St. Patrick’s Day douchebags be damned

Egads! Take it from an actual ginger: St. Patrick’s Day is easily the dumbest holiday hanging on the calendar year. Thankfully there are plenty of gigs this week where you can avoid dudes wearing “Blow Me, I’m Irish” shirts and barfing in doorways.

Friday: Things are gonna get a little dark at the ol’ Barfly when the shadowy ambiance of Hellenica will bounce off their Habs-adorned walls. Drone bros Aim Low take up the middle slot and Zac DeCamp’s new joint opens up. This promises to be loud, so take advantage of Barfly’s earplugs, which can be found behind the bar. 4062A St-Laurent, 9 p.m., $5

For some killer bar rock that goes great with a frosty pint, head east to l’Entre Nous to check out Lazarus Moan. 4557 Papineau, 10 p.m., price unlisted

The Montreal Oi Festival is about to get their seventh edition underway and will be taking over Katacombes over the weekend. Their first night is a classic, with UK82 legends Chron Gen headlining and Warrior Kids, la Gachette, Battalion Zośka and Force Majeure supporting. 1635 St-Laurent, p.m., $28.29

Saturday: The second and final night of the seventh edition of Montreal’s Oi Festival is happening at Katacombes, with Alternate Action, Legion 76, Antagonizers ATL, Lvger and King Cans. 1635 St-Laurent, p.m., $28.29

For a night of dirty doom and grindcore, you will want to march your gaming ass down to Turbo Haüs to catch Helm and Kickxassxviolence. 2040 St-Denis, 9 p.m., PWYC

My big pick of the week is a tight and cozy one, but any fans of contemporary heavy psych or the free jams of Acid Mothers Temple are gonna want to get into l’Esco to check out O Town’s the Band Whose Name Is a Symbol, with locals Technicolor Blood. This will be great!!! 1635 St-Laurent, 9:30 p.m., $10

In a similar vein down at Barfly is the psych-tinged rock of Nuage with the high-octane rock of Reckless 4 with the slow stoner ooze of RatchetKill. 4062A St-Laurent, 8 p.m., $10

Sunday: The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol is indeed my big pick, but a close second is All Them Witches, who will reveal their spun-gold jams at l’Astral with Possum. 305 Ste-Catherine W., 8 p.m., $25/$28

Monday: If you’re a KEXP live fan as much as I am, you’ve no doubt chanced upon Dilly Dally, whose noisey, dreamy shoegaze has me hooked. They will be playing with local tour hounds Nobros at le Ritz. 179 Jean-Talon W., 9:30 p.m., $15/$20

Current Obsession: Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Pink Lady Lemonade/You’re From Inner Space

jonathan.cummins@gmail.com