After attending a Tim Fite/the Constantines show a few years ago and arriving a few minutes late, I was befuddled to see Tim Fite on stage. Shouldn’t he be headlining? In a way, he was. The Brooklyn-based man was not just a multi-genre music machine, but a full-on lights/multi-media show, brimming with the sense of humor (“If I Had a Cop Show”), manner of dressing, and guitar expected by richer artists. Early 2007’s Over the Counter Culture, his second album, was ‘free and only online’ way before Radiohead was. And his second proper disc, Fair Ain’t Fair, is just difficult to describe as his first, but more beautiful: imagine Arrested Development’s Buster doing old-school hip-hop with an acoustic guitar, a lo-fi, twangy Beck with more gun and Black Panther references. How can you say no to that? With Scout Niblett, guests. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8000. 8 p.m. $10. KARLA STARR

Tue., April 8, 8 p.m., 2008