The Weekly Nod
by Gabe - October 30, 2008 9:14am
You would think with all the business The Palladium does that over the years someone in the North Main St. neighborhood would have figured out how to create some spin off. After one year of living in downtown Worcester one of things that has become obvious to me is that when there is a show at the Palladium those kids are in our city early and sometimes spend the whole day here, aimlessly wandering our downtown looking for something to do and some place to go. I remember the, long since closed, Espresso Bar on James St. and the recently departed Java Hut in Webster Sq. and I wonder what some sort of spawn of those two legendary Worcester establishments would add to North Main Street. That’s quite a few kids with not much to do 3 to 4 nights a week. Ah, to only have investors! Well… until then I will have to get by on truck driver supervision and Real Worcester.com slave wages. Here’s a few great shows worth checking out this week:
The Roots have become one of the few rap groups out there to develop a long lasting and consistently vital career in the music business, and all by shunning the normally expected poses of mainstream rap like sampled and prerecorded music. From the beginning The Roots have always been a full live band. Releasing their first album in 1993, 15 years later they are still putting out fresh and innovative music as displayed by this year’s outstanding Rising Down. The Roots roll into town to support their new album at the Palladium on Thursday. Joining them are Gym Class Heroes and Estelle.
There are few bigger traditions in Worcester than the Deadites Halloween show at the Lucky Dog Music Hall. The Deadites have always been more of an extrasensory experience than a rock show and this year should be no different. There is only one place to be in Worcester this Friday and that is getting down with the dead, the rad, and the funky at the Lucky Dog. Also on the bill are Colorblind and Nytmare, who you won’t want to miss.
If it had been Bob Dylan, and not Paul Simon, whose songs had been overwhelmingly influenced by African music the result might have sounded very much like African folk musician Tony Bird.
From All Music, “Tony Bird was effecting a mixture of modern Western musical styles with traditional African ones ten years before Paul Simon was ever heard on mbaqanga.” Tony released two albums on Columbia in the 70’s that went largely unnoticed, but the sounds he was creating on those records can be heard on much of Paul Simon’s work in the 80’s and all the way up to current acts such as Vampire Weekend. Tony Bird plays the Green Rooster Coffee House on Saturday.
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