Music Tonight: Locally-bred guitar superhero Adrian Belew is back in his homestate for a special gig at the Southgate House in Newport. Belew shows are always amazing, but tonight's performance is part of the Two of a Perfect Trio tour, which teams the Adrian Belew Power Trio with Stick Men, featuring Belew's mates from King Crimson, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto. It'll be a night of Prog Pop and Rock as the Stick Men open things up at 8:30 p.m. with their explorations on Chapman Stick (the bass-like instrument Levin helped popularize), acoustic/electronic percussion and Markus Reuter' homemade "touch guitar" work. After Belew's set with his trio, the two ensembles will join forces for the "Crim-centric" encore, running through their favorite King Crimson compositions. The show is open to all ages; admission is $22. Below, check out a great retrospective documentary about Belew covering his entire career, narrated by the Twang Bar King himself. —-
• Tampa-bred Metal crew Underoath roars into Covington's Radiodown this evening, in support of its latest album, Disambiguation. The constantly evolving group spoke to CityBeat's Brian Baker this week about their endless musical curiosity and how they've moved beyond the "Christian Metal" tag after membership turnover resulted in a band with much more varied spiritual beliefs. Tonight's all-ages show also features Comeback Kid, The Chariot and This Is Hell. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; admission is $18. Here's Underoath's latest video, for the track "Paper Lung."
• Labelmates Arbouretum and Eternal Tapestry bring the Psych to MOTR Pub tonight for a free show, supporting their most recent releases for Thrill Jockey Records. Eternal Tapestry comes from Portland sporting a sound Thrill Jockey calls "Pink Floyd slowly crashing into Popol Vuh," while Arbouretum comes straight outta Baltimore with a somber, trippy Psych Folk vibe. Below, enjoy Eternal Tapestry's video for the track "Galactic Derelict" from their Thrill Jockey debut, Beyond the 4th Door, and Arbouretum's Dave Heumann performing the song "When Delivery Comes" from his band's 2011 release, The Gathering.
Eternal Tapestry - Galactic Derelict from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
(Leave your suggestions/promote yourself or your favorites by telling everyone about your favorite music event recommendations for the day in the comments below.)
Momentous Happenings in Music History for October 6
When old people tell you music used to be better back in their day, tell them this. On this day in 1976, novelty tune "Disco Duck," by goofball radio DJ Rick Dees, received a Gold record for sales. It became the fourth single in music history to earn a Platinum record (the first was "Disco Lady") a few months later. Platinum certification then (when it was first introduced) was awarded to singles that sold over 2 million copies (its now 1 million, like it is for albums). Besides topping the singles chart, "Disco Duck" also did well on the "Hot Soul Singles" chart. Which is an insult to not only every legit Soul artist ever, but also the spiritual concept of a soul. And soul food, for that matter. Here's Dees and His Cast of Idiots doin' "Duck" on Midnight Special the year it was a huge hit. Wow. Just … wow.
Born This Day Musical movers and shakers sharing a Oct. 6 birthday include:
Thomas McClary of The Commodores (1950); REO Speedwagon crooner Kevin Cronin (1951); David Hidalgo of Los Lobos (1954); Pop Rock hero Matthew Sweet (1964); and Jamaican singer Millie Small (1946).
Small's 1964 smash "My Boy Lollipop" was big in the U.S. and U.K., the first "Bluebeat" hit (a precursor to Reggae and cousin to Ska) and the first big hit for Island Records' Chris Blackwell (it came out on Fontana for financial reasons). It also spawned a great cover by Bad Manners, one of the underrated acts from the British Ska revival of the ’70s. Check out both below.
