Heavy Dates

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

Most of the bigger shows this week have been sold out for months, but knowing how resourceful our readers are, we're presenting you with a scalper's wish list. This Friday, August 25, timeless geek-pop savants Weezer make their way to Axis, (617) 423-6396 -- the smallest venue on their current mini-tour -- before winding down to Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, on Saturday, for their final New England appearances before finally getting around to making a new album. Dynamite Hack, who do that folkie version of N.W.A's "Boyz N the Hood," open. On August 28, surgically enhanced ex-Mouseketeer Britney Spears brings her karaoke/choreography fest to the Tweeter Center, (617) 931-2000, for a set that will, unfortunately, most likely include her version of the Stones' "Satisfaction," the original of which is only half as catchy as the teen queen's latest batch of bubblegum. Jailbait-pop nymphettes PYT, who have the audacity to claim that they aren't named after that Michael Jackson song, open. Fresh off their trampling-room-only appearance at the unfortunately named Roskilde festival, Pearl Jam are at the Tweeter for two nights, August 29 and 30, behind one of their heartier recent efforts, Binaural. Eternal avant-guardians Sonic Youth reprise the role they once played for Neil Young as the undercard's credible witnesses. And Jimmy Buffett's engagement at the Tweeter, as usual, is sold out -- which guarantees that for at least a few hours on August 31, you will be able to go to any bar in the tri-state area without fear of encountering middle-aged folks in silly beachwear playing "Margaritaville" on the jukebox.

So what's left? The FleetBoston Pavilion, in Boston, (617) 931-2000, has a mix of young and old -- Tony Bennett with Diana Krall on August 25 and 26; k.d. lang and anti-Nashville firebrand Shelby Lynne on August 31 -- as well as the young at heart, with Motown legend and former Miracle Smokey Robinson on August 24. The Tweeter gets a little bit country on August 26 with Suzy Bogguss, Reba McEntire, and assorted friends. Aussie-soap-star-turned-'80s-pop-beefcake Rick ("Jessie's Girl") Springfield, the appreciation of whom has been made a virtue of late by the outstanding local outfit Waltham, plays the South Shore Music Circus, (781) 383-1400, in Cohasset, on August 25 and the North Shore Music Theatre, (978) 232-7200, in Beverly, on August 26. And the free radio-station gigs include day-glo punks Fenix TX and smarty-pants popsters Harvey Danger at the MDC Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade, (617) 266-1111, August 24 and y'alternative godfathers the Jayhawks at Boston's City Hall Plaza, (617) 635-3911, on August 26, with Dar Williams opening. The `hawks are also at the Basketball Hall of Fame, (413) 781-6500, in Springfield on August 25.

-- Carly Carioli