One way or the other, you probably ought to be at a show on Saturday night.

Not only will spastic math-rock virtuosos Tera Melos be in town performing with our local boys Pan and Good News, but legendary folk punks Defiance, OH will be coming to Grand Rapids performing with our very own The Almanac Shouters.

Something like four years ago now I had the chance to catch a little band called By the End of Tonight at the Dolphin House (RIP) here in Kalamazoo. Not only was I blown away by their performance that night, I was also introduced to the equally mind-altering Tera Melos through the split release they put out, Complex Full of Phantoms. Here we are, four years on, and they’re finally making their way from California for what I believe will be their first ever visit to our fair city. Since 2004, this three-piece (formerly a quartet) has been honing and constantly evolving their style, putting out release after release, and touring hard – thus establishing themselves as a touchstone of the math-rock genre. They’ll be touring behind their newest release, the poppier, Patagonian Rats.

Joining them for this show will be locals Good News who may arguably not be the band they are today if it weren’t for Tera Melos (or at least bands of that ilk) and Pan, who I’ve watched only get better and better in the year and a half since they’ve formed.

That same night Defiance, OH will be playing what will surely be a packed to the gills show at the DAAC in Grand Rapids. For about the last decade these folk punk troubadors have been defining a genre and inspiring countless others to mix up their punk rock with banjos and upright basses and cellos, invoking the the activist spirit of classic rabble-rousers like Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger. All the while, they’ve remained true to the DIY ethos. If you’re a fan of sing-alongs and capacity shows you can crowd surf at, you would do well to be at the DAAC Saturday night.

Also performing will be solo artist Toby Foster from the punk mecca of Bloomington, IN (original home of Plan-It-X Records) and Grand Rapids’ Radiator Hospital, as well as the afformentioned Almanac Shouters (our Kalamazoo darlings).

It’s easy to be torn, but Saturday will be an undeniably excellent night for music in Southwest Michigan. Either way, you win.

Unless you’re talking about the game, in which case you definitely just lost.