For musicians who grew up in the D.C. or Baltimore area, playing Merriweather Post Pavilion is almost like graduating. But while plenty of locals have played the rustic amphitheater over the past few years—Beach House, The Walkmen, and Animal Collective are just a few—the ascension of Baltimore duo Wye Oak might be the most rewarding. Guitarist/singer Jenn Wasner and drummer Andy Stack’s restrained records and ferocious live shows were something of an open secret until the duo released their third album, Civilian, earning the best reviews of their career. Tonight, the band may wrangle in a few new converts opening for The National and Yo La Tengo, but those in the know will show up early—and not just to tailgate. Door open at 5 p.m. at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Md. $30-$40.

MUSIC

Two indie-rock shows from under-the-radar bands with notable local pedigrees. Dot Dash plays jangly indie pop, has a bit of punk-rock snarl, and features dudes who used to be hidden-gem locals like Julia Ocean and The Saturday People. With Capstan Shafts at DC9 tonight at 9 p.m.

And Drunken Sufis is the hard-to-pin-down side-project of the much poppier Jukebox the Ghost‘s Tommy Siegel. The songs are mathy; the lyrics are paranoid and political (“you’re just another motherfucking neocon in our eyes”). Cool. They have a new album, which tonight’s show is celebrating. With Typefighter and Meta at the Black Cat Backstage at 8 p.m.

BOOKS

Topical! Hisham Matar reads and signs his second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, narrated by the 12-year-old son of an anti-Gadhafi dissident in Cairo. At Politics & Prose at 7 p.m. Free.