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The
Bride Wore Black
Valentine’s,
Thursday
Like soda and Mentos, some things mix to make a sweet combustion
of energy and sound. Queens-based quintet the Bride Wore Black
are at the frontier of a new hybrid of music, which, according
to their MySpace site, they like to call “emotronic.” Combining
pop-punk guitar riffs and hardcore rhythms with melodic piano
and elements of electronica, they will bring the party to
Valentine’s tonight (Thursday), with anthems such as “I’ve
Got the Wings of a Dove” and “Dance Party Ultimate Remix.”
As their debut EP title !PWNED! may suggest, these
guys have a quirky sense of humor; though singer Sean Wubs
does not shy away from more personal topics, writing about
love and regret on tracks like “Pray to the Porcelain God.”
(May 29, 7 PM, $10, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
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| Jeff
Siegel |
Jeff
“Siege” Siegel Quartet CD release
Justin’s,
Friday
Shokan-based, world-renowned, multi-hyphenated drummer-composer
Jeff “Siege” Siegel celebrates the release of his quartet’s
latest CD, Live in Europe, with a pair of CD-release
performances, one of which happens to be at the Metrolanders’
second home, Justin’s on Lark Street. Justin’s is as great
a place for live jazz as ever, so this should be a treat.
(Those to the south can catch the quartet at the Colony Café
in Woodstock Sunday afternoon.) Pianist Francesca Tanksley,
tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay, and bassist Otto Gardner
will join Siegel on this weekend’s shows, after which they’ll
head back to Europe, for another tour. (May 30,
9:30 PM, $5, 301 Lark St., Albany, 436-7008)
Holly
Near
The
Eighth Step at Proctors GE Theater, Friday
For nearly four decades, Holly Near has used her music as
a weapon against injustice and a tool to promote political
and social awareness. As part of the Free the Army Tour in
1971, she sang to soldiers who were protesting against discrimination
in the military, and over the years she’s brought her experience
as a social activist into her music. She’s collaborated with
artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Pete Seeger and Jackson Browne,
and she’s on tour supporting her 2006 album, her 26th, titled
Show Up. Supporting act Emma’s Revolution carry the
same flag of progressive social activism that Near helped
to embroider. Singer-songwriters Pat Humphries and Sara Opatow
have described their style as “a musical uprising of truth
and hope.” Expect to be moved. (May 30, 7:30 PM, $25, 432
State St., Schenectady, 346-6204)
Ryan
Bingham and the Dead Horses
Valentine’s,
Sunday
In Austin, Texas, they hand out starter kits to aspiring singer-songwriters,
consisting of a harmonica holster, a medium-sized cowboy hat,
and a contract with Lost Highway Records. 20-something-year-old
Austinite Ryan Bingham sounds like he upgraded to the bonus
plan for his debut record, Mescalito, his rough voice
sounding like that of a man twice his age. With his backup
band, the Dead Horses, Bingham spins his native land’s country,
blues and rock traditions together into something absolutely
familiar-sounding yet as refreshing as the afternoon’s first
pilsener. Note: This show has been moved across town to Valentine’s;
it was originally to take place at Jack Rabbit Slims, which
is currently “closed for renovations,” which unfortunately
tends to mean “closed.” Stay tuned! (June 1, 8 PM, $8,
17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
The
Breeders
Pearl
Street Nightclub, Wednesday
We like to believe that on a shelf somewhere in the Deal family
rec room, there sits a master tape of a fun, cocky, noisy
record that was supposed to be the follow-up album to Last
Splash, because the miserable (in a good way!) Title
TK sure wasn’t that. (Wait, that record might be The
Amps, and it’s available in your local cutout bin.) Thankfully,
Kim Deal sounds like she’s actually having fun on Mountain
Battles; it’s a weird but warm record, with more layers
than Deal’s relationship with Charles Thompson—in short, a
great Breeders record. If you actually need another reason
to drive through the Berkshires this week (OMG so pretty!)
then this should suffice. (June 4, 8:30 PM, $23, 10 Pearl
St., Northampton, Mass., 413-584-7771)
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| Also
Noted |
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Capital
District Pride Week gets into full swing tomorrow
(Friday) night with a show at the Linda (WAMC’s
Performing Arts Studio) featuring Alix Olson,
Pamela Means, Broadcast Live, and C.E. Skidmore
(8 PM, $20, 465-5233 ext. 4). . . . Not to get
all starry-eyed, but you’ll be able to see the
future this Saturday afternoon at the Schenectady
Museum, where musician Shelley Burgon will demonstrate
“the musical instrument of tomorrow”; the performance
is free with museum admission, and you can actually
play the instrument, which is too far-out to explain
briefly, after the demo (2 PM, free with museum
admission, 382-7890). . . . Area rock act Bipolar
have announced that Saturday’s show at Northern
Lights will be their last show ever, which makes
it a can’t-miss for fans of Bipolar (7 PM, $10,
371-0012). . . . We mean “rap-comedy” in the best
possible way: Former Adult Swim voice artist MC
Chris brings his rap-comedy thing back to Red
Square on Saturday for an all-ages show; New York
band the Age of Rockets will open (8 PM, $12,
465-0444). . . . Saturday at Revolution Hall,
get a load of the latest in beer- commercial rock
from 10 Years, Rev Theory, One Less Reason, and
Upon Arrival (6:30 PM, $15, 274-0553). . . . This
Sunday brings the annual Caroline Street Arts
and Blues Festival (and chili cookoff!) to downtown
Saratoga Springs, where music will seemingly flow
from the street itself as an entire city block
unites in a chorus of “My baby left me”; the whole
darn thing is free and starts at 1 PM, but you’ll
have to visit the various venues’ Web sites to
find out who’s playing where. . . . And Wednesday,
the Capital Underground Live music series at Savannah’s
settles into its new weekly spot, with music from
Without Regret and our favorite name of the week,
Medusa Oblongata (8 PM, free, 426-9647).
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