Heavy Dates

SK8:99 has spun off from the defunct Mezzoman to take on a life of its own. But that shouldn't stop you from hopping in your car for an old-school warm-up this Friday for the Social Chaos Tour. Brit legends the U.K. Subs and the Business are there, and the north continent is represented by T.S.O.L., D.O.A., Murphy's Law, Vibrators, and Anti-Heros. But the real highlight comes from Indiana in the form of Sloppy Seconds, perhaps the most puerile, idiotic band of slobs to attempt to make a living in music. They also write some of the catchiest, hooky songs ever. "Come Back Traci," their ode to fallen porn star Traci Lords, is a modern American classic, and "I'm Your Ice Cream Man" is just as worthy. So go early and say hi to them, they'd love to meet you. Also on Friday the new-and-improved Chillum headline the Lucky Dog, and Bronzo's (!) jumps on the live-entertainment wagon with the Blue Water Band. Saturday brings Eric Spencer back from the grave with SK8:99. The main stage features Murphy's Law, Tree, the Racketeers, and Blanks 77, while the second stage features Sticker, Prize Fighter, All Else Fails, the Billy Yanks, and Suicide Contest. Then the whole mess moves over to Commercial Street for a post-party with Soilent Green (the band, not the snack), Today is the Day, Morgion, and Exhumed. In the More Bang For Your Buck Department the Mark Marquis Group play Slattery's for free, and Jack and Present Company do the same at the Canoe Club, in Mendon. Sunday marks the return of Worcester native Joanna Connor with a show at Gilrein's. Dwight Perry and Friends open. Sahara Restaurant is always a great place to see quality jazz, and the Jay Tyer Band continue the tradition with a free jam this Tuesday. Rick Blaze and the Ballbusters do the '77-Manhattan-Thunders-Stones-vibe-thing this Thursday at the Lucky Dog. The show is being recorded for release on an Australian label, so go down and yell a lot. That way when the disc comes out, you can make your friends listen, and say, "Here that? That was me again!"

Finally, Primus will be anchoring this year's Localbazooka, with nine more national bands headed for the main stage. (None of whom are Godsmack!) Stay tuned for a final line-up next week.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

Will the Worcester Worms join the Atlantic City Surf, Bridgeport Bluefish, Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds, Nashua Pride, Newark Bears, and Somerset Patriots in the upstart, independently operated Atlantic League? You've got until September 12 to check out an Atlantic League baseball game this season; full schedules are included on the Web site.

No one's ever accused the New Yorker of being a reliable indicator of pop-music worth, but the magazine did devote a few pages recently to one Macy Gray, a jazz-educated naïf being marketed as the best thing since Lauryn Hill's Miseducation. Her Macy Gray on How Life Is (Epic) is steeped in a modern update of classic R&B/soul grooves, and her voice is being likened to late-period Billie Holiday. See for yourself when she opens up the au naturel hip-hop-lite tour featuring Everlast and the Roots, which hits the BankBoston Pavilion, (617) 931-2000, on August 7 and Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, on the 8th. Of course, you can also catch Lauryn Hill herself at the Tweeter Center, (617) 931-2000, in Mansfield, on the 8th.

Hitting Lupo's on August 6, in the wake of the Warped Tour, is the "Social Chaos Tour" -- featuring, we presume, all the bands whose résumés ended up in Warped Inc.'s circular file after Suicidal Tendencies and 7 Seconds ended up on the bill. "Chaos" is a good old-fashioned old-school hardcore scare -- and nothing, not even The Blair Witch Project, is more frightening than a bunch of aging punk dudes left to their own devices. On the bill are T.S.O.L., U.K. Subs, the Business, D.R.I., Vice Squad, Murphy's Law, the Vibrators, Boston's own Gang Green (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), Sloppy Seconds, '77-era holdovers Chelsea (who saw Billy Idol pass through one of their myriad line-ups), the Anti-Heroes, One Way System, L.E.S. Stiches, and (in honor of John-John?) the unearthing of Dead Kennedys dude D.H. Peligro. The Chelsea lads then venture up to Cambridge for a gig with local spirit-of-'77 punk champs Showcase Showdown on August 11 at the Middle East, (617) 864-3278.

-- Carly Carioli