until now, it hasn’t taken the fullest advantage of its Arts District location—so close to the First Friday art walk, yet with no gallery space of its own. That changes with the opening of Portico, a micro-gallery created by Makers co-proprietor Josh Molina and local photographer Daniel Britton. Makers’ back hallway has been repurposed as a gallery space, featuring a mural by Caitlyn Saville and a selection of Britton’s striking photographs. Britton, a maker at heart—he spent eight years working in the oil fields of North Dakota, and has built structures for the Further Future festival—applies a bit of home science to his long-exposure nighttime shots: Many of them include a figure swinging a piece of flaming steel wool, producing terrific showers of sparks. The opening will also feature a live DJ, and a variety of “coffee and tea” cocktails, which we know will be worth the trip. September 2, 6-10 p.m., free. –Geoff Carter

    • MSTRKRFT at Bunkhouse Saloon

      The Bunkhouse is an unexpected venue for MSTRKRFT to play. (Jesse Keeler) It sort of makes more sense to play a venue like [the Bunkhouse] rather than cram all our drum machines and synthesizers and everything into a DJ booth that was never intended for that or big enough.

      I played the new LP, Operator, and had to make sure it was the correct album, because it’s got such a throwback analog sound. (Al-P ) I take that as a compliment, because being away for so long, we needed to come back and do something not the same. I think definitely we achieved it with this new setup.

      Do you feel playing live is important now that many DJs are criticized for pushing buttons during their sets? (JK) What we’re doing is in no way to be construed as a commentary on what others are doing. … We needed to be more musical than the computer stuff was allowing us to be.

      With Woolymammoth, Midnight Affair, DJ Wizdumb, Personal Touch, Astrogold. September 2, 9 p.m., $15-$20. –Deanna Rilling

    • Hartbeat Weekend at the Cosmopolitan

      For his third Labor Day Weekend Cosmo party, Kevin Hart offers up two comedy shows (Friday, Chelsea) and live performances by Travis Scott (Saturday, Marquee) and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Sunday, Boulevard Pool and Marquee). September 2-4, Hartbeatweekend.com, $23-$125. –Brock Radke.

    • USC vs. Alabama Watch Party at Miller's Ale House

      College football kicks off with a slew of juicy matchups, including the defending NCAA champs against the No. 20 Trojans. The local USC and ’bama alumni chapters are co-hosting, but anyone can eat, drink and cheer for—or against—either team. September 3, 5 p.m., no cover, Town Square. –Spencer Patterson

    • Allah-Las at Beauty Bar

      We spoke with drummer Matthew Correia:

      This is your first time playing Vegas. What took so long? I don’t know why it took us so long to play out there, it’s so close. It [was] a little bit of a getaway when we were kids, for our parents, mostly. I’ve spent a lot of time out there [since] my brother actually lives out there.

      You recorded new album Calico Review at LA’s Valentine Recording Studio, which has a really fascinating backstory. How did you hear about that studio and why did you decide to record there? Friends of friends were working there and [we] heard about it and it just felt really good. Sometimes you just know when you get into the room … all things aligned pretty well. The feeling was right [so] we took a chance on it.

      What was the recording process like this time around? It was kind of split up. We were writing and arranging some of the songs for [Calico Review] and some songs for other projects. When we got in that studio we kind of had a set idea for what we wanted and what we wanted to record, and it wasn’t as experimental. I think we were in there for a little less than a month recording and then mixing [on] some weekends and stuff. I think we’re just really happy that we’re finished with it. It just feels good to be done.

      I know you guys experimented with a lot of different instrumentation on Calico Review. As the percussionist, are there any instruments that really excited you? I usually use hand drums and bongos. I brought in some congas and some other percussion equipment. Some of it made it on there and some of it didn’t. We just blasted through these sessions and tried to figure out as much stuff as possible. We have a harpsichord and some strings … one of the [songs with] strings is on the record and one is on a B-side. We have three singles coming out, and each one has a B-side that’s not going to be on the record. That’s something we’ve never done before.

      When you started the band, you didn’t know how to play drums. How hard was that? I always collected records and was hanging around the record store bothering people, so I guess I had an idea for what I wanted. I kinda hit the ground running. We were playing kind of primitive garage at the time and it just kinda built from there. We played our first show not a month after we started playing. It was a very bad show. We just played anything anyone allowed us to play and we had a lot of encouragement from friends and bands. And they were like, you guys should keep going, so I did. I kinda just learned to play really basically and kept on learning.

      Vegas kicks off your massive fall tour. Knowing that you’re going to be gone for so long, is there anything you have to do before you leave LA? We try to go down to Mexico and Ensenada. I like to go kinda solo sometimes. A trip like that [is] something that I need before facing the road and being with six other guys crammed into a stinky van. I’ve been trying to organize a lot of my old film negatives and photos ... I think I’m just gonna focus on some projects at home.

      With Tops. September 5, 8 p.m., $10-$12. –Leslie Ventura.

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