Roadtrips

What with the demise of the Strand in Providence and the usual post-New Year's dearth of touring bands, 1998 gets off to a somewhat less-than-auspicious beginning on the road. But as hangover cures go, you could do worse than NYC ska originals the Toasters, who'll be at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on January 3 for an early-evening all-ages show with Racketball, the Decepticonz, Gol Go 13, and Overhead. Then they'll reconvene at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge the following night for another all-ages fest with Thumper and New Hampshire's Brass Monkeys. Livingston Taylor, James' second-tier folkie brother, plays two nights, January 2 and 3, at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton, both with Kevin So. And a bill featuring bands with members of Barenaked Ladies -- the Brothers Creeggan with Kevin Hearn and Thinbuckle -- plays the Iron Horse on January 8 and T.T. the Bear's Place (617-492-BEAR) in Cambridge on the 9th.

Garage-punk legends ? and the Mysterians are back and, reportedly, as good as they ever were. Back when "96 Tears" made 'em overnight sensations, most of them were still in high school. Farfisa maestro Frank Rodriguez made headlines in his hometown when he used some of his newly-acquired wealth to buy a Cadillac -- before he was even old enough to drive! "The thing that freaks me out," says guitarist Bobby Balderama, who had to go back to school to get his GED after the Mysterians broke up, "is that in the '70s, when I was playing in bar bands on the weekends and working, and all these bands from the '70s were hitting it big, I'd find out that they were older than me!" Now old enough to drive, and widely acknowledged as the forefathers of the Stooges, the original band comes to the Middle East on January 8 with the Fleshtones and the Lyres, and to the Met CafŽ (401-861-2142) in Providence on January 10 with the Lyres, the Swingin' Neckbreakers (who'll be at the Middle East on January 9), and the Mr. Rogers Project (who headline their own show at the Met on the first of the year with Double Nuthins).

-- CC