Happy Halloween ghosts and ghouls! There’s a slew of great bands playing in Houston this week before heading up to a certain festival this weekend (hint: ____ ). We’ve got mega-celebs that have their own fragrances wrecking the Toyota Center in English AND Espanol on Wed., we’ve got huge indie bands Spoon and the New Pornographers teaching class on Thurs, and we have the Houstonist pick o’ the week: M.I.A. and Paul Wall on......

Now for the just-plain-weird: the band of Montreal embraces the glam look and grade school plays in their new video “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse.” We think the band has been dabbling a little too much into the chemicals lately. Like R.E.M. and the B-52’s, of Montreal actually originates from Athens, GA. Their new album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, is more of a solo project for band leader Kevin Barnes. He wrote......

Before we get into this week's calendar, here are some upcoming concerts recently added that you may want to snag tickets for in advance: The Shins – 3/6 @ Verizon Wireless (on sale today @ 5 p.m.) The Toadies – 3/14 @ Verizon Wireless (reunion show) My Chemical Romance – 4/14 @ Reliant Arena Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – 4/26 @ Warehouse Live As for this week: if you want some Willie on......

LAist tracks an award-winning TV writer who worked on Good Times to a homeless shelter and sees a Little Old Lady get a jaywalking ticket because she can't get across fast enough (in the same post!). Poets invade Metro and an LAist contributor's new book asks WWJB. Gothamist gets down with the immigration rally and their readers want to be heard. The anniversary of the Mets' 1986 World Series is celebrated via a RBI Baseball......

Finally, the concert scene is picking up for 2006, and it will only get better: Wednesday You could see Ricky Martin shake his bon-bon at Verizon Wireless tonight, but we recommend saving a few bucks and listening to Peter Hook spinning records at 1415. Hook was the bass player for Joy Division and currently, New Order. OK, it’s not “live” music, but it’ll still be a treat. He’s known to throw in some rare......