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The
Tossers
Red
Square, Friday
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The Tossers are a
seven-piece band who were “raised on the South Side of Chicago”—an
area with an enormous Irish Catholic population—and now play
“their own brew of Celtic music fueled by a love of traditional
folk songs and punk rock fury.” Substitute “Boston” for “Chicago”
and you’ve got yourself an entire subgenre. But we’ll stop
there with the negativity—they’re not the Dropkick Murphys,
after all. In fact, on several tracks from their current release,
The Valley of the Shadow of Death, them there Tossers
sound an awful lot like some authentic Irish Catholics—namely,
the Pogues. And that’s a very good thing. Rest your liver
tonight so you might punish it tomorrow: The Tossers play
Red Square tomorrow (Friday), along with the Siderunners and
the Designer Drugs. (Sept. 22, 8 PM, $10, 388 Broadway,
Albany, 432-8584)
Tom
Rush
WAMC
Performing Arts Center, Saturday
Tom Rush has influenced many generations of music since he
got his start in the early ’60s, and we suspect that his performance
at WAMC’s intimate Linda Norris Auditorium will be the perfect
venue for him to entertain his audience with his mix of bluesy
and folksy ballads. When it comes to his music, Rush is deeply
serious and can easily move a crowd, but he also breaks up
and balances his intense performances with sardonic humor
and endless stories. Fellow singer-songwriter James Taylor
once told Rolling Stone, “Tom was not only one of my
early heroes, but also one of my main influences.” Rush has
worked on a plethora of projects with artists like Joni Mitchell,
Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris. With his
already-huge fan base, Rush won’t have much to prove, only
a reputation to live up to. (Sept. 23, 8 PM, $25, call
for tickets, 339 Central Ave., Albany, 465-5233, ext. 4)
Claudia
Schmidt
Caffe
Lena, Sunday
Thirty years into her career and still going strong, Claudia
Schmidt will make an appearance at Caffe Lena this weekend,
where she’ll perform anything from torch songs to bawdy verse.
It seems a unanimous notion that one can never know what to
expect at a Schmidt concert, as she likes to mix it up as
much as possible, refusing to be pigeonholed into any one
category (she describes herself as a “creative noisemaker”).
A critic at the San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote about
Schmidt, “The world is a better place because Claudia Schmidt
shares her ‘wonder blow-outs’ in songs, poems and stories.
. . . Schmidt shines best in concert, where the full range
of her talents comes spontaneously to bear.” Check out this
songstress for yourself on Sunday. (Sept. 24, 7 PM, $15,
47 Phila St., Saratoga Springs, 583-0022)
Thomas
Dolby
Iron
Horse Music Hall, Wednesday
Say it with us: Science! Thomas Dolby brought geek
culture to the top of the pop charts 23 years ago, but until
this year, fans haven’t been able to see the song performed
live: He played his first public solo show in a quarter-century
just this January, and his schedule is indeed sparse, so his
few Northeast dates are something of a big deal. And, we should
add, he’s doing it because he enjoys it, not because he needs
the dough: To wit, his company Beatnik, Inc., was responsible
for making the software used to create polyphonic ringtones.
We’re guessing there’s some serious bank in that. (Not to
mention that he played keys on Pyromania—hello, performance
royalties!) So, all you Keytar fans, get on out there and
catch what may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience—just don’t
ask the guy to play “Rock of Ages,” OK? (Sept. 27, 7 PM,
$25, 20 Center St., Northampton, Mass., 413-584-0610)
Melefluent
the
Van dyck, Wednesday
Melefluent, a self-professed funk-blues-hip-hop-reggae band
who hail from Idaho, are often mistaken for a metal band,
according to the band members. When the trio take the stage,
however, this idea is quickly put to rest. The trio, who started
as an instrumental-jam band seven years ago, alternate between
(and sometimes merge) jazzy riffs, reggae beats, and more
than a little “honky” twang. They cite their influences as
ranging from Bob Marley to NOFX, so you never know quite what
to expect from a Melefluent show, though we do know that they
often throw in classic covers of bands like the Rolling Stones.
Having gained some substantial national acclaim with the release
of their first album, 2004’s Leap Before You Look,
the trio are recently back on the road after putting in some
serious studio time for their sophomore album, Ways to
Create. Melefluent will take the stage Wednesday night
at the Van Dyck. (Sept. 27, Van Dyck, 237 Union St., Schenectady,
381-1111)
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| The
Yellow Swans |
The
Yellow Swans
Valentine’s,
Wednesday
The
Yellow Swans totally rock, in the sense that they totally,
utterly do not, and never will actually rock. Each of their
songs . . . er . . . soundscapes pulse with the promise of
an all-out explosion. But the Yellow Swans aren’t about all-out
rocking. They are more about maiming, sonically disorienting,
lobotomizing listeners with their psychedelic-industrial trances
that ring with stinging feedback and drum machines distorted
into ecstasy. They are Einstürzende Neubauten with less song
structure, Wolf Eyes with way less wolf. Pet Sounds
this is not. Sure, you could bring your earplugs in hopes
that their prodding sound manipulations won’t reprogram your
brain—but really, where is the fun in that? (Sept 27, 7:30
PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
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| Also
Noted |
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| Powerman
5000 |
Get
your twang on with Stacey Earle and Mark
Stuart at Caffe Lena tomorrow (Friday, 583-0022).
. . . You would think they’d have upgraded by now:
Powerman 5000 will return to Northern Lights
on Friday, along with local powermen Sofa Kingz,
Pile of Heads, and Dead-Lift (7:30
PM, $15, 371-0012). . . . Overit Records and 104.9
FM’s Capital Underground show present a variety
of area heavies at Northern Lights on Saturday:
The bill includes performances from the Clay
People, Dead Rabbits, Gunther Weezul,
Grey Sky Sunday, and Die Pretty—not
the Aussie alt-rockers (that’s Died Pretty),
but former members of the Flying Bobbz ($10, 7 PM,
371-0012). . . . In the immortal words of Beavis,
“I’m hoping to do some sluts too! Are there a lot
of sluts in Las Vegas?” Maybe, but the band known
as the Sluts will be at Valentine’s on Sunday
as part of a punk-rock bill that also features After
the Fall, In Unrest, and the Homefront
(8 PM, $5, 432-6572). |
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Classifieds
