Lughead, Super 400

Valentine’s, Friday

Sure. We’ll wait for you to do the inevitable double-take . . . and triple-take. OK, now read it again. No, you haven’t quantum-leapt back to 1997, but tomorrow (Friday) at Valentine’s, you can get a taste of what made the late ’90s a golden age for the Albany music scene. Super 400, of course, are among our area’s best-loved acts, thanks to their lean, classic-tinged rock sound. Joining them will be onetime alt-rock heroes Lughead, back for a reunion stint after an eight-or-so-year hiatus. We hear the Super 400 cats were instrumental in convincing the Lugheads to give it another go, making this show something of a mutual admiration society. Get it while you can, as we also hear that this may be the end of Lughead’s brief second reign. (Aug. 3, 9 PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)

Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Club Helsinki, Friday

How many horn players can you fit on the Club Helsinki stage? The Dirty Dozen Brass Band will help answer that question on Friday when they drop by in support of last year’s critically acclaimed What’s Going On, a song-for-song reinvention of the socially conscious 1971 Marvin Gaye classic album. The legendary New Orleans-based group fashioned the album as a comment on the loss of much of their beloved hometown to Hurricane Katrina—and as an opportunity to work with guests like Chuck D., Bettye LaVette, G. Love, Ivan Neville and Guru. While none of those big names will be on hand, don’t expect the show to be without its highlights— the Dirty Dozen are renowned for their audience-invigorating potential. (Aug. 3, 9 PM, $25, 284 Main St., Great Barrington, Mass., 413-528-3394)

Michael Glabicki

Red Square, Saturday

While attending a show at Red Square recently, we were accosted by a very drunk, very earnest Rusted Root fan who implored us to pay attention to the music playing over the house stereo. “They’ve been my favorite band for 12 years!” she exclaimed. We were dumbfounded by the statement—if we still had the same favorite band as we did 12 years ago, you’d probably say “Porno for Pyros are still around?” But she made an impression, and so we paid attention, and damned if we didn’t hear some darn good tunes. The guy responsible for those darn good songs, Rusted Root nucleus Michael Glabicki, makes a solo stop at Red Square this Saturday. (Aug. 4, 9 PM, $10, 388 Broadway, Albany, 465-0444)

Alison Krauss and Union Station

TImes Union Center, Saturday

Alison Krauss and Union Station have been blending country crooning and bluegrass beats into their own karmic wave since 1989. An acclaimed solo artist in the industry, Krauss has 20 Grammy wins under her belt, a slew of which came from her collaborative works with Union Station. The band’s national tour continues into Albany on Saturday. Dobro aficionado Jerry Douglas has been a member of the band since 1998; Krauss deemed herself worthy of praise from us when she chose to lend her pipes to the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack with “Down to the River to Pray.” (August 4, 8 PM, $39.50-$59.50, Times Union Center, 51 S. Pearl St., Albany. 800-303-8368)

Between the Buried and Me

Revolution Hall, Sunday

“New wave polka grunge.” That is how members of Between the Buried and Me describe their forthcoming fourth album, Colors. As anyone who knows these manic metal-prog-heads can tell you, you shouldn’t assume anything about the band’s next release except that it will be heavy. Brutally heavy. Of course, in the middle of all that heavy their might be some crooning, a dance break, a nod to Frank Zappa, or the most beautiful guitar solo you have ever heard. And those surprises are what make this visit from BTBAM so welcome, as they are playing only a short tour before the release of Colors this fall. So the Capital Region should get an early peek at what the mad scientists of metal have been brewing in their laboratory. Along for the ride will be always-demanding and destructive Massachusetts-based band the Red Chord, Denver’s grindmasters Cephalic Carnage, and Canada’s dealers of dissonance the End. (Aug.5, 7 PM, $14, 425 River Street, Troy, 274-0553)

Family Values Tour

Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Tuesday

SPAC will play home to an other daylong, multi-stage music festival this week, as the Korn-led Family Values Tour touches down in conjunction with Channel 103.1 FM’s Big Day Out festival. Joining the nü-metal godfathers for this go-’round are a gaggle of single-named acts, including Flyleaf, Hellyeah, Trivium, and the much-loved Atreyu—oh, and multiplatinum cash cow Evanescence, who are surely the broadest draw of this tour, and the most out-of-place act on the bill. We can think of no other reason for their placement here than the inevitable re-creation of that MTV Unplugged version of “Freak on a Leash,” which, come to think of it, we actually kinda liked. We’ll see you there. (Aug. 7, 3 PM, $15.99-$65.50, Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs, 587-3330)

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