Of course, rather than trying to bounce from stage to stage in the middle of the desert like some sweaty pinball, you could just stay home and catch about 83 percent of the acts on the bill as they route their tours through the Bay Area over the next few weeks – and for a fraction of the cost. Can’t decide where to go on a given night? We provide some highlights. Here is how to do Coachella on your terms:

April 6

– Mazzy Star (McNear’s Mystic Theater, 23 Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma). The haunting, hair-raising Los Angeles folk-rock duo, responsible for the hit “Fade Into You,” plays its first live show in 15 years at this out-of-the-way Bay Area venue. It’s perfect. Seeing them on a big field would be a tragedy.

April 9

Jeff Mangum (Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland)

April 10

Jeff Mangum (Fox)

April 11

Firehose (Slim’s, 333 11th St.)

Girls (Bimbo’s 365 Club, 1025 Columbus Ave)

James (Independent, 628 Divisadero St.)

– M. Ward (Fillmore, 1805 Geary Blvd.). The singer-songwriter, who moonlights in She Him with Zooey Deschanel, releases his new solo album, “A Wasteland Companion,” the day before this show. What better venue to celebrate in?

Mazzy Star (Regency Ballroom, 1290 Sutter St.)

Oberhofer (Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St.)

Radiohead and Other Lives (HP Pavilion, 525 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose)

April 12

Band of Skulls and We Are Augustines (Fillmore)

– Goyte (Independent). The Australian musician’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” is one of the year’s monster hits. Here’s a chance to see him perform it up close with his beguiling duet partner (and opening act), Kimbra.

Miike Snow (Fox)

Metronomy (Slim’s)

April 13

Andrew Bird and Laura Marling (Fox Theater)

Nero (Warfield, 982 Market St.)

April 15

– Jimmy Cliff (Uptown Theatre Napa, 1350 Third St., Napa). Fresh from making a cameo with Bruce Springsteen at South by Southwest, the reggae icon and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is on tour with a band that includes Rancid’s Tim Armstrong.

Givers (Slim’s)

Ximena Sarinana (The New Parish, 579 18th St., Oakland)

Yuck (Independent)

April 16

Explosions in the Sky (Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St.)

– Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell St.). The long-dormant and much-missed Canadian experimental rock group becomes the house band at the Great American, hosting a five-night run.

The Horrors (Bimbo’s)

Kasabian (Fillmore)

SBTRKT (Independent)

April 17

Fanfarlo (Slim’s)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Great American Music Hall)

The Horrors (Bimbo’s)

Justice and the Rapture (Fox)

– Pulp (Warfield). The third or fourth most popular band of the Britpop era, fronted by the indomitable Jarvis Cocker, brings classics like “Disco 2000″ and “Common People” back to life. For a limited time only.

Wu Lyf (Independent)

April 18

The Dear Hunter (Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St.)

First Aid Kit (Slim’s)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Great American Music Hall)

The Refused and the Hives (Warfield)

– Wild Flag (Fillmore). You might not know the name but you know the players – ex-Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss, Helium guitarist Mary Timony, Minders’ keyboardist Rebecca Cole. And you know they can make an all-star racket.

April 19

– Bon Iver (Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove St.). A victory lap for Justin Vernon, who is having a banner year sweeping the Grammys and making new friends at “Saturday Night Live.” At Coachella, you would be watching a bearded speck over a sea of heads.

Childish Gambino (Fox)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Great American Music Hall)

Madness (Warfield)

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 (Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley)

Spector (Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St.)

Squeeze (Fillmore)

Wild Beasts (Independent)

April 20

Buzzcocks (Uptown, 1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Great American Music Hall)

Zeds Dead (Regency)

April 22

– M83 (Fillmore). The French outfit’s latest album, “Hurry Up We’re Dreaming,” distills the best elements of icy new wave into heartwarming songs like “Midnight City.”

The Shins (Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St., Santa Cruz)

April 23

M83 (Fillmore)

The Shins (Mondavi Center for Performing Arts)

April 24

Neon Indian (Fillmore)

Real Estate (Great American Music Hall)

St. Vincent and Tune-Yards (Fox)

April 28

DJ Shadow (Regency)

May 4

– The Black Keys and the Arctic Monkeys (Oracle Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland). Some music was meant to be experienced with big crowds, but most Bay Area fans already caught the Black Keys in the great outdoors at Outside Lands. Now’s the time to experience the Ohio blues rock with a roof over your head. {sbox}

Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. Twitter: @MusicSF. avaziri@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page P – 27 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/01/PKI51NNDPL.DTL