Having made their point, ominous neo-prog-metal conjurers Tool have stopped torturing their audiences with old-school prog dinosaurs King Crimson as their opening act; instead, Maynard and company are bringing along former Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton's avant-metal outfit Fantomas, whose latest disc is a noisy dismantling of famous movie soundtracks. Tool and Fantomas tackle the Cumberland County Civic Center (207-775-3458) in Portland tonight (Thursday); a sold-out Tweeter Center (617-931-2000) in Mansfield on Friday; and the Hartford Civic Center (860-525-4500) on Saturday.

As comforting as an old sweater (song), the unassuming kings of geek pop, Weezer, headline the Tweeter Center on Tuesday in support of their hard-rocking homonymous "Green Album." As befits a band who have rediscovered the joys of crunchy riffs (as on their hit single "Hash Pipe"), they're touring with the metal bands Cold and Start. They will, however, be without the talents of bassist and Brookline native Mike Welsh, who's been temporarily replaced while he deals with an undisclosed psychiatric condition. Let's hope the Jiggaman, Jay-Z, won't be dealing with any legal conditions -- such as having to answer assault charges in court -- when he brings his Roc-A-Fella Family to the Worcester Palladium (800-477-6849) tonight (Thursday 20) in support of his new Blueprint (Def Jam).

This weekend college-radio station WUMB presents its fourth annual Boston Folk Festival, a two-day multi-stage jamboree on the campus of UMass-Boston (617-287-6911) featuring Marcia Ball, Rosie Flores, Vance Gilbert, Jim Lauderdale, Bill Morrissey, Chris Smither, Taproot, and more on Saturday and Altan, the Holmes Brothers, Livingston Taylor, and many more on Sunday. You can also catch a few warm-up gigs on Friday: Morrissey is at the Wachusett Folk Café (978-632-2403) in Gardner; Smither is at the Camden Opera House (207-236-7963) in Camden, Maine; and Altan are at the Iron Horse Music Hall (413-586-8686) in Northampton.

He ain't playing the Boston Folk Fest, but revered singer/songwriter John Prine is in New England this week; we still like to spin his '99 masterpiece In Spite of Ourselves when the Merle Haggard records wear thin. Prine's at the Flynn Theatre (802-863-5966) in Burlington, Vermont, on Friday and at the Calvin Theatre (413-584-1444) in Northampton on Saturday. And the Kinks' Ray Davies is billing himself as the "original" storyteller for a songs-and-stories tour that brings him to the State Theatre (207-780-8265) in Portland on Friday; to Sanders Theatre (617-496-2222) at Harvard University on Saturday; and to the Capitol Center (603-225-1111) in Concord, New Hampshire, on Sunday.