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3
Mo’ Divas
Proctors
Theatre, Thursday
First, there was the Three Tenors. Then, Three Mo’ Tenors.
And, let’s not forget, the Three Irish Tenors. Tonight at
Proctors, we leave the tenors behind for 3 Mo’ Divas. (You
were expecting maybe Lend Me 3 Mo’ Tenors?) The divas are
Gretha Boston, Devonna Lawrence and Jamet Pittman. Each has
an extensive musical background in “opera, Broadway, jazz,
blues, soul, R&B, spirituals, gospel.” What you’ll see
this Valentine’s Day, then, is a genre-busting, virtuosic
vocal extravaganza. From Bessie Smith and Cab Calloway to
Bach and Beyoncé, this show, the producers promise, will have
something for all. (Feb. 14, 8 PM, $27-$40, 432 State St.,
Schenectady, 346-6204)
The
Great Snowball Tour
Upstate
Artists Guild, Saturday
The folks at Albany Sonic Arts Collective present the Great
Snowball Tour, so dubbed because “as the snowball rolls around
the East Coast it picks up players who then melt off, and
new additions are joined.” The collective is dedicated to
building a music and sonic art community that “exists outside
of traditional boundaries,” and the Snowball Tour, with its
shifting collaboration of interdisciplinary free improvisation,
is just that. Artists rolling into Albany include improvisational
sax player Jack Wright; Berlin-based experimental musician
Andrea Neumann (on her self-designed innenklavier); local
composer and sound and visual artist Michael T. Bulloch; Alex
Chechile, who performs music on homemade biofeedback systems
to explore the relationship between human physiology and musical
creation; and California-based improviser and sound and video
artist Jefferson Pitcher, who primarily recreates an amalgam
of sounds—birds, boats, engines, whales—on the electric guitar.
All rolled into a single “sonic experiment.” (Feb.16, 7:30
PM, $5 suggested donation, 247 Lark St., Albany, 426-3501)
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Musiq
Soulchild |
Musiq
Soulchild, Angie Stone
Empire
State Plaza Convention Center, Saturday
The New York Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators
will hold its 37th annual legislative conference this weekend
in Albany, and will bring in two of neo-soul’s finest to help
shake off the boardroom blues on Saturday night. Philadelphia
native Musiq Soulchild has experienced a great ride thus far—the
self-proclaimed “soulstar” sold half a million copies of his
fourth album (Luvanmusiq) and picked up three R&B
Grammy nominations to cap a very good 2007. He shares the
stage with fellow 2008 Grammy nominee Angie Stone on Saturday.
Stone currently can be heard weekly on the CW network as the
voice of the theme song for Girlfriends. If you’re
in the mood for a good slow jam, this should hit the spot—and
you know what spot we’re talking about. (Feb. 16, 8 PM,
$50, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 473-1845)
Carrie
Underwood
Times
Union Center, Tuesday
Speaking of Grammy winners, Carrie Underwood rolls into town
this week, fresh off two Grammy wins for the hit “Before He
Cheats,” for Best Country Female Vocal Performance and Best
Country Song. (We know the latter is a songwriters’ award,
but we choose to love the singer and the song equally.) For
anyone who caught the show, however, this Tuesday’s show might
be a bit of a letdown . . . or not: Word is that the trash-percussion
ensemble that backed the American Idol champ on her
performance of the song for the telecast are not following
her on tour. Which is too bad, as they did such an admirable
job of illustrating the headlight-bashing and tire-slashing
of the song’s protagonist. You might want to smash something,
too, when you hear this next bit: The show’s done gone and
sold out. (Feb. 19, 7:30 PM, sold out, 51 S. Pearl St.,
Albany, 800-30-EVENT)
The
Frantic, One Small Step for Landmines
Valentine’s,
Wednesday
Straightforward pop-punk with, dare we say, an emo sheen will
be brought to Valentine’s this Wednesday. The Frantic deliver
fairly straightforward whoa-whoa-whoa punk anthems, minus
the extreme whine and mascara-thick posturing of their peers.
They also do a take on the oft-covered ’60s pop tune “Build
Me Up Buttercup,” so there’s that. Snappy, cutesy punksters
One Small Step for Landmines will open the show. According
to Punknews.org, what the band lack in originality they make
up for in potential: The Web site said of the band, “If anyone
were to deny the band’s potential, however, they’d be dead
wrong.” Sounds like a threat to us. Two of the area’s own
pop-punk favorites—the Loyalty and Graystar—are scheduled
to open. (Feb. 20, 6 PM, $10, 17 New Scotland Ave. Albany,
432-6572)
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Noted |
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Ollabelle
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Feel
the love with Karla Bonoff tonight (Thursday)
at the Egg (7:30 PM, $26, 473-1845). . . . Sean
Rowe plays for the lovers tonight at Tess’
Lark Tavern (8 PM, free, 463-9779). . . . Folk-jazz-klezmer
duo Addie & Olin bring their humor-
and music-filled Valentine’s Day show to the Noteworthy
Coffeehouse at Conkling Hall in Rensselaerville
tomorrow (Friday, 8 PM, $10, 797-3459). . . .
On a different note, the R&B of yesteryear
comes to life at the 2nd Annual Valentine’s Soul
Jam at the Palace Theatre on Friday; the Stylistics,
the Delfonics, the Emotions and
Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes are scheduled
to perform (8 PM, $32.50-$42.50, 465-3334). .
. . Varnaline engine driver Anders Parker
swings through Valentine’s on Friday, with help
from Ashley Pond and knotworking
(9 PM, $7, 432-6572). . . . The 4th Annual Laugh
and Rock fundraiser for Cerebral Palsy is this
Saturday at the Watervliet Elks Lodge; the Bluz
House Rockers will provide the “rock” part
of the equation (8 PM, $20, 273-9878). . . . John
Hiatt and Lyle Lovett team up for a
show at the Egg on Saturday, though you’re S.O.L.
if you don’t have tickets yet ’cause it’s sold
out (8 PM, 473-1845). . . . Alternative world-music
ensemble HuDost will perform at the Kripalu
Yoga Center in Stockbridge, Mass., on Saturday
(7:30 PM, $15, 866-200-5203). . . . At the Helm:
Roots-music denizens Ollabelle, featuring
Amy Helm, daughter of the Band great Levon Helm,
play the Alt-Cabaret at MASS MoCA in North Adams,
Mass., on Saturday (8 PM, $18, 413-662-2111).
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