Bach Tight 5, Hypnotica, Bad Rehab
Northern Lights, Thursday

In his day, Sebastian Bach was a publicity magnet: As the frontman for the hair-metal outfit Skid Row, Bach’s antics grabbed as much attention as did the band’s music. It seemed a week didn’t go by without an MTV News blurb about Bach’s latest shenanigans: a brawl with an audience member, a dopey homophobic statement, or some such silliness. So, when Bach was let go from Skid Row in late ’95, it was anyone’s guess what would happen to him. A couple of projects remained mostly below the radar, which was the odds-on fate for a bratty, former hard-rock pinup. But then Bach surprised folks by turning up on Broadway in a lead role in Jekyll & Hyde (apparently he had overcome his homophobia sufficiently to feel at home in the theater), thereby sparing himself a sad Where Are They Now episode. But Bach, very apparently, has not yet exhausted his more aggressive instincts, and has formed a new band, the Bach Tight 5, to tour clubland with the likes of Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper. When the Bach Tight 5 play Northern Lights tonight (Thursday), however, they’ll be accompanied by heavy acts Hypnotica and Bad Rehab. (Oct. 16, doors 7:30 PM, $18, $16 advance, 371-0012)

Keller Williams, Charlie Hunter
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Friday

Keller Williams and Charlie Hunter are anomalies in the music world. Each musician is regarded as a one-man jam band, able to craft complex, multifaceted sounds using distinctly different styles. While Williams jumps from one instrument to another, using looping pedals to create a mosaic of sound that has been described as a “rock & roll symphony,” Hunter’s signature eight-string guitar (his own invention) doubles as both bass and guitar in his capable hands. Williams’ Home, released earlier this year (under the SCI Fidelity label) and recorded in his hometown of Fredericksburg, Va., was his first solo studio recording; previous albums featured Colorado jam-meisters (and labelmates) the String Cheese Incident in supporting roles. Right Now Move, released this year under the Rope a Dope label, found Charlie Hunter’s quintet fusing jazz and funk into 13 instrumental tracks that earned heaps of critical praise, while the upcoming release of two more albums (one solo, one with accompaniment) has kept Hunter himself moving as quickly as his impressive finger-picking. (Oct. 17, 8 PM, $26, $24 advance, 273-0038)

Spider Saloff Trio
Chapel + Cultural Center, Saturday

Of the “golden age” American pop composers, George Gershwin is safely ensconced in the canon of great composers (there are two, count ’em, two classical performances of “Rhapsody in Blue” in and around these parts next week); Irving Berlin is still, after all these years, firmly in the mainstream; and Harry Warren is still criminally unknown. Cole Porter, however, is still hip. His lyrics mix sex, romance and lacerating wit in a way that fits our collective emotional ennui like a prescription for Prozac. You can groove on the Porter vibe this Saturday at the Chapel + Cultural Center on the RPI Campus with the Spider Saloff Trio. Chicago-based vocalist Saloff, host of the weekly NPR program Words and Music (not available locally, unfortunately), will present Cole Porter: Beyond the Jazz Age. Saloff and her group will perform both well-known Porter standards and a few “rarely performed gems.” She’ll also be telling a few choice anecdotes about Porter’s life to spice up the evening—and there are some doozies to tell. This special event is dedicated to a longtime supporter of the C + C, the late Betty Wiberley. (Oct. 18, 8 PM, $15, $5 student with ID, 274-7793)

Good Charlotte, Something Corporate, Mest
Pepsi Arena, Sunday

Good Charlotte are the result of a shared dream by identical twin brothers Benji and Joel Madden in 1995. The story is one that we all love to hear: After practicing in their room every day after school and teaching themselves how to play the guitar and sing, they began playing their first gigs in friends’ basements for audiences of 20 people. They’ve grown up a lot since then, and along the way, they added Billy Martin on guitar, Paul Thomas on bass and, most recently, Chris Wilson on drums. Taking their name from a children’s book, Good Charlotte attribute some of their success to their apparent ignorance of the workings of the music industry—the twins said they didn’t get discouraged when they were rejected because they didn’t have enough knowledge about the business. Something Corporate and Mest join Good Charlotte at the Pepsi on Sunday in support of GC’s second album, The Young and the Hopeless. (Oct. 19, 7:30 PM, $27.50, 476-1000)

UK Subs, Toxic Narcotic, the Epidemic, Blasé DéBris, Plastic Jesus
Valentine’s, Tuesday

It is a rare thing to see the legendary limey punks UK Subs. Nonetheless, they’re rolling through town with the institutional memory of the punk movement in tow. UK Subs emerged with the dawn of British punk, and remain its elders while their contemporaries fade into the pages of rock history. They’ve got an impressive 30 albums under their belt to show for all of that time, and show no signs of stopping. Touring with the UK Subs are Boston’s bastions of DIY hardcore punk, Toxic Narcotic. They’ll stop in to Valentine’s on Tuesday, joined by Epidemic, and locals Blasé DéBris (ex-Nogoodnix members playing what they call vaudevillian punk) and oi punks Plastic Jesus. (Oct. 21, 8 pm, $12, 432-6572)

Bruce Cockburn
The Calvin Theatre, Northampton, Mass., Wednesday

Stateside listeners will be for-given for a less-than-comprehensive familiarity with Bruce Cockburn’s work: First of all he’s Canadian, and our neighbors to the north often have a tough time establishing a solid foothold on the charts here. Secondly, Cockburn has just released his 27th album—and that’s a lot of homework. But those of you who have been paying attention may well agree with New York Times critic Jon Pareles, who recently wrote that “Bruce Cockburn could be Ani Difranco’s godfather: articulate, loving, politically aware, virtuosic on guitar and continually stretching his music beyond its folk roots.” His latest release, You’ve Never Seen Everything, goes a long way in bearing that praise out, combining the political outspokenness and spiritual yearning of Cockburn’s early work with up-to-date sonic experimentalism. Cockburn, who’ll play the Calvin Theatre in Northampton, Mass., on Wednesday, easily matches drum loops and electronica flourishes with vocal assistence from such tried and true performers as Sam Phillips, Jackson Browne and Emmylou Harris. (Oct. 22, 8 PM, $38.50-$26.50, 800-THE-TICK)

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