CrüeFest

What do you do, as a member of a hard-living hard-rock band, two decades after you and your posse have sold millions of records, toured stadiums across the planet, endured a porn-tape melee, survived a heroin overdose, committed drunken, vehicular manslaughter, appeared on countless reality TV shows, broken up, reconvened, and earned the distinction as “world’s most notorious rock band?”

For Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, the answer was simple: Do like Ozzy and throw “the loudest show on Earth.”

Their tattoos may have grown a little saggy in the skull, but a lucky paternal instinct seems to have spun a nostalgic Mötley Crüe tour into a celebration of their legacy. Sixx handpicked the bands who co-headline the tour according to how hard they “live the rock & roll lifestyle,” which, evidently, translates to their having enjoyed momentary relevance in the late ’90s. Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Trapt, and Sixx:AM join the Crüe to bask in their excess.

In the spirit of OzzFest, CrüeFest closes out the concert season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs) tomorrow (Friday, Aug. 29) at 5 PM. Tickets are $40 (lawn) to $430 (wow). For more info, call 476-1000.

Capital District Scottish Games

This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of a festival thousands of years in the making: The Capital District Scottish Games will rise again at the Altamont Fairgrounds. The festival celebrates the history and customs of the highlands from Scotland’s ancient roots to its contemporary culture.

With Celtic-themed vendors, highland dance and pipe-and-drum competitions, military reenactments, a Scottish animal show, children’s events and an amazing musical lineup (including Toronto-based headliners and Celtic-rock legends Enter the Haggis, along with local favorites Kevin McKrell and Hair of the Dog), there’s sure to be something to tantalize just about anyone.

But the main attraction (as far as we’re concerned) is the games themselves. We can think of very little more mesmerizing than watching men in skirts tossing telephone poles end-over-end with championship accuracy. Or distance-throwing 56-pound blocks of stone swung from iron-chain handles. Or high-tossing sheaves of wheat over a bar with a pitchfork.

Unless you have a secret cache of guns and canned food, these folks are probably much better prepared for the revolution than you will ever be. So, check it out, learn some rock hurling skills, pick up a pennywhistle, snack on smoked kippers. Just don’t peek under the kilts.

The 30th Annual Capital District Scottish Games storm the Altamont Fairgrounds this Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 30-31). Tickets are $30 at the gate Saturday and $15 Sunday. Gates open at noon. For more info, visit scotgames.com.

Vivica Genaux

While most of the big classical-music concert series have wound down, the Tannery Pond concerts in New Lebanon continue into the fall. This Saturday, they will present mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux (pictured) and pianist Craig Rutenberg, who will perform songs from “the Italian, German, Spanish and English repertory.”

Genaux is well-versed in the baroque and bel canto repertoires, and has been featured in a number of Rossini’s operas; Rutenberg is an in-demand recital pianist and director of musical administration at the Metropolitan Opera. They’re frequent collaborators, too; they were praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for their “exceptional . . . musical communication.”

Vivica Genaux and Craig Rutenberg will perform Saturday (Aug. 30) at 8 PM as part of the Tannery Pond Concert Series (Mount Lebanon Shaker Village and Darrow School, New Lebanon). Tickets are $25 and $30. For reservations and info, visit tannerypondconcerts.org or call (888) 820-1696.