June 16, 2009 Music » Music Menu

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CL previews upcoming concerts (June 17-23) 

click to enlarge KATE POWERS - STAY: Sugarland
  • Kate Powers

  • STAY: Sugarland

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17

Jeff Bujak Piano popster Bujak is a one-man band tickling the ivories and tapping the keys while a steady drum machine backbeat holds up the semi jazzy, quasi-dance lounge compositions. The Syracuse, N.Y.-based Bujak, lovingly known as the Buj, is hauling his stacks of keyboards around the circuit pumping his new recording Alive Like the Spine. Double Door Inn (Samir Shukla)

THURSDAY, JUNE 18

Taking Back Sunday Taking Back Sunday may not be newbies to the scene, but it has been a while since singer Adam Lazzara and company have rocked out in the front man's home state. With Lazzara's new marriage and yet another line-up change, we may be in store for a different, more mature TBS. Though, not even a wife, a few years and some new tunes could keep that microphone from swinging. Sass does not die with age, and that is something TBS will always possess. With Anberlin, Envy on the Coast. Amos' Southend (Sam Webster)

Sugarland They may be a duo instead of the trio they started out as, but let's face it, as long as Jennifer Nettles is singing, that's all that matters. Nettles won me over back in her solo days when she was more of a soulful, bluesy rocker. I'm not much of a country fan, but she's got the pipes to win over lots of people, and she's as friendly as can be, too, not losing any of her grounded personality to fame. People keep wondering when she'll go solo, but she already has – look up the Jennifer Nettles Band. Opening for Keith Urban at "The Cable Box." Time Warner Cable Arena (Jeff Hahne)

The Radiators Veteran N'awlins kurbmasters The Radiators never quite developed into the swampy, horn-inflected Little Feat/Allman Brothers hybrid some wags wagered back in the late '80s and early '90s, but who's counting? (As Randy "The Ram" Robinson grunts in The Wrestler, "Everything was fine until that Cobain pussy came along!") Simply put, they're longtime pros, and whether you find that professionalism merely workmanlike or wowsers is up to you. Regardless, they're a burn-it-like-Sherman live act, known for playing marathon shows with plenty of pacing besides. Visulite Theatre (Timothy C. Davis)

Villanova Bobby Dredd holds it down on slap bass for Villanova, a musical position that, in a funk band, is the NFL equivalent of the quarterback of a New England Patriots-style run-and-gun offense: You're counted on for a lot, and one missed assignment can ruin the whole thing. The music does veer into that Rage Against the Incubus territory occasionally, but there's hope: namely, passable radio-ready funk that doesn't abandon the musicianship in search of a hit. Wild Wing Cafe Epicentre (Davis)

FRIDAY, JUNE 19

The Catch Fire Rising from the unraveling of the short-lived combo The Young Sons, The Catch Fire features veteran N.C. music scenesters. The quartet does a mondo melodic take on power pop stitched with spiky guitar riffs, happy bass and drums and harmony-soaked vocals. There's a quaint vibe to the tunes that channel the last three decades of pop while tipping the hat to the '60s. With the Empties. Snug Harbor (Shukla)

SATURDAY, JUNE 20

Stephen Warwick & the Secondhand Stories Warwick is one of the city's most underrated songwriters, but that's likely to change now that – if the rumors are true – the debut is done. There is, as someone somewhere wrote, something here for nearly everyone, from "singer-songwriter fans and indie aficionados" to "lap-top folkers and Americana geeks." If you prefer your footholds have actual names, imagine Elliot Smith in a better mood with some Stephen Merritt, Mark Linkous, Jeff Mangnum, Dylan and Skip James coursing through him, and you're in the diverse neighborhood. With another unsung local act, the Mike Strauss Band. The Evening Muse (John Schacht)

SUNDAY, JUNE 21

Trevor Exter Cellist and singer Exter concocts funky ditties. He plays the cello, well, more like picks, pulls, slaps and bends it like a guitar and what ensues is everything but classical. A session man who has played with varied artists spanning genres, Exter's music straddles the outer boundaries of twang, pop and rock. It's darn good when he's on and occasionally hokey when not. With Ben Henry and Erika Blatnik. Milestone (Shukla)

TUESDAY, JUNE 23

Pattern Is Movement Most bands take their new compositions straight into the studio or onto the road merely for fine tuning; this Philly duo works inside-out on tour, discovering their songs' true nature on stage and then taking them into the body shop for detailing (local producer Scott Solter at their service, again). This fits the aptly named act to a tee, as PIM is all about puzzle-making – seemingly disparate sections put together to create its own logical framework. At one time a quintet, the pieces now consist mostly of banks of different keyboards, polyrhythmic percussion patterns, and vocals that would make good musical accompaniment to an Ionesco play. With Yardwork and Fluffy Lumbers. Milestone (Schacht)

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