Heavy Dates

Heavy Dates

You gotta figure that by this point in his career, Ed Vadas has seen it all and done most of it. Known as the Frankenstein of blues in certain circles, Ed Vadas and the Fabulous Heavyweights have ripped up roadhouses all over this great nation, toured Europe, and performed with everyone from Otis Rush, Bo Didley, Pinetop Perkins, and B.B. King, to NRBQ, Buddy Guy, and Gary U.S. Bonds. They've also managed to toss out a couple of kickin' discs. Make sure to wear protective gear when they hit Gilrein's square on the noggin' this Friday. Over at the Above Club, it's the Preston Wayne Four. If Vadas is the Frankenstein of blues, then Wayne may be the King Kong of surf. Not content to just let that Ventures-style wet reverb wash over your ears, the PW4 are more like a 50-foot wave. Big Daddy Roth would be proud, Dick Dale a little envious, and Les Paul, frankly, would seize up and vapor lock on the spot. Opening are the always loud and proud Free Radicals. This weekend also marks the final shows for the Espresso Bar at the current James Street locale, and the kids are going out in high style. Friday it's the one-two-sockaroo of Maryland's hardcore heavies Clutch, who are winding down a headlining national tour with California's Drown. Drown are so damn dangerous they've already been through three major labels in four years. Their sophomore release, Product of a Two Faced World (Mercury), couldn't be more appropriately titled, as far as major labels go. On Saturday the E-Bar has a benefit/mother of all blowouts with Eastcide, Shed, Seven Hill Psychos, Split, God Stands Still, and 7th Rail Crew. Then, hopefully, E. Spencer and the gang find a new home. Keep those fingers crossed, kiddies. Also on Saturday, Mike Duffy splits the bill at the Green Rooster Coffeehouse with Boston's Steve Hurl, and Slattery's has young ax-slinger night with Troy Gonyea and the Premiers squaring off against Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers. On Sunday, swing's still the thing at the Plantation Club with Boulevard Diner, a band made up entirely of doctors and med students. "Say, doc, pretty mean horn playin', babe. And, you know, I've got this lump here I was wondering you could take a look at . . . when you've got a minute." Hey, why not? Playing music on the side is a nice supplement to those pesky student loans, so if you go to the show, you're actually doing them a favor.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

Reel Big Fish's "Sell Out" stuck to listeners' palates quicker than they could turn the radio off, and "Trendy" struck the fishy baseball Florida Marlins as so diggable that they made it their unofficial theme song. The biggest goofballs and stickiest ska-punk popsters to come along since the good ol' days of, uh, Goldfinger, the Fish on their second disc now ask themselves the musical question Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Mojo). Having already made off with A-ha's "Take On Me," they recently stripped down to their skivvies (musically speaking) to do an a cappella rendition of "New York, New York" for an upcoming Sinatra tribute (a deft trend-stabbing move in itself) and made off with arguably the best song in the catalogue, "Gigantic," for a Pixies tribute. They'll cast their lines once again at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, on March 2, and at the Roxy, (617) 338-7699, in Boston, on March 6. Zebrahead open both shows.

Authors of one of the better death-metal discs to come down the pike last year, Whisper Supremacy (Century Media), Canada's Cryptopsy make a run for the border, kicking off a US tour with dates at the Met Café, (401) 861-2142, in Providence, on February 25, and at Infinity, (413) 731-9329, in Springfield, on February 28. They'll wind up back this way on May 1 to appear at the recently announced three-day New England Hardcore and Metalfest at the Palladium, (797-9696), in Worcester, which will finally give Massachusetts a taste of the kind of mayhem regularly visited on Milwaukee this time of year. Also headed to the festival bill, vegan death-metal heroes Earth Crisis are at the Living Room, (401) 521-5200, in Providence, on February 28.

A press release indicates that the original Bad Brains line-up had to give up the "Bad" to deal with some unnamed contractual obligations, but whoever was giving 'em grief couldn't steal the soul, and so it will be the Soul Brains -- the Bad Brains of hardcore legend in every way but name -- performing on March 2 at Pearl Street, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton, and on March 4 at Avalon, (617) 262-2424, in Boston. Bad Brains reunions tend to have a shorter halflife than manmade isotopes, so don't miss it.

A one-time valet to B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland found his life imitating his art when he was drafted shortly after cutting "Army Blues" in 1953. He beat Mr. T to the phrase "I Pity the Fool" by a couple of decades, and by the time the bejeweled mohawked menace turned it into a prime-time slogan, Whitesnake was covering Bland's "(Ain't No Love in the) Heart of the City." Still churning out blues you can use in his 69th year, Bland will be at Harpers Ferry, (617) 254-7380, in Allston, for two shows -- with the Racky Thomas Band opening -- to wind down that club's month-long blues festival on Thursday the 25th before moving on to Lupo's on the 26th.

-- Carly Carioli