Heavy Dates
BOSTON/PROVIDENCE
And now, yet another monthly
update on the eagerly awaited sophomore album by Rhode Island punkabillies the
Amazing Crowns: the release date of Still Royal (on Time Bomb
Recordings, home of Social Distortion) has been pushed back to this summer. But
word has it that the band are recording all three shows of their
Bosstones-style "Providence Payback" throwdown for release as a live album on
their old label, Monolyth, and that this one could make it to shelves as early
as March. The Crowns headline three nights at the Met Café, (401)
861-2142, in Providence: on January 27 with the Double Nothins, the
Raging Teens, Pressure Cooker, and the Vigilantes; on
January 28 with the Showcase Showdown, the Belmont Playboys,
Sinners' Club, and Damn Personals; and on January 29 with the
Fabulous Itchies, the Bourbonaires, L.E.S. Stiches, and
the Money Shots. After their show with the Crowns, Boston rockabilly
firebrands the Raging Teens return home on January 29 for a show at T.T. the
Bear's Place, (617) 492-2327, in Cambridge, with the Cretins, the
Fuzzy Pinks, and the Kings of Nuthin'.
Another Rhode Island band, Steely Dan-ish hippie faves the Slip, head to
Cambridge for a show downstairs at the Middle East, (617) 864-3278, with
Blue Rags on January 28. And on February 3, Maine's Rustic Overtones
play the Paradise, (617) 562-8800, in Boston, with Gran Torino. Both
bands hook up with the Slip and Gruvis Malt the next night, February 4,
for a jam-band showdown at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in
Providence. On the harder side of the jam spectrum there's Blue Floyd, a
-- get this -- blues-rock supergroup/Pink Floyd cover band featuring bassist
Allen Woody and drummer Matt Abts of Gov't Mule plus former Black Crowes lead
guitarist Marc Ford. Now, we've never been too, uh, high on the legendary
Floyd, but we do know that Ford played some of the most incendiary,
forward-looking blues leads of the '90s on the second and third Crowes discs
before getting ousted from that notoriously wasted crew by somehow managing to
do more drugs than everybody else in the band. Kinda figured this is where he'd
end up, right?
Like Marc Ford, Ben Harper has that rare ability to squeeze new life out
of tired blues-rock clichés. His new Burn To Shine is credited to
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, but rest assured all eyes will still
be on him when he plays Smith College, (800) 477-6849, in Northampton, on
February 3. They were the last time we saw him, at least -- and most of their
owners were trying to figure out how the hell a straight-faced guy seated at
the front of the stage playing slide guitar on his lap could pull off such a
blistering version of Hendrix's "Manic Depression." Be forewarned, though --
not all his original stuff comes off as well. Corey Harris opens for
Harper. In other roots news, reggae warriors Steel Pulse will be at
Lupo's on January 28 before heading to Boston for a gig at the Roxy, (800)
477-6849, on February 2.
Also, two wholly dissimilar but equally crowd-pleasing Boston punk bands head
north on January 29: Tree will be at Smithwicks, (978) 937-2111, in
Lowell, and Babaloo will be at Bleachers, (978) 744-4328, in Salem.
And with boy bands still all the rage at this late date, isn't it time for a
cappella to make a move into the mainstream? Well, probably not, but we're
sure there's at least a future in touring a cappella groups as a
training ground (boot camp for vocal chops?) for the Backstreet Boys of the
future. Go scoping for talent when M-Pact hit the Iron Horse, (413)
584-0610, in Northampton, on January 28 and the Paradise on January 31.
-- Carly Carioli and Sean Richardson
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