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Default
Northern
Lights, Thursday
Try
this if you’re in the mood for some chest-beating, sometimes-
vulnerable hard rock. Canadian rockers Default came onto the
scene seeming aptly named, as they sounded like a second-
or third-rate Creed on 2001 debut The Fallout, which
produced the chunderous hit single “Wasting My Time.” They’ve
since followed the path of their fellow countrymen by maturing,
more or less, into a Nickelback knockoff worth their weight
in platinum. In fact, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger is
credited with discovering the band, and cowrote their current
single, “Count on Me,” so expect lots of big guitars, big
choruses, and (we expect) a power ballad or two when Default
play Northern Lights this evening. Also on the bill: Bif Naked
and Hinder. (Dec. 1, 7:30 PM, $12, 1208 Route 146, Clifton
Park, 371-0012)
David
Massengill
Caffe Lena, Friday
According
to the music of Ap palachian dulcimer virtuoso David Massengill,
a small town isn’t just a place to grow up in, it’s a place
you grow old with. Living in New York City for nearly half
his life seems to have only deepened his nostalgia for his
younger years in the country town of Bristol, Tenn., and his
songs tell the stories of the people he knew and the family
he trusted. With the folk-storytelling tradition of his musical
ancestors, Massengill delivers intimate tales that juxtapose
the realities of life with humor. The result is a collage
of memoir-driven songs, half-truth and half-fable, part history
and part present. Perhaps you’ll hear “Jesus, the Fugitive
Prince” (in which the Messiah and Santa Claus escape from
an asylum on Christmas Eve) or “Frank Goodpasture Had a Pony,”
the retelling of one of his father’s stories. Massengill will
bring his baritone vocals and unique dulcimer technique to
Caffe Lena tomorrow night. (Dec. 2, 8 PM, $12, 47 Phila
Street, Saratoga Springs, 583-0022)
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| margot
and the nuclear so and so’s |
Indie
Rock Showcase
Red
Square, Friday
Margot
and the Nuclear So and So’s, whose brand of folk is what they
call scarf-rock or folk sex, will be a featured act during
a night of indie rock at Red Square tomorrow night. The So
and So’s currently are touring in support of their debut album,
The Dust of Retreat, which was released this year.
The band, who typically play their live shows in groups of
seven or eight members, is led by songwriter Richard Edwards,
who develops inventive song arrangements with the help of
band members Andy Fry (guitar) and Lee (cello), among others.
The Harlem Shakes open the show; the Village Voice
says that the New York City-based group “train for garage-hero
status like Lou Reed drilling a guitar-armed new wave army.”
Also on the bill: Lolita Bras and Jets and Snakes. (Dec.
2, 9 PM, $5, 388 Broadway, Albany, 432-8584)
Not
Quite New Year’s show
Valentine’s,
Saturday
In
case you’re unaware, New Year’s Eve is just around the corner.
Since apparently some people can’t wait another month for
the event, they’re celebrating early with an all-night, two-floor
show by local and regional pop and rock stars. Performers
are: hard-rockin’ Kinderhookonians F Timmi, Scotia ska band
Monkey Gone Mad, Berkshire pop darlings Hector on Stilts,
funk-pop outfit Honeycreeper, rockers Charmboy, Jupiter Sunrise
and the Day Jobs, young punk rockers Rory Breaker, singer-songwriter
John Brodeur, Perfect Silence and Spouse. (Dec. 3, 7 PM,
$10, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
Martha
Gallagher
Chapel
+ Cultural Center, Sunday
Martha
Gallagher, better known as the Adirondack Harper, will ring
in the holiday season at Troy’s Chapel + Cultural Center this
weekend. Gallagher’s well-known love of seasonal music makes
her holiday shows with her Celtic harp very popular. WAMC’s
Wanda Fischer says that Gallagher “plays the harp with a sense
of joy and energy rarely seen with this instrument.” Besides
the holidays, she draws inspiration for her music from the
mountains, lakes, valleys and rivers that surround her Adirondack
home. (Dec. 4, 7 PM, 2125 Burdett Ave., Troy, 274-7793)
Phil
Lesh and friends
Washington
Avenue Armory, Sunday
The
Grateful Dead (or their representatives) essentially lost
their shit this week when they ordered roughly 3,000 live
recordings removed from the Internet. We know this isn’t the
news section, but this seemed like a good time to mention
the item, as original Dead bassist Phil Lesh brings his long
strange trip and all that to the Armory this weekend. Deadheads
nationwide are pissed over the decision, which is part of
an expected move to make the once-freely- traded recordings
part of a pay service on the Dead’s official Web site. The
last time area hippies got this worked up, the Palace Theatre
ended up covered in graffiti. So, hippies, we implore you:
Leave the spray paint at home. If you’re feeling angry at
Lesh and company, hit him where it hurts—stop buying Dead-related
products. But, if you’re willing to write this off as plain
and simple commerce (which it is), check out Lesh this Sunday;
he’ll anchor an all-star band including Black Crowes vocalist
Chris Robinson, among others. (Dec. 4, 7:30 PM, $35, 195
Washington Ave., Albany, 476-1000)
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| Also
Noted |
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|
hot
tuna
|
The
intimidating Ed Hamell, aka Hamell on Trial,
returns to Valentine’s tonight (Thursday);
like-scalped Moon Boot Lover Peter Prince
warms up with a solo set (8 PM, $10, 432-6572).
. . . Bringing the noise at Saratoga Winners tonight,
it’s As I Lay Dying, Norma Jean,
Madball, and A Life Once Lost (7:30
PM, $17, 783-1010). . . . The carnival pop of
Rogue Wave will take center stage at the
Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Mass. tonight;
their latest Sub Pop release, Descended
Like Vultures, is out now (10 PM, $13,
413-584-0610); tomorrow (Friday), the Iron Horse
has the electro-pop of the Mobius Band,
who will celebrate the release of their latest
album, The Loving Sounds of Static (10
PM, $10, 413-584-0610). . . . Don’t call ’em a
girl group: VH-1 commentators and Starbucks shills
Antigone Rising play Northern Lights this
Friday; Todd Wolfe opens (7:30 PM, $15,
371-0012). . . . Energetic folk-rocker Martin
Sexton performs at Revolution Hall on Friday
in celebration of the release of his new Camp
Holiday CD; on the album, Sexton “sits fireside
with his old Gibson acoustic and delivers timeless
holiday favorites from the Adirondack wilderness”
(9 PM, $25, 273-2337). . . . The Troy Victorian
Stroll takes place throughout Troy’s historic
downtown on Sunday afternoon; it’s your opportunity
to, among other things, catch tons of free live
music, both indoors and out (11 AM, free, 274-7020).
. . . The legendary Hot Tuna will perform
both acoustically and electrically, we’re told,
at the Egg on Sunday (7 PM, $26, 473-1845).
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Columns
& Opinions
