WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14
O.A.R. Pardon me for not jumping on the bandwagon for these guys. They’ve been around since 1996 and haven’t impressed me once with their generic brand of rock that seems to appeal to some jam-fans – the band’s shows are taped and traded – as much as the college crowd. Needless to say, the band had one recent hit, “This Town,” on the radio and TV and more people started going crazy for them. Actually, they started getting more popular in 2006, but I, along with many, didn’t notice. Uptown Amphitheatre (Jeff Hahne)
THURSDAY, OCT. 15
Blues Traveler In last year’s snug release North Hollywood Shootout, Blues Traveler detoured from their jam highway with songs that are decidedly harder rocking, bluesier and tweaked into concise pop. But John Popper, the harmonica-wielding writer and singer of the long-established quintet, composed the numbers to allow for lots of stretching and eclectic exploration on Blue Traveler’s much adored foundation, the live stage. The Fillmore (Samir Shukla)
California Guitar Trio There’s a reason cooking analogies are so often made in regards to music. They’re both forms of alchemy, really, where one takes specific ingredients and combines them in such a way to make magic happen. The CGT, then, are like those architectural chefs who can cook anything (and better yet, arrange it in such a way that it looks like a work of art), but forget to add that ever important soupcon of soul. Fretheads will be in heaven, but those looking for something truly rib-sticking might do better elsewhere. The Evening Muse (Timothy C. Davis)
Carolina Chocolate Drops The Durham-based CCD (Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson) are a big draw at musical festivals and art-house theaters and museum openings. And why not? They’re great musicians, and they know how to entertain, too. Did we mention that they’re all African-American, and play their native burgh’s rural Southern string-band music? That they interpret standards and traditionals with the same flair with which they pen their own stuff? That they reinterpret the music at the same time they’re re-enacting it, which is no mean feat? Why, it’s enough to set a musicologist’s heart all a-flutter. Bully for them that they’re good enough (indeed, great enough) that all of the Great Black Hope shit doesn’t even matter. The music, as the cliché goes, speaks for itself. McGlohon Theatre (Davis)
FRIDAY, OCT. 16
Real Estate This generically-named yet musically-astute pop outfit is adept in channeling the Pet Sounds vibes with other experimental pop of the era into downright spacey music. They unfold each song with a laid-back groove that blooms into pop draped in sunshine, usually subtle, occasionally somber, and often intriguing. Also on the bill: Bob Fields, the Spalding Grays and Neon Methods. Milestone (Shukla)
SATURDAY, OCT. 17
The Love Language Stuart McLamb, the crooning ne’er-do-well behind this lo-fi pop outfit from Chapel Hill, recently cashed in on all the (deserved) hype surrounding his one-man-band eponymous debut by signing with the neighborhood label, Merge. It’s a smart fit, since his songs have the same timeless-pop quality of former label-mate Stephen Merritt (Magnetic Fields), only filtered through the cheap-o four-track of Robert Pollard (another ex-Merger). It’s almost de rigueur these days to bury your pop in lo-fi detritus for retro cachet, but analog hiss and Phil Spector texture ain’t gonna help if your songs blow – something McLamb need not worry about. With Benji Hughes and Jon Lindsay. Visulite Theatre (John Schacht)
Merzah With lyrics that can be over the top and downright corky, but not often, this South Carolina progressive metal outfit cranks power chords that spew a mesh of ’70s prog rock tossed into growly hard rock and metal. Alternating sung and screamed vocals while waving to Iron Maiden, the double bass drums, keys and guitars get the job done. With Permanent Midknight, Pandah and Telic. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)
SUNDAY, OCT. 18
Metallica Fans and, most likely, the band would like to forget St. Anger and everything that came along with it. Their latest, Death Magnetic, is a return to form, so to speak, and made most people happy. Long songs that play more like epics than anything radio-friendly. This time around, the band is performing “in the round” which should make for an interesting metal experience. Especially after the dark growling of the opener. With Lamb of God. Time Warner Cable Arena (Hahne)
Third Eye Blind A colleague recently found himself in a flame-war with a representative of this band because he Twittered that “their limp brand of alterna-rock” and “mook” fans had soiled his tenure as a record-store clerk in the late ’90s. (Fact: I suffered similar 3EB trauma working in a record store during that unfortunate era.) But the vehemence of this 3EB rep’s counter-attack suggests the kind of insecurity that comes from a creeping awareness that, hey, that critic asshole may be right, and if so I’ve wasted years of my “semi-charmed life” listening to over-wrought cookie-cutter rock. With Hot Chelle Rae. Neighborhood Theatre (Schacht)
TUESDAY, OCT. 20
Lita Ford Four score and, well, OK, it wasn’t that many years ago … Ford scored big hits with a duet she did with Ozzy Osbourne, “Close My Eyes Forever,” and a single, “Kiss Me Deadly.” Now, she’s eyeing a comeback with her first album in 14 years, Wicked Wonderland. Yeah, I’m gonna take the wait-and-see approach on this one. Opening for Queensryche. The Fillmore (Hahne)
This article appears in Oct 13-20, 2009.
