Heavy Dates
BOSTON/PROVIDENCE
There's nothing quite like the spectacle of a tortured,
compromised pop genius hitting his highs and lows at exactly the same time --
and not since Kurt and Tupac have the stars aligned to produce a saga to
compare with Eminem's. His The Marshall Mathers LP has sparked
high praise, outrage, tremendous sales (it's been bouncing in and out of the #1
spot since its release), and a soap-opera-like drama that's seen Eminem
arrested several times and his wife, whom he kills on the album, attempt
suicide. So even though he's not the top-billed star on the "Up in Smoke" tour
-- the big highlight of which is a kinda sorta N.W.A reunion with Eminem's
mentor Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Snoop Dogg filling in for
the late Easy E -- all eyes will be on Slim Shady. The tour hits the Worcester
Centrum, (617) 931-2000, on July 20 and 21; Eminem's also booked for a solo
date at the Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center, (603) 528-5550, in New Hampshire,
on July 24.
Between the Warped Tour and the Gravity Games, we've pretty much got a Gen X
olympics on our hands this weekend. Warped, which comes to Boston's Suffolk
Downs, (800) 477-6869, on July 20, has the usual contingent of pro skaters,
rollerbladers, and BMX bandits in addition to a punk-rock line-up featuring
Green Day, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Long Beach Dub
Allstars, MxPx, NOFX, and 25 more. Later that night, at Bill's Bar, (617)
421-9678, in Boston, you can catch local-stage punks the Vigilantes
headlining an after-show bill. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, the second
annual installment of the Gravity Games -- NBC's knockoff of ESPN's X Games --
wraps up this weekend, with competitors in street luge, downhill skateboarding,
wakeboarding, and freestyle motorcross hitting the Providence pavement July 20
through 23. There's also a "music and film festival" scheduled each night at
5:30 p.m., with locations, bands, and DJs to be announced. For info call
(877) 7-GRAVITY, or hit www.gravitygames.com.
If you missed the Throwing Muses reunion gig in Boston last month, you
get another shot on July 22 at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in
Providence -- and the club has been running a photo of founding member Tanya
Donelly (later of Belly and solo fame) in the ads, which is a good sign. The
sugariest of '80s pop-metal confectionaries, the VH1-revived Def Leppard
kick off a summer tour with a gig at the Tweeter Center, (617) 931-2000, in
Mansfield, on July 20. Prog monsters Yes headline with Kansas at
the FleetBoston Pavilion, (617) 931-2000, on July 21; then the new-wave revival
brings the B-52s, the Go-Go's, and the Psychedelic Furs to
the Pavilion on July 22.
Former Jesus and Mary Chain singer/guitarist Jim Reid brings his new band,
Freeheat, to the Middle East, (617) 864-3278, in Cambridge, on July 21--
it's only the second show ever by the group, and their US debut. The brilliant
Boston psych-pop band Lockgroove open up. And though Gene and Dean
Ween aren't playing Boston this time around, they'll make a weird
addition to the sun-and-surf-soaked Wellfleet Beachcomber, (508) 349-6055,
schedule on July 23.
-- Carly Carioli
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