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| Catfish
Haven |
Catfish
Haven, the Stranger Waves
Valentine’s,
Saturday
Mamie
Smith hit the airwaves in 1920 with “Crazy Blues,” and ever
since, record companies have been trying to capitalize on
it. So it’s no new thing for a few white boys with guitars
to cop a down-home attitude to move product. Catfish Haven,
however, aren’t just an indie band who stumbled onto a box
of CCR tapes, oh no. With a name taken from the trailer park
in Missouri where band leader George Hunter grew up, Catfish
Haven bring the real funk. These three white, Chicago soul
boys made sure to leave the gravel bits in the mix—the tunes
from their upcoming Devastator are equal parts booze
and blues. Opening are the Stranger Waves, Chicago’s Best
Rock or Pop Act of 2009 (according to Chicago Reader).
Young punks, citing T. Rex and MC5—sounds good to us! (Aug.
1, 7 PM, $7, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
Edgefest
2009
Altamont
Fairgrounds, Saturday
The last of the summer’s big, radio-sponsored, multi-band
rock festivals hits this weekend, and it’s a mélange of the
best and brightest in the Active Rock format (appropriate,
as this is the show put on by “The New Edge,” 104.9 FM). A
number of acts on the Saturday’s bill are familiar to area
venues: Mudvayne and Static-X seem to have regional dates
scheduled every time we look; Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society
can come back as often as they want, because we’re not about
to get in Zakk’s way. A few bands down the bill are Toadies,
the Texas cult favorites whose “Possum Kingdom” seems to live
in perpetual heavy rotation at most rock stations. Those four
alone are worth the ticket price (hint: buy before Saturday
for a considerable discount); the undercard adds another seven
acts, including Aussie alt-rockers Sick Puppies. (Aug.
1, gates open 10 AM, $37, Route 146, Altamont, 861-6671, albanyedgefest.com)
AC/DC
Times
Union Center, Sunday
They built their name on a jerky, mischievous brand of roadhouse
rock; they became the architects of modern blooze-metal with
1980’s Back in Black. The name Angus Young instantly
conjures the image of a grown man trotting around in a schoolboy
uniform. You know their logo, the names of both lead singers
(living and dead), and at least a dozen of their songs by
heart. There aren’t a lot of icons left, so you can thank
the devil for AC/DC. Here’s the thing: They are going to play
new songs. You want to hear the hits, but they’ve got a disc
to promote. So you want to know if the new songs are any good.
And we ask: Do you like AC/DC? The new shit sounds exactly
like AC/DC. (Aug. 2, 7:30 PM, $91.50, 51 S. Pearl St.,
Albany, 800-30-EVENT)
Sugar
Ray, Fastball
Northern
Lights, Monday
This week’s installment of Hey, There’s Those ’90s Again brings
you Fastball, the Austin trio who scored a few hits circa
1998 (“The Way,” “Out of My Head”) before fading into obscurity.
But check their temperature: These guys never went cold, and
they continue to turn out quality power-pop records, including
this year’s Little White Lies. Sharing the bill are
Extra host Mark McGrath and his pop band, Sugar Ray.
We thought McGrath’s career as a singer had gone the way of
Smash Mouth (Huh? They’re still together, too?). Lo,
his boys have a new record: Music for Cougars. To slag
these guys for being lightweight is to miss the target. See,
they’re in on the joke (their biggest-selling album was called
14:59, like “15 minutes of fame”)—it’s just that the
joke’s not very good. Aimee Allen opens. (Aug. 3, 7 PM,
$20, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park, 371-0012)
Progressive
Nation Tour
Palace
Theatre, Tuesday
Prog. It’s a word that begins deep in the belly, rumbles from
the throat, and is meant to be uttered at high volumes from
mountaintops and across vast seas. It’s a code word and incantation,
a badge that adherents display on their faded-denim armor,
and a banner under which a nation of music fans (and poetics-waxing
journalists) march with high heads and distant stares. And,
it can mean just about anything you’d like it to. This year’s
Mike Portnoy-curated progressive-rock tour pairs the drummer’s
cinematic prog-metal band Dream Theater with Dweezil Zappa’s
homage to his father’s legacy, Zappa Plays Zappa. Strange
bedfellows, yet brothers in prog. Be ye headbanger or geek,
there will be plenty of double-kick, sweep-picking, and confounding
time signatures to go around. Big Elf and Scale the Summit
share the bill. (Aug. 4, 6:30 PM, $35-$50, 19 Clinton Ave.,
Albany, 465-3334)
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| Also
Noted |
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| z02 |
Make
it through your day with some free music today
(Thursday): Start with Troika at Jazz on
Jay in Schenectady (noon, free, 382-3884). . .
. Then, it’s off to Savannah’s, where Canadian
indie-poppers Metric play a happy-hour
freebie—we can’t believe it either—for radio station
WEQX (2 PM, free, 426-9647). . . . It’s a relatively
short walk to Alive at Five from there, where
you’ll get a double dose of R&B with Tower
of Power and Out of Control Rhythm and
Blues Band (5 PM, free, 434-2032). . . . Finally,
at Albany’s Pearl Street Live concert series,
the post-Alive at Five party features a band name
that’s never failed to make us squirm: Philip
the Meatbox (8 PM, free). . . . Also tonight,
as seen on IFC: Brooklyn-based rock trio ZO2
and their alter egos Z Rock are at Valentine’s;
Selfish Needy Creatures and Karma’s
Army are also on the bill (7:30 PM, $10, 432-6572).
. . . Pennsylvania “roots-rock innovators” Good
Old War headline the annual Indie Band Fest
at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfeld, Mass.,
tomorrow (Friday, 7:30 PM, $10, 413-499-1733).
. . . The Hats Off to Saratoga Music Festival
takes place Friday and Saturday throughout downtown
Saratoga Springs; musical acts including Sean
Rowe, Slick Fitty and Bourbon Renewal
will perform at eight different locations along
Broadway (7 PM, free, 57-8635). . . . Undefinable
NYC band Gang Gang Dance make a tour stop
at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Mass., on Sunday;
if you’ve already bought tickets and they say
“Pearl Street,” be aware that the venue has changed
(8:30 PM, $14, 413-586-8686). . . . Acoustic blues
master Paul Geremia plays a free show in
Saratoga’s Congress Park Tuesday night; in the
event of rain, it will take place Wednesday (7
PM, free, 587-3241).
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