With the summer fast approaching, there are ever-more bands on tour, all available for us to visit old favorites and discover new favorites. Here are a selection of some of the best shows in the New York area over the next week:

As winners of last year’s Emergenza Festival, Lily Sparks will be the guest performers at the semifinal of this year’s competition at Crash Mansion on Thursday May 20. These rocker chicks will be appearing with their brand of classic, yet somehow simultaneously, new, rock. With a sound ranging from heavy rock with wailing guitars to delicate ballads with powerful vocals, Lily Sparks is full of energy and have a zest for performance. As I have mentioned in earlier posts – Lily Sparks is a great band who put on a great live show, so you are virtually guaranteed a good time. Go on – start the weekend early.

This alternative rock band from Boston is experiencing somewhat of a throwback to their heyday of the mid-90s when they enjoyed more widespread popularity. Attempting a bit of a comeback, they resurrected themselves at SXSW in 2007 and have done a few shows here and there since then. Their somewhat unusual flirtation with teen dramas, having appeared eons ago in teen show – My So Called Life and recently getting a mention in the current day Gossip Girl, may have opened them up to a new audience.

Teen drama or no, Buffalo Tom has a great, solid sound and is planning on releasing a new album towards the end of this year. It will be interesting to hear what they sound like these days.

Austin Texas indie rock band Okkervil River appears at Webster Hall on Tuesday May 25 with psychedelic rock veteran Roky Erickson promoting its joint album True Love Cast Out All Evil, which was released last month. This promises to be a great and poignant show. After emerging from the ashes of poverty, drug abuse, mental illness – the whole nine yards – a recovered Erickson drafted Okkervil River to assist him in producing some songs he wrote during a deeply troubled time in his life. Okkervil River lead Will Sheff, himself a poetic and philosophical songwriter is the ideal accomplice to deal with such deep topics. He helped produce the album with Okkervill as the back up. This is a positive and life-affirming collaboration and one which will hopefully bring some much needed attention to a talented Okkervil River. Miss this at your peril.