Heavy Dates

WORCESTER: You get not one but two chances to catch 7 Hill Psychos and their heavy-duty live show this weekend. Friday, August 21, they hit the Espresso Bar with Gangsta Bitch Barbie, Psychotic Larry, and Goliath, then head to the Cove Saturday night to share the bill with Face and Split. Also on Friday, Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers rock the, uh, house at the Wong Dynasty with their thumbs-up mix of rockabilly, blues, and, if you ask real nice, surf. And Special 79 and Obsidian appear at the Cove. On Saturday night, get your fill of rock-and-roll lunacy at Ralph's with the Fuzbrains fanzine benefit. Participating Fuzstompers include the debut of Artie Sneiderman (Wormtown's undisputed king of cool) and his new outfit the Crybabies, popsters-deluxe Huck, NYC's Kevin K. Band, the Free Radicals, and a new Rick Blaze project. Bring your puppets and snap your mental carrot. The Deal return to action now that Bill Nelson is back from his honeymoon. They play the Tammany Club, and the Space gives you T-Bag, Special 79, Woodgrain Theory, and Dr. Frog. Next Thursday, August 27, Quintaine Americana return to Sir Morgan's Cove. Paco make an appearance as do Woodgrain Theory, Harlequin, and Hansel.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE: Apparently a bunch of people had a lot of disposable income lying around a couple of months ago, because the shows we just know you're dying to see this week are all sold out. Celine Dion, August 21 and 22 at the FleetCenter in Boston? You'd have had a better chance on the Titanic. Beastie Boys, August 25 at the Worcester Centrum? Hello, scalpers. Jimmy Buffett, August 26, 28, and 30 at Great Woods in Mansfield? Forget about it, peckerhead.

Oh, stop whining, already -- we've got your rock right here. The Beachcomber, (508) 349-6055, in Wellfleet, has a stellar weekend on the dunes. This Friday, August 21, Letters to Cleo get back to small-club capacity after recent dates on the Lilith Fair and a WFNX/Phoenix gig at the Hatch Shell; the Gigolo Aunts and Quickfix open. The next night the same room hosts Rumble champs Ghost of Tony Gold with Betwixt and the Falsies. And the Amazing Royal Crowns, hot off the previous day's New England Ska Festival, crank at the 'Comber on Sunday.

Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne are at Tanglewood, 931-2000, the Boston Symphony's summer home, in Lenox on August 24. From monster surf to monster funk -- the tireless George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars are still playing those three-hour gigs, with the next set for Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, on August 21. The outlaw himself, Willie Nelson, plays the South Shore Music Circus, 931-2000, in Cohasset, on August 20, and the North Shore Music Theatre, (978) 922-8500, in Beverly, on August 23. And for everyone who had tickets to the postponed Allman Brothers' gig at Great Woods on July 31, this is your reminder: the make-up date is August 21.

-- Carly Carioli