Def Leppard, Journey

They have released more than three greatest hits collections (and a “definitive collection”), but they aren’t stopping there. Def Leppard, the living, breathing incarnation of Spinal Tap, are touring with yet another product that is a tradition of aging rock gods: the covers collection. Let’s hope the Leppard trot out some of their new covers like T.Rex’s “20th Century Boy” at SPAC this weekend, because the songs they picked for their collection play to their strengths—cheap, easy, sleazy hard-rock done right.

Speaking of cheap and easy, billmates Journey will help mullet enthusiasts recall their first session of lovin’, touchin’, and squeezin’, in the back of their parents’ rusted Fords. This Saturday at SPAC won’t be so much a concert as a public service for the hard-rock-radio faithful.

Def Leppard and Journey will perform Saturday (Sept. 14) at 7:30 PM at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs). Tickets are $75-$25. For more info, call 584-9330.

Intimate Apparel

Fall: Aside from the crispness in the air, a new arts season is upon us. Capital Repertory Theatre begins its new season with the regional premiere of Intimate Apparel, a drama of “desire, passion and betrayal” set in Manhattan at the turn of the last century.

Esther Mills (Rochelle Hogue, pictured at left, with Tanesha Gary, right, as one of her customers) is a seamstress who makes very upscale lingerie for both high-society dames and Tenderloin hookers. She also has a long-distance romance with a Panama Canal worker from Barbados—which, in those days, meant a lot of letter writing. We are promised that “nothing is quite what it seems.”

There will be a pay-what-you-will performance of Intimate Apparel tonight (Thursday, Sept. 14) at 7:30 PM at Capital Repertory Theatre (111 N. Pearl St., Albany); tickets for tonight’s show go on sale at the box office at 5:30 PM. There will be preview performances tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 15) through Tuesday (Sept. 19), and the opening-night show will be Wednesday (Sept. 20) at 7:30 PM. Ticket prices range from $42 to $27. For more information, call 445-7469.

LARKfest 25th Anniversary

For 25 years, LARKfest has been an anticipated annual fall event in downtown Albany—artists, musicians, vendors, restaurants and organizations have exhibited their wares, talents, food and services during this super popular street festival.

This year, LARKfest will have more of the same, with some new additions. The hometown stage will feature an array of local talent, from a 5-year-old who sings Bob Dylan songs to hip-hop collective Pitch Control Music to folk sweethearts Laura Boggs and Paddy Kilrain. WEQX will present bands from around the region, and one from across the pond, on the Washington Avenue stage; the family stage will feature repeated dance performances throughout the day (including GERMS, a production by eba that investigates gross afflictions like tooth decay and salmonella—the kids will love it).

The headliner this year (on the Madison Avenue stage) is multimillion-selling pop band Everclear, whose new album, Welcome to the Drama Club, was released on Tuesday (Sept. 12).

Among the new stuff: The LARKfest Family Zone, a designated area at the corner of Hudson Avenue and Lark Street, is a spot for families to get together to make art. (Bonus: All instruction and activities at this spot are free!) Find the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Expo at Lark and State streets, and participate in guided tours of Washington Park while learning about Albany’s history. Also, Time Warner Cable’s Love on Demand crew will be at the corner of Lark and Chestnut streets. What? You didn’t know that this was the biggest new thing in Capital Region dating? It’s OK, it was news to us, too. Apparently, profiles of singles are being filmed in area hot spots—stop on Saturday to find a potential new mate.

LARKfest will take place this Saturday, Sept. 16, from noon to 5 PM on Lark Street (between Washington and Madison avenues) in downtown Albany. For more information and performance schedules, refer to the pull-out section in the middle of this paper, or call the Lark Street BID at 434-3861.