Why did Corinne Bailey Rae cross the road? To get to the middle (Photo by Irene Rukerebuka) John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae at
One of contemporary R B’s craftiest craftsmen, John Legend makes work that respectfully honors soul music’s past while confidently imagining its future. On 2004’s Get Lifted, the former church-choir director benefited greatly from his relationship with pal and benefactor Kanye West, but last year’s superior Once Again proved that Legend is the architect of his own sound, a canny mixture of funky sample science and live-band warmth.
Onstage, dude works his chops but not so hard that you fall asleep while he solos. English opener Corinne Bailey Rae’s considerably less crafty than Legend: The gentle folk-soul tunes on her hit debut come with a slight bit of hip-hop detailing, but Bailey Rae’s more concerned with substance than style. Still, she’s no roots-music scold; her polite goody-two-shoes act is unexpectedly sensual.
(Mikael Wood)
Bad Religion at
“They’re still around?” That’s how many people respond when Bad Religion’s name is brought up. In the punk-rock encyclopedia, Bad Religion’s sound is categorized as somewhere between angry teddy bear and militant, sleep-deprived, poli-sci grad student — complete with aggro–Kingston Trio harmonizing behind the ferocious socio-authority-fighting-the-man-superio-cultural-warrior anthems.
Greg Gaffin sacrificed his throat — not to mention major parts of his esophagus, larynx and trachea — for you, man! Since 1980, they’ve put out 13 albums, the message being fight authority and mosh with respect for your pit-mate. By now they’ve realized they’ll never be U2, but the truth is if Bad Religion gave it all up, we’d be mightily bummed.
The band headlines a benefit for Heal the Bay; see Concerts for details. (Libby Molyneaux)
Richard Swift, David Vandervelde at
Could David Vandervelde be the next Conor Oberst? Like Mr.
Bright Eyes, Vandervelde is a precocious Midwestern boy who started recording his tunes while a teen. On his recently released debut The Moonstation House Band, the autodidact multi-instrumentalist merrily hopscotches from glam rock to psychedelica to Americana to chamber pop..
. oh, just say rock ’n’ roll since the ’60s. “Can’t See Your Face No More” works up some shambling, hooky magic, while “Wisdom From a Tree” intertwines T-Rex with George Harrison.
But the 22-year-old has a Rolling Stones jones too; he often covers “Cocksucker Blues.” Tourmate and Secretly Canadian comrade Richard Swift also is a music history buff. Swift, whose vocals fall on the plaintive side of the Rufus Wainwright/Eric Carmen school of croon, crafts intricate yet catchy pop tunes inspired by Tin Pan Alley, the English music hall and Brian Wilson’s symphonic sandbox music.
(Michael Berick)
De La Soul at the
“Life is beautiful. It’s just the shit in it that’s fucked up.” There’s a lot of knowledge and poetry in that little bon mot, a line from the title track of De La Soul’s stellar 2004 record, The Grind Date.
Not that it’s unusual for the Long Island trio to integrate low-key intelligence into their jazzed-up, bouncy music; De La Soul were making conscious hip-hop before there was “conscious hip-hop.” De La isn’t pushing a new album on this tour, though last fall saw the release of a well-received mixtape, The Impossible: Mission TV Series Pt. 1 (apparently, parts two and three are forthcoming), a collection of never-heard jams, jokes and raps.
The group’s catalog is so unstoppable and enduring that these bonus goodies are nowhere near redundant, even closing in on their 20th year in the game. (Kate Carraway)
Also playing Friday:
THE ALKAHOLIKS, DFARI, DJ LIME GREEN, CHAPTER 11, BORN SUPREMACY at ; THE THERMALS at ; DARK STAR ORCHESTRA at (also Saturday at ); THE PNUMA TRIO at ; TALIB KWELI at ; NIKKA COSTA at (also Saturday); ADRIAN LEGG at ; HOOKERS BLOW at Paladino’s; VERUCA SALT at ; DEADSARA at ; THE CARDOVAS, ANDREW SHERMAN VEHICLE at Taix; BILLY TALENT at ; THE DREAMING at ; HELLOGOODBYE at ; Urban Underground Invasion with Aceyalone, Moskeedoe Smooth Assassins, Bash Bros., 5th Element, many others at Zen.
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