You've heard about Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz, but have you heard the one about Rush's 2112 and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? We suspect the kids in the emopop band Mae have: the first song on their Destination: Beautiful (Tooth & Nail) sounds suspiciously like "Pure Imagination" crossed with "A Passage to Bangkok," only way catchier. Like their former labelmates Juliana Theory, Mae are proof of how Dawson's Creek collapsed the chasm between the Justin Timberlakes and the Dashboard Confessionals of the world: the guitar player has heard a few Elliott records, but the singer's elocution sounds like the product of spinning early Michael Jackson in heavy rotation with U2 and the Smiths. And the production, just shy of orchestral, doesn't shy away from the polyurethane comfort zones of soft rock. Track 'em down at the Hawk's Nest (860-768-7800) in West Hartford on Monday and at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on Tuesday.

From the other side of the pond, English singer-songwriter David Gray makes his only area appearance at a sold-out Tsongas Arena (978-848-6900) in Lowell next Thursday, January 30. Meanwhile, Cork-to-Boston transplants Rubyhorse, who got their start playing U2-style rock as the house band at the Burren, finish up a year's worth of American touring behind their Universal debut, Rise, before heading back to Ireland, where the album was just released last week. Over here, they're at the Asylum (207-772-8274) in Portland on Friday; at Chantilly's (603-621-0330) in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday; and at the Paradise (617-423-NEXT) in Boston next Thursday, January 30.

There hasn't been a worse hit singer in hip-hop than Ja Rule since Biz Markie, but the man just can't help himself. Which probably has something to do with the fact that he can't turn around without bumping into the world's hottest R&B divas. No surprise, then, that he's out on tour with a couple of hip-hop's leading ladies -- that'd be Eve and Charlie Baltimore -- and that they'll all be at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA on Wednesday. At the other end of the hip-hop-singing spectrum, angel-voiced gangsters Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are out on tour with face-painted Insane Clown Posse hangers-on Twiztid; they hit the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester on Saturday. And indie-hip-hop star Sage Francis supports his new Makeshift Patriot EP with a national jaunt backed by Rhode Island funk-metal dudes Grüvis Malt, who also open. The "Live Band/Dead Poet" tour, as they're calling it, kicks off at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Saturday; they'll return to New England for dates in Northampton, MA and Boston in early March.