Photo: Joe Putrock

Feedback

Wait a minute—didn’t we do this just nine months ago? The short answer: Yes, we did. Feedback, Metroland’s annual Local Music Bash and Food Pantries Benefit, which typically accompanies the Local Music Issue (that is, the one you’re currently reading), took a detour to late January for a few years. But we’ve moved it back up to its rightful place in time, and all is right again. So, 2006 had no Feedback; 2008 has two.

And what a lineup we have for you this time out! There’ll be some trippy, hip-hop-laced pop courtesy of Saratoga duo Charlie Everywhere (our pick for 2008’s Best New Band, pictured); a rare acoustic duo set from Ben Karis-Nix and Amanda Rogers; and a live electro-noise-rock multimedia freakout from Beware! The Other Head of Science. And there’ll be plenty of rock & roll, too: the bawdy barroom rock of the Sense Offenders; the larger-than-life alt-rock hooks of 28N and Big Nixon; the blues-infused boogie of the Black Fuel; the back-to-basics guitar-pop of the Charlie Watts Riots; and the one and only Rocky Velvet, who will shake butts into the wee hours with their signature rockabilly rave-ups.

Feedback takes place tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 7) at Valentine’s (17 New Scotland Ave., Albany). The music will flow on both stages; doors open at 7 PM, with the first act beginning at 8. Admission is $7, or $5 with the donation of a nonperishable food item (or two, or three). For more information, call the club at 432-6572, or visit metroland.net.

Arraymusic

Founded in 1972, Canada’s Arraymusic have evolved (shape-shifted?) over the years, but remain dedicated to playing and promoting new music. In fact, they’ve performed more than 200 works by Canadian composers, which ought to be worth a gold Maple Leaf with beaver-tail clusters (or some such cultural award).

Seriously, the Toronto-based ensemble were deemed “one of North America’s more astonishing fonts of new music” by the Village Voice. Saturday’s program will include Claude Vivier’s Et Je Reverrai Cette Ville Etrange, James Tenney’s Spectrum 1 and some “Arraymusic Miniatures.” And no, it doesn’t matter in the slightest if you haven’t heard of these works or composers.

Arraymusic will perform Saturday (Nov. 8) at 8 PM at EMPAC (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy). Tickets are $15 and $10. Call 276-3921 for info and ticket purchases.

Keely and Du

“If there’s a sizzling play of the moment,” says The New York Times, “it’s Keely and Du, with productions of the pro-choice/pro-life war of words popping up all over the regional theater map.” Albany Civic Theater adds another pin to that map this weekend, when they present their take on the Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Keely and Du tackles the controversial issue of abortion with an intimate human story. Du, a right-to-life activist, confines Keely, a pregnant rape victim, against her will, determined to care for her captor and ensure that the pregnancy comes to term. Despite the circumstances, the two women develop an unlikely bond, while their interactions explore the pressing moral dilemmas about life and freedom that frame the abortion debate today.

Keely and Du begins tonight (Thursday, Nov. 6) at Albany Civic Theater (235 2nd Ave., Albany) with a pay-what-you-will preview at 8 PM, and opens tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 7) at 8 PM and runs through Nov. 23. Tickets are $15. For more info, call 462-1297.