Bring on the pain

Tuesday night, in the middle of another weird Montana winter, what's a homeboy to do? Rent a movie? Waste hours on Pinterest? Listen to the same crappy music over and over again?

Wait, is that the faint sound of Auto-Tune approaching our fair city? Unmistakably. Turns out the posters were right: T-PAIN'S COMIN' TO TOWN.

The Adams Center hosts Grammy-winning rapper T-Pain Tuesday night as the last stop on his Snowstorm Tour across the northern states. Gym Class Heroes, Grieves & Budo and others warm the stage for the man with a professed interest in being on a boat.

Thanks for reading the necessities above. It's now time to break into that career-making star interview I didn't get.

Fine, maybe just some perspective and hype will do. Plus, if you love hype then you'll love…

T-Pain

Bursting onto the scene in 2005, and reaching no. 1 on Billboard with his second album in 2007 at just twenty-one years old, T-Pain has branded himself in a niche he calls "Hard & B."

His most obvious and lasting influence over the past seven years has been, of course, his extreme application of the pitch-correcting software known only as Auto-Tune. His beats are classic and radio-safe, but his brand of hooks (that robo-sounding "heeey, alriiight") makes him stand out most.

He's collaborated with Kanye West ("Good Life"), Jamie Foxx ("Blame It"), and Lonely Island ("I'm on a Boat"), sharing Grammys for the first mentioned and hipster cred for the last mentioned.

He's shared the screen with Taylor Swift ("Thug Story") and helped YouTube's cult hit "Auto-Tune the News" on a webisode in 2009, which has more than 2 million views.

There's even an app called ‘I am T-Pain.' Now you, too, can decide whether to use Auto-Tune for good or evil.

In short, T-Pain's been ubiquitous, always popping up where you least expect him. Like in Missoula in the middle of February.

Get lucky on Tuesday night and he might just buy you a drank.

And if you love drinking, you'll love…

Gym Class Heroes

You might have just graduated from middle school, but dig around a bit and you're bound to find a mix CD with these rock-rappers on it.

Maybe it's "Cupid's Chokehold" — the Fall Out Boy-enhanced single (da da da da, da da da da) — or maybe "The Queen and I" from their 2006 album "As Cruel as School Children." Maybe you've kept up and you've got one of their singles from last year, like "Stereo Hearts" featuring Adam Levine or "Life Goes On"— both progressions for the band into the realm of hooks while they still maintain their classic hip-hop style.

Like T-Pain, these boys are big on collaboration. MC Travie McCoy helped out on Cobra Starship's "Snakes on a Plane" and worked solo with Bruno Mars in 2010. The band even brought in Daryl Hall and Busta Rhymes for its 2008 album, "The Quilt."

Expect a live set with solid, easy-to-listen-to vocals and catchy energy.

And if you love new-wave hip-hop then you'll love…

Grieves & Budo

Seattle-based Grieves, together with producer Budo, brings the slower sing-rapping that made Atmosphere famous back when, which is fitting, since they're label-mates on Rhymesayers.

He's put out four albums in five years, and already he's sharing a stage with T-Pain before heading to Europe for a May tour.

His single "Lightspeed" is almost a piano ballad, profiling his journey, bringing up Seattle imagery, and leaving any listener wanting to hear what else he can do.

The held-back but apparent emotion in his voice and lyrics, a la "Boogie Man," gives hope for the rise of a new Slug, before it all comes to a head with something like Atmosphere's "The Family Album."

And if you like family, you'll love the last three groups rounding out this tour.

Outasight — Cris Cab — Dextrious

New York's Outasight combines a club-friendly vocal style and beats with an '80s nostalgia you have to hear to believe. His newest single, "Tonight is the Night," already has nearly three million views on YouTube. It's feel-good, pop candy that you can't help but get into.