Bob Dylan

The Never-Ending Tour - the best expression of Bob Dylan's ancient troubadour nature - has taken two interesting turns of late. The first is that he's welcomed back guitar hero Charlie Sexton to the fold. Dylan's been doing great as a guitarist, adding wheezing, stinging leads and rickety rhythms to his classics. But Sexton - he of the high cheekbones and mournful blues-metal riffs - is a sniper, and one can only imagine that Dylan's best will only get a lot better with Sexton's inclusion. The second thing is that Dylan just released his first holiday album, Christmas in the Heart. All royalties from its sales will be donated in perpetuity to Feeding America charities to provide meals to the needy. Buy the deluxe version and get five exclusive holiday cards. That said, while one can't imagine Dylan's rasping his way in a live setting to Heart's hickish version of "Here Comes Santa Claus" or his oddly harsh take on "Winter Wonderland," one never knows what Dylan has underneath his wide-brimmed hat. - A.D. Amorosi

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An Evening with Bob Dylan

and His Band, 7:30 p.m. Monday

at Liacouras Center, Temple University, 1776 N. Broad St.

Tickets: $49.50 and $34.50.

Contact: 1-800-298-4200, www.comcastTIX.com.

The Swell Season

The lines between fiction and reality blur with the Swell Season. Czech pianist Markéta Irglová and Ireland's Glen Hansard, whose band, the Frames, back them in the Swell Season, began a romance when they starred in Once, a story of a blossoming romance between musicians. Their song "Falling Slowly" won them an Oscar, but as they toured together, the romance soured. Fortunately, their musical relationship didn't, and now we have act two, Strict Joy. It's hard not to hear these bittersweet ruminations, gentle recriminations, and soulful acclamations as documents of their disillusionment, open letters to each other. Hansard wrote most of the songs (and evidently some predate the romance), but Irglová's clear and direct vocals, whether taking the lead on "I Have Loved You Wrong" or partnered with Hansard in "Two Tongues," make them smolder, even as they describe love's dying embers.

- Steve Klinge

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The Swell Season play 8 p.m. Sunday p.m. at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St. Tickets: $35. Phone: 215-732-5446, www.livenation.com.

AFI

For 18 years, California hard-core punk band AFI has been writing and performing visceral, melodic, and emotional tunes with aplomb. Although its first five albums were well received in the punk community for the members' heart-wrenching screams, assaultive melodies, and lyrics rife with emotion, pain and beauty, it was the band's 2003 album, Sing the Sorrow, that brought it more mainstream success.

Sing the Sorrow earned AFI radio play and inclusion into the cadre of Hot Topic stores for its highly original, evocative, and mature songs, almost like a Goth opera. With the recent 2009 release "Crash Love," the members have continued to sound polished and professional, while keeping the moving, sorrowful, and frenetic songwriting they've always espoused. - Katherine Silkaitis

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AFI performs with Gallows at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Electric Factory,

421 N. Seventh St. Tickets: $27.50-$29.50. Phone: 215-627-1332, www.livenation.com.