September ends and October begins with all kinds of great music playing downtown all weekend!

As September winds down and October begins there's a whole list of great shows to catch, starting with some fantastic Bluegrass bands coming to the Bottleneck this week, and ending with a gigantic music festival, Scion Garage Fest held within four of the best venues downtown.

First, local Bluegrass gods Deadman Flats will be playing with Oakhurst at the Bottleneck at 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Deadman Flats' style of speedy, punkish bluegrass and hilarious drinkin' country tunes makes every show into a hoedown of epic proportions. Oakhurst is a five-piece bluegrass jam band from Denver, that sound talented and easy on the ears. These two bands should compliment each other quite well, and make for a great mid-week concert to let loose at.

Then, Dirtfoot will be stopping by the Bottleneck to lay down some awesome bluegrass jams Friday at 10 p.m. with American Aquarium. Dirtfoot, the folk and bluegrass band from Shreveport, Louisiana always puts on a fantastic show to a big, enthusiastic crowd, so come ready to party hardy!

BUT, also on Friday at 10 p.m. The Spook Lights, one of Lawrence's coolest, weirdest bands will be on at the Replay Lounge along with Fag Cop, Strong Smells, and Wayne Pain. This show will only be $2 and these bands are most likely to play to a smaller, more personal crowd in the indoor part of the bar. The Spook Lights are awesomely quirky, full of passion and brilliant talent, not to mention lots of fun, addictive hits that all their loyal fans love. The band has a special style of old 60s pop rock crossed with a little bit of spooky, psychedelic surf rock to create something you won't hear anywhere else.

Now, granted it's pretty ironic that a bunch of indie rock bands would play for a festival that's blatantly sponsored by a big not-at-all-indie company, but Scion Garage Fest is going to be epic for music lovers. The festival involves a list of bands playing one after another at The Bottleneck, Liberty Hall, The Jackpot Music Hall, and The Granada. Most of the bands listed appear to be indie rock groups of one sub-genre or another. The best bands this reviewer is excited to see are opening and headlining at Liberty Hall. Rooftop Vigilantes, a Lawrence original band that's skyrocketing to fame is playing one last show in town before going on tour. Then The Raveonettes will finish the night at Liberty Hall at 11 p.m. The Denmark based indie rock band plays a style of oldies mixed with dark lyrics and slick, addictive guitar riffs. Some of their songs rock hard and fast, others are slow and sweet, but it's all well-composed, brilliantly executed music without compare. Try Aly, Walk With Me on their Myspace to get a great idea of their use of melodies, harmonies and harsh noise to make incredibly music. This may be one of the rarest bands you can ever see in Lawrence, these guys don't come around this area often. Be there!

But if neither of these bands is your cup of tea, there's dozens of other bands playing all evening and through the night at the other three venues this festival is being held at. So take your pick and have a fantastic weekend!