Heavy Dates
The most interesting line-up of the week goes to the Friday bill at the Lucky
Dog. New Hampshire rockabilly big-shots the Raging Teens headline the
night, with blues thrown in by the Jason James Band, and there will be
some conspiracy instrumentals to boot, compliments of New York's secret society
Proton Accelerator. Use the back alley to avoid government agents. The
Racky Thomas Band return to swing Gilrein's, Hitler's Wheelchair
headline the night at Ralph's, and go old-school when Hank Scorpio (he
actually rhymed alongside Big Daddy Kane. It don't get much older than that!)
appears at Cafe Abba with the Ballistics, Bad Taste, and TOPD.
Saturday, Funny Bones Cafe holds a benefit for the always-beleaguered WCUW.
Vinegar Tom, Skulltoboggan, and Leicester's finest, Dog Leg, are
featured. Longtime local sideman Jeff Crane (Commandos, Surreal McCoys,
Crybabies) finally celebrates the release of his excellent disc Piece of the
Action at Dinny's. The show also marks the last appearance of the Ape
Hangers. The Nines, Boston's '60s-style garage poppers, and the
DeNiros lend a hand. Elsewhere, the Heywood Gallery gets busy with
Industrial Sonic Echo and Invented Thing Quartet, and Young
Neal and the Vipers return to Jillian's. On Tuesday, Gilrein's hosts the
Folkin' A Cafe, a singer/songwriter workshop, and the Lucky Dog goes acoustic
with Caged Heat's front gal, Jill Kurtz.
-- John O'Neill
BOSTON/PROVIDENCE
Sometimes our New Orleans jones
gets so bad that we've just got to point our vehicle south and drive till we
hear something Cajun. Luckily, this week we've only got to go as far as Rhode
Island for a fix. This Saturday, February 26, there's a triple-bill worth
traveling for: the Eighth Annual Mardi Gras Ball, at Rhodes on the
Pawtuxet Ballroom, (401) 783-3926, in Cranston, Rhode Island. On board is the
finest zydeco band we know of, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas (with one
of the best zydeco songwriters, Nathan Williams, on accordion and lead vocals);
and the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, led by hard-line Cajun traditionalist
Marc Savoy (on accordion), with his wife, Ann, on guitar and vocals, plus
fiddle virtuoso Michael Doucet. Doucet also headlines with his trailblazing
contemporary Cajun band Beausoleil.
From Southern patois to the northern, former Eric's Trip collaborator Julie
Doiron's new disc -- sung in French and English -- is up for the Juno
Award, which is sort of the Canadian Grammy. Doiron is on tour with the
Brothers Creeggan, an outfit featuring bassist Jim Creeggan of Canadian
alt-rock superstars Barenaked Ladies and his brother (and former Ladies
keyboardist) Andy. They all stop in at T.T. the Bear's Place, (617) 492-2327,
in Cambridge, this Sunday, February 27, and at the Iron Horse, (413) 584-0610,
in Northampton, on February 28.
It was an odder-than-usual Grammy year, no? We're still somewhat perplexed by
this year's metal and hard-rock categories, in which Motörhead were
nominated for their version of a Metallica song, and Metallica were nominated
for their version of a Thin Lizzy song. In any case, we go to press
before Grammy night, and we can't yet see in our crystal ball whether Smash
Mouth's "All-Star" -- the song of theirs that sounds least like "96 Tears,"
and their most successful by far, especially if you count all the times it's
been played during baseball, football, hockey, and basketball telecasts --
prevailed in the "Best Pop Performance by Duo or Group" category. But it'll be
a done deal by the time the boys join Beastie buddies Luscious Jackson
for a search-engine-sponsored tour that brings both bands to the Mullins
Center, (413) 733-2500, at UMass Amherst this Monday, February 28, and to the
Orpheum Theatre, (617) 931-2000, in Boston, on leap day, February 29. Pop
punkers 22 Jacks, who just came off the opening slot on the Smash Mouth
tour, hit Axis in Boston on February 28 with Lit (of "My Own Worst
Enemy" fame), who despite having the number-one modern-rock single of '99 are
only now embarking on their first headlining tour -- once again proving that
just 'cause they play bullshit on the radio doesn't mean people are always
stupid enough to eat it.
-- Carly Carioli
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