Roadtrips

It'll be interesting to see what fans of the Indigo Girls make of their opening band the Butchies, a trio led by Kaia Wilson, whose old band Team Dresch were, before Sleater-Kinney came along, widely considered the finest post-riot-grrl punk band in the land. Wilson's big on dyke activism -- witness her Mr. Lady video-and-record label -- but will Indigos lovers have the stomach for the Butchies, whose loud and snarling rock mostly hews closer to Dresch's aggression than to the folkie side of things? Find out at the Tsongas Arena (401-331-2211) in Lowell this Wednesday, October 6. And while we're on the subject of women's voices, that's what's in store at Veteran's Memorial Auditorium (800-233-3123) in Providence on October 2, when Judy Collins, Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert, Linda Tillery, and Dar Williams gather for a benefit concert in celebration of the Women's Center of Rhode Island's 25th anniversary. Williams finds her way back to Cambridge on October 17, when she plays a similar benefit concert -- celebrating the 15th anniversary of the MIT Women's Studies Program -- at MIT's Kresge Auditorium (401-331-2211) along with the Nield Sisters.

Eighties revivalism continues with Aussies the Church returning for gigs at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on October 2 and at the Paradise (617-423-NEXT) in Boston, with locals Baby Ray, on October 3. Lupo's also hosts a 25th-anniversary concert by the Talking Heads spinoff Tom Tom Club on October 1. And though Ozzy Osbourne's been enjoying a revival, his post-Randy Rhodes axman, Zakk Wylde, is still playing venues like the Station (401-823-4660) in West Warwick, Rhode Island, where he's booked on October 7.

Philadelphia underground hip-hop abstractionists Jedi Mind Tricks, whose "Heavenly Divine" 12-inch has been rocking our turntable, show up for an all-ages gig at the Ocean Mist (401-782-3740) in Matunuck, Rhode Island, on October 1. Rahzel, the Godfather of Noyze, until recently known simply as one of the Roots, continues his one-man beatbox crusade with gigs at Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton on September 30 and at Lupo's on October 3.

After a spat of bad weather during a few key weekends was followed by pink slips courtesy of the local zoning board, it looked as if 1998's edition of Spooky World (978-838-0200) might be its last. But the horror theme park, an annual tradition in Halloween camp, has been revived with a scaled-back schedule at a new location "deep in the woods" adjacent to Foxboro Stadium in on Route 1 in Foxboro. On tap is the usual assortment of teenage ghouls, haunted hayrides, plywood funhouses, and memorabilia museums, plus visits from Z-grade starlets. Spooky World is open from 6 to 11 p.m. Fridays through Sundays in October. The three-year-old Factory of Terror (www.factoryofterror.com) in Fall River can't compete for size -- it's a single, 30-room haunted house in a converted factory -- but it's open every night from now through Halloween starting at 6 p.m.
-- Carly Carioli