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Ben
Folds
Skidmore
College Sports Center Gym, Thursday
The
wiseass bard of suburban angst returns tonight (Thursday)
for a show in the Skidmore College gym. A gym? Imagine it
as a weird prom night for the proudly disaffected. It will
be Folds, his piano, his arsenal of catchy, melodic tunes—and
his devoted fans, who worship him as a god. A wiseass god.
(This is the best adjective for Folds, as in he is the “wiseass
Billy Joel” or the “wiseass Elton John.”) This brief tour,
according to Folds, is just a quick one before he begins recording
his next album. So, in addition to Ben Folds Five faves, novelty
tunes and covers, expect a couple of brand new songs. A Folds
solo show is something to see: He plays the audience with
as much artistry as he tickles those ivories. Opening will
be Tegan and Sara, a sister act (with band) who pledge that
their music will be “punkier, poppier and louder.” (April
17, 8 PM, $20, $15 Skidmore students, 580-5000)
Unearth,
Last Call, deadEFFECT, Since the Flood
Valentine’s,
Saturday
You’ve
got to love the cumulative effect of a metal-hardcore show:
Somehow it takes on the tone of a church bell ringing out
ominously over a sleepy town. Ask not, it threatens. The Unearth
show is no exception. Unearth, Last Call, deadEFFECT (formerly
Cut-Throat) and Since the Flood all could be the scene titles
of a first-rate zombie movie. But the headliners, a quintet
out of the Bay State, promise a happy ending: According to
their press release, “their themes are not ones of destruction,
hatred or ill will towards their fellow man. Instead, Unearth
focuses on uplifting and hope-inspiring subjects; drawing
upon their collective experiences, morals and beliefs for
inspiration.” So, we’re guessing that the hero—after a lengthy
night of zombie butt-kicking—gets the girl. (April 19,
8 PM, $10, 432-6572)
Granian
The
Larkin Lounge, Saturday
And
then there was one: Where once Granian were a band, now Granian
is a man. The band, Granian, were a quartet formed in 1995
and named after a rearrangement of guitarist and singer-songwriter
Garen Gueyikian’s first name. (The band were originally Grane,
but another band out of Pittsburgh called themselves “Grain”
and they complained. So, they . . . it’s complicated . . .
you don’t want to know.) The rest of the band members have
split, and Gueyikian is the whole show. His earnest, hook-based
tunes have earned some critical plaudits, as well as guest-performing
shots on various Lifetime and WB network programs. His most
recent album, Live Sessions, is a good representation
of what his live show likely will be: impassioned singing
and aggressive acoustic guitar playing. It’ll be at the Larkin
on Saturday. Jon Freeland and Steve Campbell are also on the
bill. (April 19, 8 PM, $5, 463-5225)
Kenny
Rankin
The Van Dyck, Friday
Caffe
Lena, Saturday
Singer-songwriter-guitarist
Kenny Rankin traces his musical epiphany to a somewhat unlikely
source: his fourth-grade teacher, Miss Isabel Pringle. It
seems that his rendition of “O Holy Night” in a school Christmas
play moved Miss Pringle to enthuse, “Kenneth, that was lovely!”
Next thing you know, the boy born and raised in New York City’s
Washington Heights is playing guitar on Bob Dylan’s seminal
1965 album, Bringing It All Back Home. A few steps
came in between, of course, such as a contract with Decca
Records while Rankin was still a teenager that culminated
in a handful of well-received singles. In the ensuing years,
Rankin has established himself among a handful of the world’s
premier jazz-infused stylists, performers and songwriters
(such icons as Peggy Lee and Mel Torme have recorded his songs).
His latest release, A Song for You, is a genre-bending
ride through jazz, pop, show tunes, soul and blues. He’ll
bring music from A Song for You and much more to the
Van Dyck (Friday) and Caffe Lena (Saturday). The Caffe Lena
concert is part of a special weekend that will also celebrate
a passion of the venue’s founder, Scrabble. Professional players
from across the nation will gather on Saturday and Sunday
to compete in the First Annual Lena Spencer Memorial Scrabble
Tournament. (The Van Dyck: April 18, 7 and 9:30
PM, $16, 381-1111; Caffe Lena: April 19, 6:30 and 9:30 PM,
$25, $23 advance, 583-0022)
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THE
SEA & CAKE
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The
Sea and Cake, the Circulatory System
Pearl
Street Nightclub, Northampton, Mass., Monday
Monday’s show at Pearl Street is less a double bill of two
big-deal indie-rock bands than it is a pairing of two loci
of indie-rock greatness, two small galaxies briefly in synchronous
orbit and suddenly visible to the naked eye simultaneously.
The Sea and Cake—whose latest release, One Bedroom,
is being called “their most elegant” yet—boast Sam Prekop
and Eric Claridge (formerly of Shrimp Boat), Archer Prekop
(ex-Coctails) and John McIntire (Tortoise), a veritable supergroup
of the experimental/post-rock world. And the Circulatory System
contain a slew of psychedelic-performance-art wunderkinds
loosely affiliated in the Elephant 6 collective (think Neutral
Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, etc.). This is a whole
lot of indie in one convenient bite-sized package. (April
21, 8:30 PM, $12.50, 413-584-0610)
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noted |
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NICOLE
PEYRAFITTE
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Local
multimedia and vocal artist Nicole Peyrafitte
will collaborate with area jazz-guitar hero
George Muscatello in an improv performance
tonight (Thursday) at the New Age Cabaret—a new
performance space in the northern (near Nipper)
confines of downtown Albany. Poet Pierre Joris will
take part in a few pieces (8 PM, $5, 436-3465).
. . . Post-alternative metal band Cold will
play Northern Lights tonight, with Depswa, From
Zero and Sofa Kings also on the bill
(7:30 PM doors, $14, $12 advance, 371-0012). . .
. Acoustic Trauma, Lotus, Sirsy, the Velmas
and the Suggestions will all participate
in the Most Original Band Contest hosted by the
Channel (103.1) tonight at Valentine’s (8 PM, free,
432-6572). . . . Area heavy hitters To Hell and
Back will play a show at Valentine’s tomorrow
(Friday) with New York City’s Feast—whom
The Village Voice describe as a cross between
Black Sabbath and Bikini Kill (10 PM, $5, 432-6572).
. . . Also Friday, experimental cellist Gideon
Freudmann will play Mother’s Wine Emporium on
the RPI campus (8 PM; $7, $3 students, kids and
seniors, free to RPI students; 276-8585). . . .
Guitar mystic Mitch Elrod has a new ensemble,
CountrySoulHouse. The lineup is Mike
Hotter (of knotworking fame) on lead guitar,
Bob Buckley (of Kamikaze Hearts fame) on
bass, Steve Candelin on drums (he’s played
with tons of great area bands, including other Elrod-fronted
bands), and, obviously, Elrod—who says of his newest
ensemble, “These guys are some of the best players
I’ve come across. . . . They interpret my music
in a most beautiful fashion, and I feel strongly
about this new batch of songs.” You can see what
he’s talking about on Saturday at the Ale House
in Troy (10 PM, $4, 272-9740). . . . Another Troy
venue, Daisy Baker’s, will be the place for some
serious grooving on Saturday when local jam ensemble
Raisinhead perform (10 PM, 266-9200). . .
. Pink Floyd tribute band the Machine will
play a scaled-down version of their spectacle (less
watts and lights) at the Van Dyck on Saturday (7
and 9:30 PM, $20, 381-1111). . . . Folk legends
and Prairie Home Companion regulars Jay
Ungar and Molly Mason will play Hubbard
Hall in Cambridge on Saturday; Ungar’s Grammy-winning
composition “Ashokan Farewell,” and the pair’s performance
of it, reached into living rooms across the country
when the song was featured in Ken Burns’ documentary
The Civil War (8 PM; $20, $17 members, $10
students; 677-2495). . . . In their never-ending
quest for better candy, the sugar-loving pop stars
Kitty Little are heading out on tour again,
and they’ll kick it off at Valentine’s on Tuesday.
Fellow local popsters the Kiss Ups, acoustic
indie-rock-bluegrass local heroes the Kamikaze
Hearts and Honor Society, playing
their very last show, will join in (7:30 PM,
$5, 432-6572). . . . Kyler England, Winner
of the 2002 North Carolina Songwriters Competition,
will play the Larkin on Tuesday, with Carolyn
Brown opening (8 PM, $5, 463-5225). |
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Columns
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