The Wu-Tang Clan

Wu-Tang Clan are coming to town. They know if you’ve been naughty. They know if you’ve been good. They know if you’ve been snitching, so don’t you snitch for goodness sake. Sure, the Wu are going to be a few steps behind Santa, but boy the Capital Region will be getting a second Christmas on the 28th, when the Wu—featuring RZA, GZA, GhostFace Killah, Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck and Cappa Donna—show up to lay down the rhymes. The Wu have have been one of the most integral and challenging groups in rap for the last couple of decades, and being able to see them in such an intimate venue such as Northern Lights is an oppurtunity respectable music afficianados should not pass up.

This is probably a show you will want to tell your grandkids about. So forget the snow, the sleet or even attacks by swarms of killer bees (yes they had an album called Wu-Tang Killer Bees The Swarm Vol. 1 . . . that’s just how they roll), because after this show you will be able to tell your wee ones . . . as the classic Wu-jam goes . . . the Wu-Tang Clan, well, they just ain’t nuthin’ to fuck with.

Remember, as Method Man says, “Cash rules everything around me,” so bring some to Northern Lights (1208 Route 146, Clifton Park) on Sunday (Dec. 28) at 8 PM. Tickets are $32. Call 371-0012 for more info.

The Wizard of Oz

As we usher in 2009, would you believe that MGM’s iconic take on The Wizard of Oz—the film classic that launched Judy Garland to stardom—will turn 70 this year? In celebration, Proctors is making sure you won’t have to travel any farther than your own backyard to experience all the music, magic, excitement and insight of L. Frank Baum’s spectacular tale live on stage.

This lavish, full-blown production features all your favorite songs, dazzling dances, twisters, witches (good and bad), poppy fields, winkies, flying monkeys, and a bevy of talented local munchkins.

So strap on your ruby slippers, gather up the kids and the grandkids, and join Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and Toto on their adventures over the rainbow. Or just treat your own kid-at-heart, and follow the yellow brick road to memory lane.

The Wizard of Oz opens at Proctors Theatre (432 State St., Schenectady) Friday (Dec. 26) at 2 PM, for a limited one-weekend engagement of five shows. Tickets range from $20 to $50. For more info, or to order tickets, call the Proctors box office at 346-6204.

Berkshire Bach Society

Let Vienna have the damn Strauss waltzes. The Berkshires have their own New Year’s tradition: concerts by the Berkshire Bach Society. The BBS will perform Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 and 4, the Violin Concerto and Double Violin Concerto of J.S. Bach on New Year’s Eve in Great Barrington and New Year’s Day in Pittsfield.

Bach wrote the Brandenburg Concertos—among the most beautiful music you’ll ever hear—for the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, and sent them off hoping for some financial help: “I have in accordance with Your Highness’ most gracious orders taken the liberty of rendering my most humble duty to Your Royal Highness with the present concertos, which I have adapted to several instruments.”

The score sat in the Margrave’s archive until he croaked, and was then sold for about $22. It then waited, unplayed, in another archive for 100 years before being discovered.

And you think you have complaints.

The Berkshire Bach Society will perform an all-J.S. Bach program Wednesday (Dec. 31) at 6 PM at the Mahaiwe Theater (14 Castle St., Great Barrington, Mass.). Tickets are $35-$55; free admission for students with ID. For more info, call the Mahaiwe at (413) 528-6415. The BBS will repeat the program on Jan. 1 at 3 PM at the Colonial Theatre (111 South St., Pittsfield, Mass.). Tickets are $17-$37. For more info, call the Colonial box office at (413) 997-4444.