Heavy Dates

A couple funny things about that Rick Blaze guy. No matter how much he complains about the Worcester scene, and believe us he can get goin' on that subject, he just won't leave (at least not for very long). By the same token, no matter what anybody says or thinks about his music, he keeps on doing it. Think back 25 years to the seedy side of the rock-and-roll tracks, where the Stones still mattered a little, the Stooges mattered more, and the first rumblings of punk were reverberating almost entirely in New York City. Junkies, thieves, hoods, sluts, pimps, bored suburbanites, and idiots became heroes, and the rest, as they say, is history. Except Rick Blaze and the Ballbusters continue to live for a slice of '75, and grind out a style of punk that is uniquely Manhattan. It's sleezy, low-frills fare wedged into a pair of leather pants. And, while Wormtown shrugs, Australia's Vicious Kitten Records has noticed. With a double-disc out, the band are inked for a second release. Check out the Johnny Thunders- inspired fun when they play Funny Bones Cafe, in Webster, with Cold Train. For a super-cheap two-dollar cover, you can catch one of the area's best bar bands when Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers hit Breakaway Billiards. Elsewhere around the Worm, Gruvis Malt jam the Tammany Club, the Worcester Jazz Orchestra stretches out at the Above Club, and the Blue Hornets return to Gilrein's. For their 30-plus-year existence, Roomful of Blues have been laying out a killer mix of R&B, swing, blues, and rock and roll no matter what the trend of the day dictated. Equal parts stellar musicianship, better-than-average smarts, and plain-old fun, they've also gone on to become an American institution, which can be an easy thing to rest on while you make your money. Luckily, the band still rip it up live, so now's your chance to see what bands like the Brian Setzer Orchestra will never understand: you can't fake heart! Roomful blow through the Lucky Dog this Saturday night. Over at the Plantation Club, Clutch Grabwell (kinda like Roomful-on-acid-meets-AC/DC-on-Tom-Waits), return to make you shake your can, while Reckless pull duty at Jillian's for the Worcester Phoenix Fall Music Series. Sunday brings the return of Ol' Mumbles himself. It's Bob Dylan, the guy who won the sympathy Grammy. Actually the past three-quarters of his entire career has been inconsequential at best, culminating in his "legendary" coupling with the Grateful Dead. Somehow, folks still dig him. How much mileage can one guy get from a 35-year-old back catalogue? Enough to command the Centrum, which for anyone interested, he plays with the equally offensive Phil Lesh.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

A lack of fiber has left plenty of other folk stuck in the pipeline. Richard Thompson is at the Orpheum Theatre, (617) 931-2000, in Boston, on November 16 with Lucinda Williams; he's also hitting the Calvin Theatre, (413) 586-8686, in Northampton, on November 18 and Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, on November 19. In a similar vein, Boston's re-formed folk-pop trio Knots and Crosses are at the Iron Horse, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton, on November 11 and at the Somerville Theatre, (617) 931-2000, on November 12. A critics' darling and poster boy for the '90s singer-songwriter, Freedy Johnston is gravitating away from pop hipness and toward middle-of-the-road coffeehouse fans, who might actually care long enough to support him for the next couple of decades. After a couple of dates at Cambridge's Club Passim last week, he makes his way to the Iron Horse on November 14.

In a last-minute addition, the yang to Lauren Hill's yin, Wyclef Jean, brings his Refugee Allstars to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, (617) 931-2000, November 11. Indie hip-hop avatars the Arsonists -- now recording for the indie-rock label Matador, of all places -- headline an all-ages gig at the Ocean Mist, (401) 782-3740, in Matunuck, Rhode Island, on November 12. Also on the bill are Providence's Clockworx, who are gearing up for the latest Lyricist Lounge tour later this month.

Halloween comes late to Providence as Lupo's hosts psychedelica-minded goth-metal hammers Type O Negative on November 13 -- those in the northern provinces can also catch Type O at the Asylum, (207) 772-8274, in Portland, Maine, November 11 -- and the only New England stop of Glenn Danzig's Samhain reunion tour on November 16. Glenn will also do a set with the band who bear his name, and Hatebreed open up the show. We've long been sick of NYC hardcore clowns Sick of It All, but this time around they're bringing Florida's ever-tuneful Hot Water Music with them, so maybe we'll show up at the Karma Club, (617) 421-9595, in Boston, on the afternoon of November 14. The bill also includes Indecision and IFA, and it's repeated at Portland's Asylum on November 16. Last, and not least, teenage pin-up punks Blink-182 and Aussie grunge brats Silverchair turn Tsongas Arena, (617) 931-2000, in Lowell, into a rock-and-roll romper room on November 12.

-- Carly Carioli