It’s a happy accident that indie rock’s two most critically adored names are playing in Washington on the same two nights. And it’s a little less happy that all four shows—Joanna Newsom at Sixth & I, Spoon at the 9:30 Club—are sold out. If you can only afford scalper tickets to one, opt for the former: While on recent albums Spoon has quietly deconstructed its tension-and-release anthems, Newsom has eyed bigger and bigger statements. Her latest, Have One on Me, is a triple album that abandons Lilliput for Laurel Canyon, inhabiting an early-’70s comedown vibe that feels less misty-eyed than the renn-fair imagery of her past works, and somehow more mysterious.

JOANNA NEWSOM PERFORMS AT 8 P.M. (ALSO ON TUESDAY, SAME TIME) AT SIXTH & I HISTORIC SYNAGOGUE, 600 I ST. NW. SOLD OUT. (202) 408-3100.