Heavy Dates

by John O'Neill and Carly Carioli

WORCESTER: Lee Totten put out a pretty good CD that went largely unnoticed last year. Loaded with a ton of shimmering pop and excellent production, Sleeping Alone stands squarely on un-hip ground (what with Worcester's fascination with all things heavy and hard), which is a shame because the guy can really write a tune. It also probably explains why he's going on first this Friday, November 7, at Sir Morgan's Cove in a mixed bag of acts. Get there early and request Lee play "She Says" 'cause it's a great hunk of power-pop. Heroine Boy and Super Zero also play. The Space offers a lot of ska for the buck as Johnny Too Bad and the Strikeouts and the Dialtones play with those wacky kids Cream Team and Family Fun. Saturday, November 8, finds Jason Bonham at Sir Morgan's Cove riffling through the back catalogue of his old-man's band. He even put out a CD of the same, and apparently people buy it. Go figure. The Espresso Bar hosts a CD-release party for Blind Creation (we don't think any of their fathers' songs are on it), who play along with Final Prayer, Die Right Mind and Face. Cafe Fantastique offers free goodies and free Poodles, while the Green Rooster Coffeehouse hosts Salamander Crossing and Jim Page. Halobox are a band to keep an eye on, even if it is only their second gig. They're at the Space with Transmegetty, Park Dynamic, and Vehicle Birth. The Palladium's Sunday Night Rock Fight rolls on this Sunday, November 9, with Bearfoot Republic, N.E. Hostility, Witch Doctor Samuel, and Marguerita's Fun Boys. Finally on Monday, November 10, the Arthur Dent Foundation hang loose at the Plantation Club Drafthouse, and WICN's Dave Ritchie spins some really cool jump blues, Texas swing, and country 78s over at Gilrein's.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE: It's a good week to catch up on all your favorite Boston alterna-rock has-beens -- familiar faces fading fast from view or comebacks waiting to happen? You make the call . . . Dinosaur Jr, whose last gig here was a less-than-capacity affair at the Roxy Ballroom, scale back their ambitions with gigs at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute on November 7 (831-5509), Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876), in Providence, on November 8, and the Middle East (617-864-3278), in Cambridge, on November 9. After getting out of her deal with Atlantic, Juliana Hatfield has a really good EP coming out soon on Bar/None as a couple of labels duke it out for the rights to her next album. In the meantime, she's at the Paradise (617-562-8800) on November 14, and the Met Café (401-861-2142), in Providence, on the 15th.

Two local institutions rumored to be playing short sets at the Middle East's free tenth-anniversary party on November 10 are also gigging in Providence this week. Buffalo Tom are at the Met Café on November 7 (they also have a return visit to the Middle East booked on November 19). Advances of Mary Lou Lord's debut for Work/Sony (due out in January) are already causing a stir. She'll preview the disc with a gig at the Century Lounge (401-274-8584), in Providence, on November 9; her next official visit in Boston is at the Middle East on November 26 with the fine New England roots-rockabilly outfit the Ragin' Teens.

Everclear's November 13 show at the Paradise is sold out; but tickets are still available for their gig the following night at Lupo's, and you'll get a bonus opening set by Letters to Cleo to boot. And if you missed the tumultuous hyperthrash guitar-keyboard-drums trio Today Is the Day, the Nashville trio are back on a tour with Eyehategod that lands November 6 at Pearl Street (413-584-7771), in Northampton, November 7 at the Middle East (Scissorfight and Big John Studd open), and November 8 at Zoots (207-773-8187), in Portland, Maine.

-- Carly Carioli