COEUR d'ALENE - It could be the big break every little band dreams about.

And if not? Well, Coeur d'Alene-based rock group Goodnight Venus just plans to pack as much fun into a performance as it can during its 45 minutes on a big stage.

The year-old band, led by local guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Darin Schaffer, is playing the opening set Thursday at 8 p.m. in the 800-seat Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane. That's only a few miles but a far cry from the cramped North Idaho bars where Goodnight Venus has made a practice of exercising eardrums and rattling windows, bar bottles and loose fillings.

"I'll finally get to hear this band the way it's supposed to be heard," said Schaffer, a versatile artist who has several solo CDs to his credit after playing with Moments of Clarity.

And how is that?

"[Blanking] loud in an amazing venue," he said.

Goodnight Venus was pretty blanking loud a week ago, too. The group, which also features former Black Happy drummer Scott Jessick and bassist Tony Farris, hunkered down in Mike Koep's recording studio on Aug. 25 and blasted out 13 songs in one day.

"We wanted to make a good old-fashioned record with no overdubs, no tricks, no weirdness," Schaffer said of the recording session. "We just wanted to be a good band in a room with good mics and rely on Mike Koep's brilliance. He's a genius."

Schaffer said the session was a smashing success, although it got mighty hot in the studio.

"We got a mix of the album at the end of the day," he said. "It rocks, dude. It's pretty pro ball. It sounds legit.

"You take some Warner Brothers record out of the stereo and put ours in and it sounds just as good. Theirs cost $100,000; ours cost $250."

The CD will be on sale soon, Schaffer said, with select cuts available on iTunes.

Not that roughly a year old is ancient even by band standards, but Schaffer says Goodnight Venus has come a long way in a short time.

"They're killer songs - some heavier, some prettier," he said. "Like anything, after a lot of practice, a lot of rehearsing together, we're better."

Moving from a smoke-filled bar to the aesthetically stunning Bing Crosby Theater is a clear acknowledgment of progress, Schaffer concedes, but he's not given to unrealistic expectations - or overstatement.

"It's a little pat on the back that we don't suck," he said. "We worked hard and caught a break."

To sample Goodnight Venus, go to reverbnation.com/goodnightvenus.

If you go

n Goodnight Venus and Explosions in the Sky play Thursday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. in The Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane. Tickets: $22 at ticketswest.com