Roadtrips

Nowhere will the resurgence of heavy metal be more apparent than at this week's two New England Ozzfest dates, July 7 and 9 at Great Woods (617-423-NEXT) in Mansfield, the first of which is sold out. Featured will be a Sabbath-less Ozzy as well as Tool, Megadeth, and Limp Bizkit, plus a second stage stocked with the brutalizing Melvins (who have a new live EP out on Amphetamine Reptile) and Rhode Island's Kilgore, whose major-label debut is in stores. The day off between Ozzfest dates -- which straddle the Spice Girls on July 8 -- means one-off gigs. What chance that Geri Spice might be replaced on stage, for one night only, by Ozzy Osbourne, a/k/a Geriatric Spice? Only their managers know. One thing's for sure: Maynard James Keenan will not be a Spice, because on July 8 Tool and the Melvins hike up north to the Central Maine Civic Center (207-783-2009). Meanwhile, on that same day Megadeth opt for a free, all-ages, acoustic performance from 2 to 4 p.m. (which will likely be broken into two separately seated sets) at the Hard Rock Café (617-353-1400). And after the circus leaves town, main-stagers Coal Chamber and Sevendust will join forces with Life of Agony, Drain, and Ultraspank for a show at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine (call 617-423-NEXT for tickets) on July 10.

Chicago's Joan of Arc -- formed out of the ashes of obscure indie-punk heroes Cap'n Jazz -- have remained a cut above the usual emocore pack with a deft, breezy take on the kind of mostly instrumental post-rock emissions usually found in the Windy City. And their renegade electronic sensibility -- weird test-pattern tones, elements of sonic disintegration and reintegration -- makes them a band to watch. See 'em at the Elvis Room (603-436-9189) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on July 9 and at the Space (508-753-0017) in Worcester on July 10, both with Rainer Maria.

The father of hip-hop visionary Nas, the avant-garde cornettist turned acclaimed bandleader Olu Dara, is at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on July 6. He also opens for blues guy Jimmie Vaughan at the Roxy (617-338-7699) in Boston on July 8, and at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) on July 9. And Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra kick off a summer-long concert series at the Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre (413-733-2500) in Lenox on July 5.

-- Carly Carioli