Roadtrips

Old-school hardcore fanatics have a dream bill in store on Friday at the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester, where the original Bad Brains line-up -- for legal reasons now calling themselves Soul Brains -- team up with NYC monsters the Cro-Mags, new-school jazzcore eclectics Candiria, and Killswitch Engage. The Palladium has added on a simpático bill in the upstairs room that will end just before the Cro-Mags go on; that's got Bane, American Nightmare, the Nerve Agents, Right Brigade, and Shark Attack. Meanwhile, funk-punk legends Fishbone -- whose influence is still felt in the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Primus -- have regrouped for a tour that brings them to Pearl Street (413-584-7771) in Northampton on Sunday; to Harpers Ferry (617-254-9743) in Allston on Monday; and to Toad's Place (203-624-8623) in New Haven on Tuesday. Perhaps the coolest band to emerge from the ska revival, the Slackers continue to offer up a mixture of traditional rock-steady with deep soul roots and a genre-bending flair that admits hard-fighting rhythm and blues, bare-knuckle country, and tireless pop into the reggae/ska/punk inner sanctum. They're at Bill's Bar (617-421-9678) in Boston for a two-night stand tonight (June 7) and tomorrow.

Sibling rivalry and love for classic rock conspire to bring the Stonesy Black Crowes, the Beatlesque Oasis, and the glam-happy Spacehog together (all three outfits boast a pair of brothers) on a bill that hits the Tweeter Center (617-931-2000) in Mansfield on Monday. Elsewhere in arena rock: the sold-out U2/PJ Harvey spectacular continues at the FleetCenter (617-931-2000) on Friday and Saturday, after which Eric Clapton hits the Fleet for a pair of sold-out dates on Monday and Tuesday.

The 11th annual Stonehill Irish Festival offers up a weekend of dancing, authors, and most of all music, with a line-up including Dé Dannan, Riverdance's Eileen Ivers, Delores Keane, the Prodigals, fiddle champ Seamus Connolly, and Paddy Reilly, Friday through Sunday on the grounds of Stonehill College (888-GO-IRISH) in Easton.

Maine's Rustic Overtones are finally getting around to releasing their star-studded Viva Nueva (on Tommy Boy, though the band were originally signed to Arista, which released a 1999 EP), with guest spots by David Bowie, Funkmaster Flex, and Imogen Heap. Following a two-night stand at the Paradise in Boston last week, the Overtones play a series of CD-release parties this week: the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence tonight (June 7) with Fighting Gravity, the Clarks, and Gruvis Malt; Pearl Street Friday with 6gig; and the State Theater (207-775-3331) in Portland Saturday with 6gig, Gruvis Malt, and Jeremiah Freed.

On the advance-warning front: the State Theater has confirmed a June 30 date by Wu-Tang mastermind RZA in his solo sci-fi alter ego Bobby Digital; he's mounting a tour code-named "Digital Bullet" that will feature Wu second-stringers the Wu-Tang Killer Bees, Killarmy, Black Knights, and Shahiem the Man Child. The tour is also scheduled to play the Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Winooski, Vermont, on July 1; no other New England dates are scheduled.
-- Carly Carioli