Roadtrips

Invisibl-Skratch-Pikl-turned-fourth-Beastie Mix Master Mike heats up the decks on a tour with Roots-MC-turned-solo-beatbox-revivalist Rahzel that hopscotches across New England this week; they're at Bowdoin College (207-725-3375) in Maine on April 15; at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on April 19; at Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton on April 23; and at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on April 25. They're also among the main attractions at a couple of supershows: on April 22, the Connecticut Expo Center (860-586-1152) in Hartford hosts an all-night rave-type-thing with Mix Master Mike and Rahzel alongside drum 'n' bass hottie DJ Rap, Frankie Bones, Dave Ralph, and lots more. And on April 26, Bumstock Field (yep, that's what it's called) at the University of Maine at Orono (800-477-6849) hosts Mix Master Mike, Rahzel, Choclair, the Outsidaz, and the touring duo of Method Man and Redman, along with Meth's Wu-Tang buddy Ghostface Killah. Meth and Red are also at the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester on April 22.

Former Grateful Dead dude Bob Weir -- following in the footsteps of fellow ex-Dead dude Phil Lesh's four-night sold-out stand at the Orpheum -- is on a tour with long-time Lou Reed sideman Rob Wasserman that hits Harvard's Sanders Theatre (617-931-2000) in Cambridge on April 16 (a benefit for a Massachusetts "Farm School" for inner-city kids) and the State Theater (603-225-1111) in Portland, Maine, on April 19. The Cuban dance band supergroup that started it all, Sierra Maestra bandleader Jesús Alemañy's Cubanismo, returns to the Roxy (617-876-4275) in Boston on April 16 and to Pearl Street on April 19. Unrest's Mark Robinson may not have started the whole indie thing, but he had a big hand in it; he's on tour with the singer/songwriter Lois, and they're both at the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on April 13 and the Middle East on April 17.

The Violent Femmes are at Avalon (617-423-NEXT) in Boston on April 15 and at Lupo's on April 16. Then there's the "new" Veruca Salt, who broke up in '98 following their finest album, Eight Arms To Hold You. After the divorce, Nina Gordon split for Maui with drummer Stacy Jones -- and a bunch of Jones's old bandmates in Letters to Cleo -- for sessions with Metallica producer Bob Rock that, more a year later, have yet to be released. Meanwhile Louise Post kept the name and recorded a new disc, Resolver (apparently she's a Beatles fan or something), with help from a couple of guys who used to be in Filter. Now Post's put together a band to open for, well, the guys who are still in Filter, and they'll all be at the Palladium on April 18.
-- Carly Carioli