Savage Nursery

As the title, Savage Nursery, would indicate, puppeteer Erin Eager’s work is a far cry from King Friday and Daniel Striped Tiger. This is an entirely different and darker zip code in the Land of Make Believe.

In Savage Nursery, this Henson Foundation grant winner explores the ways in which “identity is shaped and revealed by hunger, cruelty, loneliness and resilience in the face of lost love.” By depicting the struggle of a bird-woman to care for her still-nested fledgelings, and the assertiveness of one rebellious young bird, Eager creates a richly allusive tableau of threat and existential striving. She utilizes a number of different puppeteering styles—shadow, Japanese bunrako rod style, and hand puppetry—to evoke an air of mystery and poetry.

Savage Nursery will be performed at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, Mass.) tomorrow (Friday, April 9). Tickets for the 8 PM show are $12 advance, $15 door. For more information, call (413) 662-2111.

The Crystal Method

Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland—collectively known as the Crystal Method—have been making music together on-and-off for the better part of two decades, but it wasn’t until 1997’s Vegas and, especially, the single “Trip Like I Do” (a collaboration with alt-rock howlers Filter) that they came to national attention. The success of that single, which combined electronic breakbeats and synthesizers with hard-edged guitar riffs and modern-rock vocals, almost unintentionally created the blueprint for the Method’s career—a career in which they have sold more than a million and a half records and become the United States’ premier electronic band.

While they’re often lumped in with such U.K. contemporaries as the Chemical Brothers, the Crystal Method stake their own claim by incorporating live instrumentation and a just a little bit of old-school industrial chaos into their big-beat fantasia, creating a flashy, party-anthem-heavy sea of neon and decadence that proves Las Vegas to be more than just a hometown for Jordan and Kirkland. Their latest LP, Legion of Boom, features guest spots from Wes Borland (ex-Limp Bizkit), John Garcia (ex-Kyuss), and singer-actress-model Milla Jovovich, who lends her folky whisper to “I Know It’s You.”

The Crystal Method will bring their Legion of Boom tour to Saratoga Winners (Route 9, Latham) this Sunday night (April 11). DJ Hyper and Alchemy Live will open the 7 PM show. Tickets are $20. For more information, call the club at 783-1010.

A Day of Local Independent Films

If you’re in a movie mood, and can’t decide between remakes of The Ladykillers, Starsky and Hutch, or the two competing films of the life of Jesus Christ, why not try something new?

Avoid ye the multiplex, and get thee to Schenectady County Community College this Saturday for an afternoon of short, locally produced independent films. Some of the films were directed by familiar local filmmakers like Jeff Burns, David Bunce and Terry Field (of Super Video fame). Some were directed by ambitious, aspiring directors from local high schools. All films have a running time between 10 and 20 minutes. None will star Ben Affleck. All are worth a look.

The program will begin at noon on Saturday (April 10) at Schenectady County Community College’s Carl B. Taylor Auditorium (78 Washington Ave., Schenectady). Admission is free. For more information, call 381-1231.