Heavy Dates

You gotta hand it to the folks at Point Breeze -- they sure book some interesting shows. Both BR5-49 and Hank Williams lll made their local debuts there, and the Four Freshmen have also dropped in a couple of times, if in name-only. Now Badfinger! Sure, the two most important of the founding members are long gone (as in gone, not retired), but guitarist Joey Molland is still kickin' and leading the updated version this Friday night. Opening are Shades of Gray, whom everyone knows (good or bad) from that damn song about Webster Lake. Elsewhere, it's time to get regal at the Lucky Dog when rock's royal Upper Crust bring their show to the common man. Wenches, beware! Blues-punk extraordinaire Caged Heat (currently on tour as footmen/opening act for the Crust) and Tricycle open. Gilrein's has a barn-burner double-shot of fun slated with sets from Rosie Ledet and River City Slim and the Zydeco Hogs, while Seven Hill Psychos headline Commercial Street. Opening is the guitar jangle of Boston's JoyPopper. Longtime local bluesmen Barbecue Bob and the Varaflames (right up there on our list of favorite band names with the Spineless Yes Men, Me First and the Gimmie Gimmie's, and Phen Fen and the Fatso's) return to Slattery's for a Saturday-night singalong. Psychotic Larry are theoretically playing Ralph's, but we aren't too sure. The last time we checked, the upstairs looked like Fred Sanford's salvage yard. There was junk everywhere. Junk that strongly resembled what might have been a sound system. Check in and see for yourself. I mean, if things don't work out, you can always challenge the band to a game of pool. Huck, those lively pop lads, do a Tuesday gig at Commercial Street with sets from Sticker, Sped Farm, and the Missing Lance Project, while Chillum go unplugged at the Lucky Dog.

-- John O'Neill