Sat. April 26

 Among the reunions we never thought we'd see ... Big Dipper. The quartet harkens back to the post-punk of the mid-late '80s and the members all have professions that have taken them away from music. Nevertheless, a series of circumstances - one of them being Merge Records - is re-releasing a set of their discs, guitarists Gary Waelik and Bill Goffrie, bassiset Steve Michener and drummer Jeff Oliphant are at the Middle East Downstairs tonight, Sat. April 26.

Big Dipper made a mark locally with their melodic punk rock - think of a less angry, more hopeful Husker Du. They started on Gerard Cosloy's Homestead Records and then moved to Epic (the major leagues!) for "Slam" ... and Epic's lack of support basically put the band out of business. But they're getting together for at least this one-off, though it could be - like the Mission of Burma status - a situation where they exist part-time. They do have another album's worth of songs that never made it to disc. They have all contributed plenty of time to getting in playing shape for this gig.  And they feel, quite rightly, that they never had a proper finish. The show starts at 9 with Paper Thin Stages playing all of Dipper's "Slam," then a set by Great Plains and Big Dipper around 11. Tickets: $18

472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278 www.mideastclub.com