Heavy Dates

WORCESTER

Heavy dates

Thursday night kicks it into gear early with Jason James and the Houserockers at Gilreins, Jennifer Tefft Band and Counter Culture at The Lucky Dog, and Johnny Wishbone and Second Class Citizen at Liquid in Leominster. On Friday, the heaviest date of the weekend goes to metal pioneers Sepultura who are visiting town at The Palladium with Hatebreed, Puya and Flybanger; while the upstairs room has Cryptopsy and Poison the Well. Also on Friday, the Preston Wayne Four rev it up at Ralph's and Fatwall Jack swings through Gilrein's.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by stopping by The Irish Times and having (at least) a pint with the Brennan Brothers Saturday afternoon. Saturday night C-60 rock the Lucky Dog and Simon keeps it experimental but tight at the Above Club. On Tuesday the 20th, the Anniversary (fresh off their tour with the Get Up Kids) stop by Grind Central at Clark University.

Lastly, there's the key event for all hip music scenesters to see and be seen at, The Worcester Phoenix Best Music Poll Kickoff Party. It goes down Thursday, March 22nd, at Jillians on Grove Street in Worcester, with entertainment provided by the Wormtown 2001 All Stars, featuring members of Curtain Society, Deal, Carry the Zero, Thinner, Huck, and Pet Rock.

-- Phil MacNamara

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

We love a good old-fashioned heavy-metal blood feud as much as the next guy, and this week there's a genuine Brazilian thrash scramble playing out on stages from Lowell to Lewiston. We're talking, of course, about the inherent rivalry between thrash legends Sepultura and founding singer/guitarist/songwriter Max Cavalera, who left in 1997 (the remaining line-up still includes his brother Igor) to form Soulfly. When Max departed, Sepultura had just made the jump to an intensely heavy, rhythmically mature brand of world-beat metal on Roots (Roadrunner), and ever since, both Sepultura and Soulfly have been competing for the mandate to that artistic leap. Our spies have heard Sepultura's forthcoming Nation and informed us that it doesn't come close to Soulfly's recent Primitive. Judge for yourself: Sepultura headline a bill with Flybanger, Hatebreed, and Puya at the Webster Theatre, (860) 525-5553, in Hartford tonight (March 15) and at the Worcester Palladium, (800) 477-6849, on Friday. Meanwhile, Soulfly are on the undercard of the Pantera bill with death-metal legends Morbid Angel at the Tsongas Arena, (617) 931-2000, in Lowell tonight and at the Central Maine Civic Center, (207) 783-2000, in Lewiston on Friday.

More stellar death metal: if you opt for Friday's Sepultura show at the Palladium, your ticket will also get you into a show in the club's upstairs room headlined by the inventive and crushing ensemble Cryptopsy, whose new And Then You'll Beg (Century Media) continues the genre-busting riff gymnastics they initiated on 1997's Whisper Supremacy. (The group's vocalist, Mike DiSalvo, is a former Boston guy who spent a few years fronting Infestation.) And on Saturday, the El 'N Gee, (860) 437-3800, in New London, Connecticut, hosts "March to Mangle," a warm-up for next month's New England Metal and Hardcore Fest in Worcester. The Mangle bill features All That Remains, Torn Asunder, Diecast, Skinless, All Out War, Dying Fetus, Gorguts, Goatwhore, Ground Zero, Immolation, Incantation, Unearth, and more. Then Immolation, Incantation, and Goatwhore show up Monday at Bill's Bar, (617) 421-9678, in Boston with Killswitch Engage and the Year of Our Lord.

Elsewhere, the monumentally lame Matchbox Twenty and co-headliners Everclear play a sold-out Worcester Centrum date tonight (March 15). The Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Music Hall, (603) 436-2400, hosts Laurie Anderson on Sunday. Eve 6 and VAST hit Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence on Tuesday and Avalon (617) 423-6398, in Boston next Friday. And the luck of the Irish brings Shane MacGowan and the Popes to Lupo's for a post-Paddy's-day sloshing next Thursday.

-- Carly Carioli