Heavy Dates

by John O'Neill and Carly Carioli

WORCESTER: If you aren't still looped-out from too much holiday cheer or you've had your fill of the family unit, step out this weekend to check the local action. On Friday, December 26, Young Neal and the Vipers play the Wong Dynasty, in Holden. Add garlic chicken and a Dr. Funk, and you have instant party. In town, the Space offers music and spoken word with B's of Sunrise, Todd Sherman, and Bill Woodfin, and Gilrein's hosts a great show with Little Mike and the Tornadoes. If you have any holiday-love-vibe residue go to the Espresso Bar this Saturday. Nothing says "good will toward men" like the music of Blood for Blood and All Out War. It's also the 7"-single release party for Seventh Rail Crew. See what all that fuss is about when Halobox (after all, I could be full of shit) play Sir Morgan's Cove with All Else Fails, 7 Dead, and Swing Arm. On Tuesday, December 30, the original line-up for Mocha Java begin a three-day run at the Above Club. There's lots of stuff happening on New Year's Eve, starting with Chillum and Super Creb Star Dynomax at Sir Morgan's Cove, Shed and N.E. Hostility at the Espresso Bar, and Jack & Present Co. at the Java Hut. If upscale is more your style, the Sit 'N Bull Pub offers a dinner-show deal with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, and the Bull Run offers a similar package featuring Magic Dick & Jay Geils Bluestime. Finally, it seems not that long ago when old pal Jack Hanlon invited a few locals to check out his new band at Wednesdays "Rockabilly Night" at the Rat. Four years later, he's Jack Swinger and his band, the Amazing Royal Crowns, who are flying high after winning the 'BCN Rock & Roll Rumble and touring non-stop across this great nation. Wormtown faves for some time now, they also caught the attention of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who had a pretty good year themselves. The Crowns return to town tonight when they bring their awesome live show to the Centrum with the above-mentioned Bosstones, Letters to Cleo, and Drop Kick Murphys.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE/AND BEYOND: If you're venturing into Boston proper on New Year's Eve (and don't feel like tooling around the ice sculptures in the Public Gardens all night) sashay over to Cambridge, where Kiki & Herb -- a New York piano-cabaret duo whose repertoire includes Nick Cave, the Geraldine Fibbers, PJ Harvey, and Suicidal Tendencies -- make their Boston-area debut at Man Ray (617-864-0400).

In a hippies vs. punks battle of the DIYs, Ray Cappo (Youth of Today, Shelter) brings his new band Better than a Thousand to the Middle East (617-864-3278), in Cambridge, for a Saturday-afternoon all-ages show with Burn, In My Eyes, and Farenheit 451, while Vermont's crunchy jam-rockers Strangefolk -- who shun playing corporate venues and put out their own albums -- play the first of two all-ages shows at the Somerville Theatre (617-625-5700) that night.

Nigerian reggae dude Majek Fashek is famous in his homeland for his alleged ability to invoke cloudbursts. He'll do tunes from his new album, Rainmaker (Tuff Gong) -- which could include his versions of "Hey Joe" and "Hotel California" -- at the House of Blues (617-491-2583) on Sunday with the local soca/calypso band Noddaclu. The show also includes a Kwanzaa observance and rituals by DeAma Battle of the Art of Black Music and Dance.

-- Carly Carioli