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Willie
Waldman Project
Valentine’s,
Thursday
Willie
Waldman has had a lifelong fascination with the trumpet. He
took lessons every week, joined his high school band, and
eventually won a scholarship to the University of Memphis.
After college, Waldman found work playing on Memphis’ Beale
Street, where he met legend Herman Green, and began to join
him and his band on stage at a place called Club Handy. Soon
after, Waldman became a member of Herman Green & the Green
Machine, the famous Memphis group that produced such greats
as James Williams and Mulgrew Miller. Eventually, Waldman
and Green formed Freeworld, a group with a rock/fusion flavor,
to reach younger audiences. Freeworld toured for years with
big-name acts like Joe Cocker and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Waldman
moved to California after a long stint with Freeworld, and
began working and recording with rap artists such as Snoop
Doggy Dog, Tupac Shakur, Jodeci and Exhibit, and he’s contributed
to projects with Perry Farrell and Stephen Perkins of Jane’s
Addiction and has played with Vonda Shepard’s band on TV’s
Ally McBeal. Touring to promote his debut solo album,
Trumpet Ride, on Rhombus Records, Waldman will stop
in to Valentine’s tonight (Thursday); his band will include
Rob Wasserman (Ratdog) and members of moe. (May 16, 8 PM,
$10, 432-6572)
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 Hypocrisy,
Soilwork
Saratoga
Winners, Friday
The
Swedish metal invasion has begun, and Hypocrisy are leading
the charge. But even though this is the death-metal group’s
first full-scale North American tour, Hypocrisy have been
recording and performing throughout Europe for a decade. Led
by guitarist Peter Tagtgren, and rounded out by bassist Mikael
Hedlund and drummer Lars Szoke, Hypocrisy play a brand of
death metal reminiscent of thrash in the pre-grunge era. Over
the last decade, Hypocrisy have released 10 albums and two
EPs, including last year’s greatest-hits collection 10
Years of Chaos and Confusion. The group’s most recent
release, Catch 22, adds a modern twist to their sound.
Tomorrow (Friday), Hypocrisy will venture to Cohoes for the
first time to play Saratoga Winners. Supporting Hypocrisy
will be fellow Swedish metalheads Soilwork and New York City’s
Scar Culture. (May 17, 7 PM, $12, 783-1010)
Darude
Studio
64, Saturday
After
years of listening to dance music on the radio, European club
sensation Darude started creating dance music of his own.
He began generating music on his computer, which he soon grew
bored with, and then continued on modules and samplers. Darude,
born Ville Virtanen, is the first Finnish artist to reach
the No. 3 position on the U.K. singles chart. He teamed up
with JS16, owner of 16 Inch Records, to release his double
CD Before the Storm, which featured his European dance
sensation “Sandstorm” along with other hits including
“Feel the Beat,” “Out of Control” and “The Flow”.
“Sandstorm” dominated the charts in Finland and stayed
in the Top 20 in the U.K. for 11 weeks. English dance label
Neo Records took notice of the massive success of “Sandstorm”
and helped establish the newcomer in the U.K. Darude’s music
takes inspiration from trance and hard house, but doesn’t
necessarily fall into any specific dance genre; Darude describes
his sound as simple tracks with strong sounds and beats with
an emphasis on speed. Darude will be featured Saturday at
Studio 64 as the finale for the club’s 2001-2002 season, and
as a tribute to Darude’s wide fan base, the club will admit
people 18 and over. A “dress to impress” code will be enforced.
(May 18, 9:30 PM, $20, $15 21 and older. 482-0100 ext.
464.)
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Sebastian
Bach
Northern
Lights, Saturday
You
know him as the front man of now-defunct hair-metal hitmakers
Skid Row, but don’t worry, Sebastian Bach has kept himself
busy since Nirvana put an end to the Aqua-Net era. He’s released
a solo album, the cleverly titled Bring ’Em Bach Alive
(get it?), and, believe it or not, an album with Kelley
Deal and Jimmy Chamberlain of the Breeders, called The
Last of the Hard Men. If that weren’t enough, Bach’s also
turned up on Broadway with a starring role in Jekyll &
Hyde, a gig that won him an award from Broadway.com for
Favorite Male Replacement (make your own joke), and he’s played
Riff Raff in an onstage production of The Rocky Horror
Picture Show. So, where’s your Kip Winger now, huh? All
that activity hasn’t dimmed Bach’s enthusiasm for the rock,
however; accordingly, he’s put together a new band—including
guitarist Al Pitrelli of Megadeth—for the Forever Wild on
the Road tour, which hits Northern Lights on Saturday. Also
on the bill, Untamed and local axeman Mike Campese. (May
18, 8 PM, $20, 371-0012)
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Townhall
The
Van Dyck, Saturday
Jam
music is meant to be played live, where guitarists can noodle
and bands can turn any song into an extended groove. Taking
this theory to heart, Philadelphia-based band Townhall have
centered their career around live performances. They have
played more than 200 shows since forming in November 2000
and have already released a double-disc live album. In mid-May,
the group also recorded a live-in-the-studio album and headlined
a subscribers party for hippie-rock magazine Relix.
Combining the roots-rock sensibilities of the Counting Crows
with the funk and groove of Phish and the Grateful Dead, Townhall
mix horns, flutes, and banjos with traditional rock instruments,
and each member is known to play a variety of instruments
during each set. They have played with a diverse selection
of acts, including the Wailers, Guided by Voices, Deep Banana
Blackout, G-Love, Afroman and the Dirty Dozen Jazz Band. On
Saturday, Townhall will play two shows at the Van Dyck. (May
18, 7 and 9:30 PM, $12, 381-1111)
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Charlambides
Miss
Mary’s Art Space, Monday
Those
of you conditioned by the Internet into believing that all
of the musical spectrum is yours for the downloading are gonna
be frustrated: Texas psychedelic-drone outfit Charalambides
are more elusive than that. The husband-wife team of Tom and
Christina Carter are content to—slowly, patiently—produce
their “extended guitar and voice compositions and improvisations”
for their own label, Wholly Other, get them to the distributors
and then let the chips fall where they may. You’re unlikely
to find them on a Van’s Warped Tour, an episode of MTV’s Undressed,
or on many of those file-ripping, ahem, sharing programs (that’s
what we’ve been told anyway). If fact, before now, we’d have
laid long odds against most of you having the chance to find
them at all. So, if you want to hear and see what makes them
so “well known/loved/regarded in the international psychedelic/free
rock underground,” we suggest you shut down, log off and take
this opportunity to get yourself over to Miss Mary’s Art Space
and check them out. The Wasted and the Kamikaze Hearts open.
(May 20, 8 PM, $5, 439-0041)
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also
noted
Mr.
Maximum Solo Acoustic himself, Michael Eck, will play
the Albany Public Library tonight (Thursday), and although
the show is in an alcohol- and smoke-free setting, and minus,
as Eck poetically proclaims, “the hum of desperate people
trying to hook up for a late-night tryst,” the songsmith will
still sing about whiskey, smoke and sex (7 PM, free, 427-4300).
. . . Tomorrow (Friday), “epithets will be spat out like poisons,
annoyed boyfriends will threaten the band members for trying
to steal their girls, a drunk will flail spastically,” and
so on, when Secretguy hop on the Fuze Box stage; sharing
the bill will be Albany’s longest-standing band, the hard-rockin’
China White, who are fast approaching their 20th anniversary
together (10 PM, $2, 432-4472). . . . Folkster Bob Norman,
whose career spans 30 years and includes a seven-year stint
as editor of the folk-music mag Sing Out!, will
play Saratoga’s Caffe Lena tomorrow (8 PM, $12, 583-0022).
. . . MotherJudge and the Urban Holiness Society will
play Artie’s Lansingburgh Station tomorrow, with knotworking
opening the show (9 PM, $2, 238-2788). . . . New York
City jazz-funk outfit Drive By Leslie, fronted by keyboard
marvel Adam Klipple, will play the Van Dyck
tomorrow, a special show for area graduates, who will get
in at half price with proof: diplomas, transcripts, invitations
to commencement, etc. Show up in your cap and gown and you’re
in for free (7 and 9:30 PM, $10, $5, 381-1111). . . . Prog-rock
outfit Acoustic Trauma will celebrate five everlovin’
years together tomorrow at Valentine’s; Jaleo will
open (9 PM, $5, 432-6572). . . . Punk-glam favorites the
Erotics will kick off their national tour with a show
at Valentine’s on Saturday; Indiana will open the show
(9 PM, $5, 432-6572). . . . Also Saturday, the Northeast Blues
Society presents Colossal Contender IV Blues Barbecue and
Competition at the Polish-American Citizens Club (110 Commerce
Ave., Albany), featuring seven bands, including Captain
Squeeze & the Zydeco Moshers, Mark Emanatian & Folding
Sky and Wild Bill & the Rhythm Kings (noon,
$10, 347-1751).
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