Heavy Dates

by John O'Neill and Carly Carioli

WORCESTER: At the risk of sounding repetitive, you really should check out Dennis Brennan and his band. He's got two CDs out on Upstart that really showcase his strong roots songwriting, and his live show really drives it home. He'll be at Gilrein's this Friday, May 15. Also on Friday, it's the return of the Big Bad Bollocks, who share the bill at the Espresso Bar with 7-10 Split, Sgt. Scagnetti, and Sick Boy Method. At the Space, it's the debut of Pangloss who feature Scotti Blood of the almost-legendary Pajama Slave Dancers. Opening the bill are the Graduates, two-thirds of whom come from the recently deceased Gas Food Lodging. Also on the bill are the Stems (from Worcester not Australia) and Phenol. On Saturday, it's the CD-release party for Walter & Valerie Crockett at the Green Rooster Coffeehouse. Their CD Moonbone has a funny name, but what's inside is top-notch countrified stuff. All Else Fails, purveyors of fine hardcore sounds since 1997, will headline Sir Morgan's Cove. Doom Nation, Slughog, Stick Bitch, and Gasket share in the mayhem. At the Espresso Bar, it's Worcester Phoenix Best Music Poll champs Special 79. It's their first gig since being crowned Best New Artist, so they'll be ready let loose. It's all groupies and free stuff from now on, boys! Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers, who didn't win, will also be ready to really let loose, 'cause that's what they've done from the beginning. They play Partner's Pub in Fitchburg. On Sunday, May 17, pre-bluegrass porch band Primitive Creatures return to Vincent's. On Wednesday, May 20, it's straight-edge night at the Space. Speak Seven One Four, a band featuring former members of 411, Unity, Slapshot, and Straightfaced headline the gig. Wormtown's hardcore mavens Bane, Boston's Ten Yard Fight, and Connecticut's Proclamation and Reach for the Sky also drive in for all the no-drinkin', no-smokin' fun.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE: If there's a better way to see a club show than chilling at the Wellfleet Beachcomber, (508) 349-6055, we haven't seen it. The sound system is great, the room is intimate, and you can chill out on the patio or head right on down the dunes to the ocean in between sets. Keep your eyes peeled for gigs by the likes of Maceo Parker (August 9), Big Jack Johnson (August 19), and Beachcomber's annual "Dune Tunes" weekends, which usually feature a bunch of Boston-area headliners as well as psychotic out-of-towners. The season kicks off with Babaloo next Thursday, May 21 -- and a season pass is yours for the price of admission.

Gotta hand it to the ska kids -- they just keep coming up with sound-bite-ready events we can't resist mentioning. The latest, "Ska Wars" (the press release begins: "Long, long ago . . . on a pretty cool island named Jamaica"), is an all-ages bill with Mephiskapheles, Edna's Goldfish, Skif Dank, Rumble semifinalists Big D & the Kids Table, Sgt. Scagnetti, and the Incognitos. It's at the Webster Theatre, (860) 422-0000, in Hartford, on May 15.

Hearing "Rapper's Delight" on the radio, Grandmaster Flash is said to have been stunned: "The Sugarhill who? Who are these people?" The Sugarhill Gang may not have invented hip-hop, but they were rap's first commercial breakthrough, and "Rapper's Delight" was the best-selling 12-inch single ever. Now relegated to playing the kind of nostalgia shows that aging rock-and-rollers have to endure, the Gang featuring Grandmaster Melle Mel hit Pearl Street, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton, on May 22. And while we're speaking of aging rock-and-rollers, Link Wray's at the Iron Horse, also (413) 584-0610, in Northampton, on May 20. Wray also plays the Middle East, (617) 864-3278, in Cambridge, on May 22 with the Strangemen.

-- Carly Carioli