Roadtrips

Halloween, as everyone seems to opine, is looking like a dress rehearsal for the big ought-ought New Year's parties, so it's not surprising to see old acquaintances crawling out of the woodwork for haunted happenings. The Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester is just getting around to hosting a "back to school" show -- just in time for midterms -- but for the October 30 afternoon throwdown it's booked a bunch of bands who can be both brutal and bookish, like Mass artcore vets Converge, Boy Sets Fire, Bane, throwbacks-to-old-school-Boston-hardcore kids Reach the Sky (who have a disc out on Victory), Dillinger Escape Plan (chaotic enough to catch the eye of Mr. Bungle on their last sweep of the country), Right Brigade, and In Truth. Meanwhile, in Providence on October 30, the Met Café (401-861-2142) hosts the only New England appearance by Tokyo trash-punk geniuses Guitar Wolf, who take Johnny Thunders, the Ramones, and Link Wray to drive-in B-movie excess. And Providence is also the closest you'll come to a performance by Slaves, an outfit formed out of the ashes of San Francisco's VSS. The band's debut, Devil's Pleasures (Troubleman Unlimited), is one of the coolest we've heard all year -- think early Bad Seeds-era Nick Cave and a pinch of Bleach-era Nirvana filtered through the creepy-cool Vox-driven garage-band aesthetic of the Make-Up or the very early Misfits, though nearly every song on the disc suggests some distinct and equally esoteric description, so we'll shut up and tell you it's worth the drive. They're at AS220 (401-831-9327) in Providence on October 30.

More punk is in store on Halloween proper, as aging old-school legends Agnostic Front choose to escape from NYC and set up shop at the Palladium's upstairs room on the afternoon of October 31. The undercard includes Drained, Death Threat, Fear Tomorrow, All Else Fails, Daltonic, and, appropriately enough, something called 100 Demons. Likewise on October 31, Boston's Dropkick Murphys pull the same stunt in Providence -- (as any Irishman'll tell ya, Halloween was an Irish idea), topping a hooligan's haunted holiday bill with Anti-Flag, Blood for Blood, Bombshell Rocks, and Beerzone at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876). And Danzig fly into town for a gig at the Roxy (617-338-7699) in Boston on Halloween night as part of a WAAF-sponsored bill; Glenn won't, however, be bringing the re-formed Samhain line-up along with him. For that, you'll have to check back for the Danzig/Samhain double bill at Lupo's in Providence on November 16.
-- Carly Carioli