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John
Waite Acoustic Trio
Charles
R. Wood Theater, Thursday
It’s always a pleasure to hear that one of the great rock
singers has hung onto his voice this far along. Such is the
case with John Waite, whose familiar tenor has been at the
fore of big hits by the Babys (“Isn’t It Time”) and Bad English
(“When I See You Smile”), as well as the bona fide 1984 solo
smash “Missing You.” (You might have recently caught it in
a Conan promo.) His latest release, 2007’s Downtown:
Journey of a Heart, found that voice still soaring on
a set of new rockers and stripped-down versions of his hits.
Tonight’s show concentrates on the stripped-down, as Waite
and his band take an acoustic trip through the back catalog,
and (possibly) material from a forthcoming new album, due
in 2011. (Nov. 18, 8 PM, $47.50, 207 Glen St., Glens Falls,
798-9663)
Ben
Kweller, Julia Nunes
Pearl
Street, Thursday; Bearsville Theater, Saturday
The acoustic vibes continue with two area appearances from
still-super-young troubadour Ben Kweller. He recently wrapped
recording on Go Fly a Kite, the follow-up to his country-flavored
2009 release, Changing Horses. But rather than wait
around for the album to drop, Kweller has hit the road for
a rare solo tour, his first in more than eight years, promising
“material from his entire catalog, requests from the crowd,
and even B-sides and other rarities.” He’s joined on these
dates by Julia Nunes, the 21-year-old Fairport, N.Y., native
whose ukelele renditions of emo-punk tunes have made her a
YouTube sensation—and a legitimate recording artist in her
own right. (Nov. 18, 8:30 PM, $18, 10 Pearl St., Northampton,
Mass., 413-586-8686; Nov. 20, 9 PM, $20, 291 Tinker St., Woodstock,
845-679-4406)
Peter
Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey
Proctors,
Friday
The passing of Mary Travers last year hit many people hard;
in a sense, it made the long decades between the 1960s and
today seem even more like a chasm. Peter, Paul & Mary
are no more, but Peter and Paul carry on, as they put it,
“not in memory of Mary, but in terms of understanding that
this music has had a great effect and the world still needs
this music.” In full voice, and good spirits, they will perform
the songs that managed to be both pop hits and hallmarks of
generational change. And there won’t be any pledge breaks.
(Nov. 19, 8 PM, $20-$90, 432 State St., Schenectady, 346-6204)
soundBarn,
Albany Sonic Arts Collective
Saratoga
Arts Center, Saturday
Something was in the air in New York City in the late ’70s:
the clarifying crunch of punk. Avant-garde composer Rhys Chatham
saw the Ramones and it blasted opened his ears; in 1978 he
created Guitar Trio, which “embodies an amalgamation
of the textural intricacies of the avant-garde collided with
the visceral punch of electric guitar-slinging punk rock.”
We took this last quote from the notes for this scheduled
performance of Chatham’s raucous work by members of the Albany
Sonic Arts Collective and soundBarn. They will continue the
classical punk vibe by playing Holland Hopson’s Swallowtail,
too. In the downtown spirit of things, we suggest you wear
black. (Nov. 20, 8 PM, $5, 320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs,
584-4132)
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| La
Otracina |
La
Otracina, Naam
Valentine’s,
Saturday
Enough
with the highbrow; this one’s for the stoners. Brooklyn trio
La Otracina take weed rock to its logical endpoint—all the
way down the rabbit hole into the jazz-riddled prog-metal
wonderland of Reality Has Got to Die. They’ve been
quoted as saying, simply, “We are three young men from Brooklyn
creating experimental and avant-garde psychedelic heavy metal
music,” and when their bio references krautrock, Hawkwind,
King Crimson and Tangerine Dream, it’s perfectly accurate.
They’ll be joined by fellow Brooklynites Naam, whose self-titled
Tee Pee Records debut is a fuzz- and reverb-laden psych-rock
freakout that recalls Nektar and Danzig (kind of). Albany
bands Maggot Brain and Dryheave are also on Saturday’s bill.
(Nov. 20, 7 PM, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)
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| Also
Noted |
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| Subdudes |
The
annual B3nson Family Funsgiving is at Valentine’s
tonight (Thursday) with a host of B3nson bands
performing, including We Are Jeneric, If
Madrid and Que Caro; admission comes
with a free CD, and it’s a bit cheaper if you
bring a nonperishable food item (8 PM, $10, 432-6572).
. . . ’90s alt-rockers Third Eye Blind and
local favorites Mirk play tonight at the
SEFCU Arena at University at Albany (8 PM, $10,
442-5640). . . . Valentine’s stays in the giving
spirit with tomorrow (Friday) night’s Neighbors
in Need benefit, with proceeds going to the Regional
Food Bank and Albany CARES; among the scheduled
acts are Super 400, the Charlie Watts
Riots and the Landlines, and again,
admission is cheaper with a canned food item (6:30
PM, $7, 432-6572). . . . Matt Durfee of Palatypus
celebrates his birthday Saturday at Red Square
with a rare full-band set, plus guests Timbre
Coup and Black Mountain Symphony (8
PM, $3, 465-0444). . . . New York singer-songwriter
Patti Rothberg plays the Judge’s Inn in
Troy on Saturday; she recently released her fourth
LP, Overnite Sensation (9 PM, call for
prices, 279-7989). . . . Saturday also brings
the return of the N’awlins-flavored favorites
the subdudes at the Egg (8 PM, $34.50,
473-1845). . . . On Sunday, RPI alumnus (and,
for you metal historians, former Falkirk member)
Tristan Shone brings his one-man metal machine
music show Author & Punisher to the
Marketplace Gallery at 40 Broadway (near the Port
of Albany); Shone uses “primarily custom fabricated
machines/controllers and speakers” to create his
music, and his latest, Drone Machines,
is what he calls his “first sculpture/art based
album” (8 PM, themarketplacegalleryny@gmail.com).
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