Roadtrips

It's a landmark of sorts in Christian metal -- we're not sure even the mighty Stryper ever pulled off such a balancing of the sacred and profane. We're talking about spiritual So Cal nü-core heavies P.O.D., whom you may have seen last weekend tearing shit up at Ozzfest alongside such heretics, pagans, and heathens as Godsmack, Pantera, and the fiendish madman himself, Ozzy Osbourne. But it's out of Satan's frying pan and into God's pews this weekend, as P.O.D. co-headline the Inside Out Soul Festival, a cavalcade of such church-sanctioned sop as Steven Curtis Chapman and the Newsboys! The three-day fest/retreat at Loon Mountain (978-346-4577) in New Hampshire runs August 3 through 6 and also features ska-punk saviors the Supertones. File under: Jesus saves, but Ozzy pays.

Not to worry -- you don't hafta mosh in the Lord's pit to get your metal fix this week. The attending of Iron Maiden concerts by self-described teenage dirtbags happens to be the subject of a song currently assaulting modern-pop radio, so it's sure to be all over the dial on August 5 when Maiden hit the Tweeter Center (617-931-2000) in Mansfield with Queensrÿche and former Judas Priest singer Rob Halford's new band Halford. Meanwhile, the Salisbury Beach Club and Café (978-465-8283) hosts an even more infernal mini-metalfest this weekend. The festivities kick off on August 4 with lovable castrato synth-metal joker King Diamond, Shadows Fall, Babylon Whores, and the Deep; it all goes underground on the afternoon of August 5 with extreme noise terror by Today Is the Day, Dissociate, and Cattlepress before concluding on August 6 with new-school dudes Ultraspank. You can also catch Ultraspank at the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester on August 5; they'll be joined by yet another Inside Out Soul Fest band seeking refuge in the secular world, the very P.O.D.-ish Project 86. King Diamond will be at the Station (401-823-4660) in West Warwick, Rhode Island on August 7. And to top off the perfect weekend of death rock, try the reformed version of the Misfits, who headline Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on August 8.

If you're unwilling to sit through umpteen hours of the Newport Folk Festival (401-847-3700) just to catch Willie Nelson on August 5, be aware that Willie and his fam play headlining gigs on August 8 at the Calvin Theatre (413-586-8686) in Northampton and on August 9 at the Cape Cod Melody Tent (508-775-9100) in Hyannis. Dave Davies does the Kinks-retrospective thing at the Sit N' Bull Pub (978-897-7232) in Maynard on August 9, 10, and 12. And Aussie hard-rock gods AC/DC play a sold-out gig at the FleetCenter (617-931-2000) in Boston on August 8.
-- Carly Carioli