Heavy Dates

Heavy Dates

On Friday, the Lucky Dog hosts perennial favorites Clutch Grabwell, alongside Hipsocket and the Free Radicals. And Another Planet jam the Tammany Club. On Saturday, all hail the Commercial Street Cafe as they lend a hand to the still-homeless Espresso Bar with an afternoon benefit show. Eastcide, H8 Machine, Psychotic Larry, Indescit, and Epileptic Disco all play. Up at Slattery's, it's the return of Two Bones and a Pick; and the Plantation Club welcomes the Heavy Metal Horns. Next Thursday, the Sons of Brando make their first Worcester stop. Featuring ax maven Charley Dee, they play good old-fashioned rockabilly at Commercial Street with an opening set from Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

Marking a return to touring after nearly a decade off the road, the strange, anonymous freak-out that is the Residents makes its first appearance during a three-night, er, Residency at the Copley Theatre, (617) 266-7262, in Boston. The eyeball-headed wonders, whose true identities have remained secret through their warped 25-year career, have concentrated on exploring CD-ROM technology since '92, but are back touring behind last year's Wormwood: Curious Stories from the Bible. The tour kicks off with three shows at the Copley, April 1 through 3. Expect it to be an Event (we've been told the cost of renting the required light-show equipment alone is staggering), with MTV hangers-on in attendance. After the show's three-day run here, and before it heads to New York City, it'll stop at Pearl Street, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton, for one night on April 4.

If you find yourself getting a whiff of that Phish-y smell, you're probably in the presence of that band's similarly culinary spinoff Pork Tornado, which would mean you're either at Pearl Street on April 3, at the Paradise Rock Club, (617) 562-8800, in Boston, on April 6, or at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, on April 7. If on the other hand it smells like the sea and cake, you are most likely in the presence of that band's Sam Prekop, which means you're at the Middle East, (617) 864-3278, in Cambridge, on April 3, or at the Met Café, (401) 861-2142, in Providence, on April 4.

Last but not least, former Throwing Muse Kristin Hersh plays an intimate gig at Providence's AS220, (401) 831-9327, on April 8; and the guitar-pop outfit Fountains of Wayne, who recorded their forthcoming debut disc out in Northampton, play that town's Pearl Street on April 7.

-- Carly Carioli