Roadtrips

A startling mixture of the sacred and profane, the Brazilian contralto Virginia Rodrigues can float ethereal hymns over a string section or give body to the exuberant carnival chants of her native Bahia. Rodrigues is at the Somerville Theatre (617-876-4275) on April 8 and at the State Street Church (207-761-1545) in Portland, Maine, on April 9. In the wake of the success of Catie Curtis's A Crash Course in Roses (a "folk-rock goddess" according to the New Yorker), Rykodisc is re-releasing the Cambridge singer/songwriter's first two albums and sending her on the road. She's at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton tonight (April 6), then goes to Providence to open for Tracy Chapman at Meehan Auditorium (800-488-1000) tomorrow (April 7). In barely related deity news, jazz goddess Diana Krall plays a one-off at the Calvin Theatre (413-586-8686) in Northampton on April 8.

Chicago lads the Alkaline Trio do caffeinated punk pop without that starchy Blink-182 aftertaste -- think Samiam with the faintest hint of early U2 -- on their new Maybe I'll Catch Fire (Asian Man). They're at the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on April 11 and the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on April 12.

We here at 126 Brookline Avenue are all too intimate with opening day on Yawkey Way: traffic gridlock, $25 parking, the smell of grease, sweat, and stale beer, the percolating sounds of a Berklee fusion trio playing '70s covers in front of Boston Billiards. It's the last one that really makes our blood boil, but if MTV is to be believed, the tunes may be a little better this year: word has it the Fenway jumbotron will be premiering the video for "So Sad To Say," the first single off the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' new Pay Attention (due May 2 on Island/Def Jam). The home opener, April 11 against the Twins, is sold out (good seats are usually available through the "ticket agents" milling on the corner of Brookline and Comm Ave), but one can usually make out the screen from a position near the corner of Brookline Avenue and Lansdowne Street. And you can catch the Bosstones in person at the Costello Sports Complex at the University of Southern Maine at Gorham (207-780-5155) on April 14.

Brandeis University (781-529-5242) in Waltham hosts the "Great Horned Festival," which has something to do with a tortured exiled Tibetan -- never a good sign -- and music by Run D.M.C., Less Than Jake, and the still Natalie Merchant-less 10,000 Maniacs. And if you've got friends at Bridgewater State University (508-531-1000), you might want to give 'em a ring. Past participants in the Spitfire Tour -- which brings together rocker types and activists on a speaking-engagement swing that travels to colleges -- have included Rage Against the Machine's Zack de la Rocha (who co-founded the tour) and Jello Biafra; the version that hits Bridgewater State on April 13 offers Michael Franti (Spearhead/Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy) speaking on "Staying Human" (uh . . . okay, dude, you too), X's Exene Cervenka on "Society's Toll on the Individual," and Moon Unit Zappa on "The Flaws of Gravity." It's free, but open only to students "and their guests."
-- Carly Carioli