U2 tribute band Slane. Betsy McDonagh

Slane: U2 tribute
8 p.m. Friday. Maine Irish Heritage Center, 34 Gray St., Portland, $10 in advance, $15 at the door. maineirish.com
If you’d like to hear some U2 songs but can’t make it to Las Vegas for one of their residency shows, head to the Maine Irish Heritage Center on Friday night. Recently formed local U2 tribute act Slane will be playing hits and deeper album cuts. The four musicians love U2 as much as you do, and lead singer Barry Dodd’s vocals capture Bono’s inflections quite well. The show will go on with or without out you, but make it a beautiful day by grabbing a ticket.

Dave Gutter backstage at The Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, 2023 in Los Angeles. Photo by Eric Krasno

Dave Gutter
8 p.m. Friday. Vinegar Hill Music Theatre, 53 Old Post Road, Arundel, $25, $30. vinhillmusic.com
Dave Gutter has earned the status of Maine legend as frontman of Rustic Overtones since the ’90s along with his other band Paranoid Social Club. Gutter also writes songs for big acts like Tedeschi Trucks Band and Aaron Neville, and one of those tunes, “Stompin’ Ground,” earned Neville a Grammy Award earlier this year for Best American Roots Performance. Opening for Gutter and his band is Kennbunkport’s Dan Blakeslee, who you won’t want to miss.

Dead Letter Office. Photo by Eliza Franz

Dead Letter Office: R.E.M. tribute
8 p.m. Saturday. Waldo Theatre, 916 Main St., $20 in advance, $25 at the door. thewaldotheatre.org
Alternative rock act R.E.M. called it quits in 2011, but their music very much lives on, thanks to tribute act Dead Letter Office, which has been carrying the torch for nearly a decade. Fronted by singer Chris Sanchirico, the band plays the hits as well as the lesser-known songs from R.E.M’s storied discography.