Heavy Dates

WORCESTER

Heavy dates

This Thursday, Simon and Scott Anderson go acoustic at Ralph's, it's a Herbal Affair at the Java Hut, and Wide Iris returns to the Lucky Dog Music Hall. On Friday, Huxley returns to action with the Mockingbirds at the Above Club, Boston rockabilly outfit the Raging Teens share the spotlight with Pennywheel and Rocket Science at the Alley, the Cartridge Family and HoKaHa are at the Dog, the Johnny Dollar Experiment jazz up their `60s songbook at the Java Hut, and Joe Rockhead brings their hot CD King to Liquid. On Saturday, Worcester Phoenix Best Music Poll nominees past and present Hitch, Time Capsule, Red Mercury, and Shades of Gray play a benefit concert for the children of Keith Dion at 6 p.m. at the Polish American Citizens Club, 37 Harris Street, Webster. Also on Saturday, El Camino drive into Gilrein's, HUGE buys Six Foot One and Binge a burger or two at Ralph's, Greg Hodde and the Blue Miracles bring the blues to Jillian's, Mud Soup make their Alley debut, and the Above Club presents the multi-media experimental sounds of Transmissible Oblique. On Wednesday, Jason James and the Bay State House Rockers settle into their weekly gig at Ralph's.

-- Brian Goslow

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

Just days before the evil hordes invade Worcester for the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, one of the spring's hottest teen-pop bills rolls into the region. The big draw on the show is 98 Degrees, the third-tier boy band who haven't yet attained 'N Sync-like world domination. But we're more excited about the undercard: canine kindergarten heartthrobs the Baha Men, diva-in-training Debelah Morgan, and our fave new girl group, Dream, the P. Diddy-sponsored white girls who've copped Christina Aguilera's dance moves and Destiny's Child's production style. The roadshow hits the Cumberland County Civic Center, (207) 775-3458, in Portland, Maine, on Wednesday and the Worcester Centrum, (508) 755-6800, next Thursday, April 12.

Of Portuguese descent and holding a Canadian passport, Nelly Furtado has pulled off a pop coup with her debut, Whoa, Nelly! -- her songs straddle the kind of contemporary urban R&B that's made superstars of TLC and Destiny's Child while still holding onto her bohemian options in the realm of Dido-esque neo-folkie adult contemporary hotties. That she brings a refreshing tropical accent to both modes makes her one to watch. She's at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence tonight (April 5) and at the sold-out Paradise, (617) 423-6398, in Boston on Saturday.

The headliners at Tuesday night's show at the Paradise are more or less a known quantity: Semisonic had a hit a couple years ago with "Closing Time" and are back with a follow-up CD, All About Chemistry (MCA). Don't let that scare you away from checking out the opening act: 26-year-old LA-based singer/songwriter Pete Yorn just released his debut CD, musicforthemorningafter (Columbia), and he's been picked by Rolling Stone as one of its "Ten To Watch in 2001." Don't let that scare you away from Yorn either: his melancholy, often rootsy songwriting has little or nothing to do with Semisonic or anything that's particularly trendy right now. It's also pretty damn good. Pete and Semisonic both go on to the Skybox, (413) 577-4759, in Amherst on Wednesday.

Local-drummer-boy-turned-frontman Stacey Jones (Veruca Salt, Letters to Cleo, Aimee Mann) brings his new Foo Fighters-ish flavor of the week American Hi-Fi to Nichols College, (508) 213-1560, in Dudley on Tuesday and to Brandeis University, (781)736-2000, in Waltham on April 19 as the headliners on MTV's "Campus Invasion Tour," which also features Saliva and something called Sum 41. The Indigo-grrrls pairing of Amy Ray and the Butchies hits Lilli's, (617) 591-1661, in Somerville on Saturday and Pearl Street, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton on Sunday. Wilco-endorsed roots-rocker Tim Easton hits the Iron Horse, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton on Friday and T.T. the Bear's Place, (617) 492-2327, in Cambridge on Sunday. Phish dude Jon Fishman's Pork Tornado are at Pearl Street tonight, at the Paradise on Friday, and at the Met Café, (401) 861-2142, in Providence on Saturday.

-- Carly Carioli