Roadtrips

For more than a year now, the irrepressible Mike Watt has been touring so incessantly to promote his rock opera Contemplating the Engine Room (Columbia) that he's burned through two guitar players and has guaranteed that anybody who cared to see it performed (as well as plenty of people who probably didn't care much one way or the other) did. So now Watt's "puttin' the opera to bed" with a final tour that has the bonus of featuring the return of guitarist Nils Cline, the avant-virtuoso who actually played on the album, as well as drummer Bob Lee. Catch it for the last times ever in New England at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on October 12, T.T. the Bear's Place (617-492-BEAR) in Cambridge on the 14th, and the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on the 15th.

DJ Spooky tones down his PhD-level ambient atmospherics and picks up the mantle of hip-hop -- his latest disc gets the highbrow/lowbrow award for guest spots by Thurston Moore and Killah Priest -- October 8 at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge and October 10 at the Met Café. Support for both gigs is provided by MTV-International staples Plastilina Mosh and MTV Video Music Awards visual scramblers Emergency Broadcast Network. A Tribe Called Quest try to recapture the energy of hip-hop crossover at the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester on October 10. Combustible Edison tune in to the tomorrow sounds of yesterday with record-release parties for their new, DJ Scanner-produced album The Impossible World (Sub Pop) at the Century Lounge (401-751-2255) in Providence on October 9 and at the Chau Chow City Ballroom (617-338-8158) in Boston's Chinatown on October 16.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen: the "Popular" guys, Nada Surf, hit Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton on October 14 and T.T. the Bear's Place on the 17th, both with Boston garage-pop heavies the Gravel Pit. Oh, how mighty are the mediocre: Better Than Ezra are an American bland at Avalon (617-262-2424) in Boston on October 8 and at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence the following night.

You can see legendary Television guy Tom Verlaine stretching out on an extra-long couch in one of Michael Stipe's photos at Boston's Photographic Resource Center (617-353-0700). Or you can see Verlaine and musical foil Jimmy Ripp stretch out improvisationally at the Middle East on October 14 and at the Iron Horse on the 15th.

Even though we've never been completely blown away by the Amazing Crowns (formerly "Royal"), we've gotta give 'em big-ups for their exquisite taste in source material. They do a suitably raucous version of the classic Screamin' Jay Hawkins shout-'em-up "Little Demon" on Halloween Hootenanny, the monsterific comp on Rob Zombie's Zombie-a-Go-Go label. Perhaps they'll drag it out October 9 at Karma Club (617-421-9595) in Boston, or at Lupo's the following night.

-- CC