Heavy Dates
WORCESTER
Heavy dates
This Thursday, Huck preview songs from their upcoming CD in an acoustic
performance at Vincent's while Joe Rockhead continue their CD-release
tour for King at Liquid with help from Lucid and bluesmen the
Adam Ainslie Band.
The Racky Thomas Band celebrate the release of their second CD at
Gilrein's on Friday, when Simon says Thai food rules at the Above Club,
psycho-folkie Dan Hart previews his upcoming disc at the Java Hut,
P-Funk offspring Funk-Kin party hard with Sugar Daddy and the
Cartridge Family at the Lucky Dog, and Nullset play the greatest
hits of Gangsta Bitch Barbie at the Red Star Pub.
On Friday and Saturday, Rhode Island groove merchants Foxtrot Zulu move
into the Tammany Club. Mori Stylz opens for them on Saturday, when power
popsters Tricycle share the stage with the hard rocking bill of
Colepitz, Trustfall, At Will, and Second Class Citizen at the
Alley, the Fools declare "It's a Night for Beautiful Girls" at the Plantation
Club, and the moon will be in retro when Pet Rock and the Radio
Junkies transform Greendale's Pub into Studio 404.
Celtic/Irish singer/songwriter Nancy Hewitt plays in the cozy settings
of Worcester County Traditions on Sunday, while super guitar shredder Joe
Stump, whose latest CD, The Reign of Terror -- Sacred Ground is only
available as a Japanese import and mp3.com until its gets its United States
release in April, visits the Lucky Dog on Wednesday.
BOSTON/PROVIDENCE
Fat Tuesday hits cold, cold
Cranston, Rhode Island, this Saturday, when the 9th Annual Mardi Gras Ball
takes place at the Rhodes on the Pawtucket Ballroom, (401) 783-3926. A
cherished tradition among Cajun-music fans, the show features Steve Riley
and the Mamou Playboys, Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie, and
the young, buzzed-about group Charivari, who also headline their own
show at Johnny D's, (617) 776-2004, in Somerville this Friday. You'll find
discs by all three of those groups on the Rounder label, which also dominates
the proceedings at this weekend's 16th Annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival,
running Friday through Sunday at the Dedham Holiday Inn (617) 527-1555, or
visit www.bbu.org. Northampton's indispensable Iron Horse Music Hall,
(413) 584-0610, celebrates its 22nd anniversary with a gig this Saturday by
indispensable singer/songwriter/novelist Bill Morrissey. On Friday,
Mary Lou Lord hits Lilli's, (617) 591-1661, in Somerville with
Asian-American neo-folkie Kevin So (his "Standing in the Shadow of Ellis
Paul" laments, "This job is for a white guy, Vance Gilbert knows what I
mean/We're the only two minorities in the whole folk scene"). On Tuesday, Lord
hits the Kendall Café, (617) 661-0993), in Cambridge with Cave In's
Stephen Brodsky, in his lo-fi indie-pop incarnation. Mark Mulcahy
(ex-Miracle Legion) is perhaps best known for his theme to Nickolodeon's The
Adventures of Pete and Pete. He's at the Bay State, (413) 584-8513, in
Northampton on Thursday the 22nd. Joan of Arc's Tim Kinsellas does the
solo thing at Providence's Met Café, (401) 861-2142, this Friday; and
Wilco's Jeff Tweedy plays a sold-out solo gig with former Radish front
boy Ben Kweller at Lilli's on Tuesday.
After retiring Black Sabbath for good last year and announcing that he would
abstain from headlining the vastly successful metal package tour that bears his
name, Ozzy Osbourne confirmed last week that he was once again re-forming
Sabbath in order to headline this summer's Ozzfest. Beneficiaries include
nü-metal upstarts Linkin Park -- confirmed for the tour -- who
headline Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence this Saturday
with Taproot and Alien Ant Farm, whose initials we expect will
prove irresistible to a certain local active-rock radio station. Which station
is that? The one responsible for breaking local hard-rock titans
Godsmack and Staind, who return to the area with shows at the
Whittemore Center Arena, (603) 862-4000, in Durham, New Hampshire, on February
26 and the Cumberland Civic Center, (207) 775-3481, in Portland, Maine, on
February 27.
Mike Rivard's avant-groove instrumental collective Club d'Elf (featuring
guest John Medeski) ventures out from its home base at the Lizard Lounge to
tour in support of a debut double live-CD document of the group's past two
years. After a show this Thursday at the Lizard, (617) 547-0759, the group hits
Club Helsinki, (413) 528-3394, in Great Barrington on February 23; the Iron
Horse on February 24; and the Columbus Theatre in Providence, (401) 831-9327,
on February 25. In related developments, Mike Clark -- the renowned
drummer of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, among numerous others -- has an
all-star group along for his Prescription Renewal Tour, including Charlie
Hunter, Robert Walter, and Medeski/d'Elf collaborator DJ Logic. They're at the
Iron Horse on Thursday, March 1 and at Lilli's on March 3.
-- Carly Carioli
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