Tele-BEARS season is always a stressful period of chaos, confusion and compromise as students build their perfect schedules only to see each of their planned classes fill up day by day before their Tele-BEARS appointments. The struggle to choose the right classes, then somehow grab them for your schedule, is analogous to the fight to find the perfect concerts in the Bay Area and snag tickets as early as possible. It’s just like the perfect math lecture time with the best professor. If you do not strategize early, you are going to end up having to show up to an 8 a.m. with a incoherent teacher who scored 1.2 on ratemyprofessors.com. Concerts are the same way, and if you do not get tickets for these awesome shows early, you may have to settle for watching the drumming dude outside of Amoeba every week to get your music fix next semester.

Young the Giant at Fox Theater

Young the Giant is like the Nobel laureate professor of live shows. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia is spectacular in person and throws his soul behind his performance. Meanwhile, the rest of the band members perform sprawling sounds with an overwhelming musical energy. Their soon-to-be-released sophomore record, Mind over Matter, is already generating crazy buzz for the record’s lead single, “It’s About Time.” These fan favorites are sure to blow up, so this is your chance to catch them for relatively cheap at an intimate venue before they start selling out arenas. Seriously, this would be like taking Robert Reich’s “Wealth and Poverty” class in 2050 VLSB before he became Secretary of Labor.

Ellie Goulding and Rudimental at Bill Graham Civic Center

Pack your glow sticks, because Ellie Goulding is in town. If you don’t act fast, you may miss out on what we think will likely be the best Saturday night of your spring semester. Although her pop sensibilities are magical and she puts on a great live show, the real draw for this show is opener Rudimental, who have garnered quite a bit of buzz abroad and are known for their irresistible dance-floor tunes. It may be kind of like signing up for a class because of a great GSI, but Rudimental is enough of a draw for those of you who are not interested in just Goulding. Regardless of whom you come for, there is no doubt you are going to stay to dance along to these two artists’ infectious songs.

Jake Bugg at Fox Theater

The first week of classes is the perfect time to go to a concert; you have almost zero homework, no midterms to study for and little extracurricular responsibility, making a night out at the Fox Theater completely guilt-free. Jake Bugg is the perfect act to open your semester. The British singer-guitarist has attracted much buzz back in his homeland and is attempting to ignite the same reception here. Before he becomes huge and impossible to get a ticket to see, catch him on tour. It would be like taking a class by an incredibly famous foreign professor that no one else knows; you get an amazing experience without having it diluted by his fame.

HAIM at The Fillmore

If you haven’t fallen for this pop-rock trio of sisters yet, then you have obviously been avoiding the music scene for the past few months. With a killer record garnering a great deal of critical acclaim and an SNL performance that has been the highlight of the show’s current season (sorry, Josh!), HAIM is blowing up, and with two dates at the Fillmore in San Francisco, now is the perfect chance to get acquainted with the much-deserved hype. Although their shows are set for way in April of next year, failure to buy tickets now will likely result in you missing sold-out shows and having to hear about how awesome they were from all your forward-thinking friends. Seriously, it’s like finding out a class you almost took has a take-home final. 

Franz Ferdinand at Fox Theater

Three words: “Take Me Out” — the song you and your friends always head-bang and sing along to on long car rides. Imagine getting to do the same, except at the Fox Theater, with the band a couple feet in front of you. These indie rockers have a catalog full of crowd-pleasers, from 2009’s “No You Girls” to this year’s “Right Action.” Missing out on this concert would be the biggest mistake of your life. OK, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but at the very least, you will feel sour whenever you hear “Take Me Out” on the radio and think about what could have been. It’s like ignoring all the recommendations for an awesome class just because it’s not a requirement for your major!

Image sources: Kmeron, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, NRK P3, Ch Villa, NRK P3, NRK P3