Dismemberment Plan w/Enon/Gena Rowlands Band At Heatwave last year, I asked No Clubs diva and notorious rockabilly/punk maven Kim Dicce what she thought of my darling Dismemberment Plan; she replied something like, Now I know what you mean by math rock. Well, I gotcher math for ya, right here, Dicce: In the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions, DP equals Jawbox plus Motown plus Talking Heads plus hip-hop minus Eminem. And while we're at it, the exceptional quartet Enon (comprising members of Brainiac, Skeleton Key and Blonde Redhead) equals Prince plus Tom Waits plus Can plus Portishead plus The Elephant 6 Collective minus Of Montreal. Gena Rowlands Band is Bob Massey of Arlington, Va., and his revolving cast of cohorts — with songs about and/or dedicated to Lesley Gore, Janeane Garofalo and Helena Bonham Carter, they're far too smooth and moody for math class. Doors are at 8 p.m., tickets are $8. Get there early. (May 17, State Theatre)
dblWIDE w/Mofro Two young Gainesville bands, rockabilly and gutbucket funk blues, respectively. Show's at 8 p.m., tickets are $5. (May 18, Skipper's Smokehouse)
Punk O Rama Tour w/Guttermouth/Fenix Tx/US Bombs/The Deviates Epitaph Records is prouder than proud to present its fourth annual Punk O Rama tour. This is a truly diverse lineup: Young hardcore foursome Deviates, soon to embark on their third Warped Tour, open the show at 8 p.m.; then it's time for Orange County political punks U.S. Bombs, led by the well-nigh toothless skateboarding legend Duane Peters, the first skater ever to do a full loop in a full pipe, back in 1978; next comes Houston pop-punks Fenix TX; drunken SoCal snot-punk quartet Guttermouth headline. Doors are at 7 p.m. and tickets are, of course, on the cheap side: $10. (May 18, State Theatre)
North Mississippi All-Stars w/Backtrack Blues Band For those of you who don't want to brave the heat of Heatwave, here's your first of three chances to see festival bands elsewhere. Raucous roots trio NMAS draws its main inspiration from a country-blues vein, but, writes the All Music Guide, also mixes in a rock edge, an alternative aesthetic (comparable to outfits like the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion or G. Love and Special Sauce), and a trad-rock jam-band sensibility (think Phish, Widespread Panic, or even Medeski Martin and Wood). Doors are at 8 p.m., the show starts at 9:30 p.m., and the $15 ticket price includes an authentic Cajun buffet. (May 18, Bourbon Street)
Poundhound w/Geek/Mobius Loop/Hollow Green Poundhound is the solo project of Doug Pinnick, soulful frontman for the cult hard-rock band King's X. Poundhound's second release, this year's tensely inventive Pineappleskunk (Metal Blade), features Pinnick playing everything except drums; the current touring incarnation of the band boasts the son of Monkee Michael Nesmith on guitar. (May 18, Brass Mug)
Savatage w/Fate's Warning Our very own metal melodramatists are back with their 14th album, Poets and Madmen (Nuclear Blast). Original vocalist Jon Oliva is up front again. Doors are at 7 p.m., show starts at 8:30 and tickets cost $17 in advance, $20 at the gate. (May 18, Jannus Landing)
Split Lip Rayfield/Blectum From Blechdom/ Mad Linx Hip-Hop Crew The eclectic flavor of Tropical Heatwave is distilled in this pre-festival showcase. Split Lip Rayfield punk up bluegrass with the aid of The Stitchgiver, a single-stringed, stand-up bass fashioned from a 1965 Ford gas tank. The coed IDM duo Blectum from Blechdom bring bullfeathers with their breakbeats, donning costumes and busting out with karaoke when they should be concentrating on their PowerBooks. And the Mad Linx hip-hop crew from WMNF-88.5 FM mans the decks between sets, beginning at 9 p.m. and continuing on into the wee hours. Admission costs $6. (May 18, Orpheum)
Eric Clapton w/Doyle Bramhall II & Smokestack It's nice to see somebody like Clapton, who changed hair and clothing styles compulsively throughout the 1970s and '80s, releasing an album with his name splashed across the front, as he does on his new album, Reptile, over a childhood photo of himself. You go, E.C.! Be yo'self!! We're out here rootin' for ya. Doyle Bramhall II is the electric bluesman son of Lightning Hopkins' drummer, who was also a frequent collaborator with Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Tickets are $40.75, $50.75 and $69.50. Show's at 8 p.m.(May 19, Ice Palace)
River City High w/My Hotel Year/Suspended The members of Heatwave 2001's Token Punk Band, Richmond, Va., outfit River City High, make a post-festival appearance. Opening the show is Orlando's My Hotel Year, and dynamic new local act Suspended. (May 19, Orpheum)
Adam Morris Outward Bound Scholarship Fund Benefit 23-year-old Adam Morris was greatly touched by his experience in the wilderness adventure-based educational program Outward Bound. After Morris, a UF student, died in an accident last year, his parents decided to put together an Outward Bound benefit featuring artists they'd met while manning their coffee stand at various folk festivals. The event runs from 3-8 p.m., and the suggested donation at the door is $6. (May 20, Skipper's Smokehouse)
Dog Fashion Disco w/The GrooveNics/Gnaw/ Chumley's Toy DC-based alt-metal band DFD traffics along the same weighty, no-frills lines as Clutch, Tool and Nothingface. (May 20, Brass Mug)
Cadillac Blindside/Lawrence Arms/Mid Carson July Tickets to see Minneapolis emo quartet Cadillac Blindside, politically-charged pop-punk Chicago trio Lawrence Arms and Pennsylvania-based, Hot Water Music- and Kurt Vonnegut-influenced emo punks Mid Carson July, are $5. (May 20, Orpheum)
Rob McNurlin w/Cyrus Carawan Of Kentuckian McNurlin, Tri-State Music News wrote that his performances can only be described as an incredible marriage of gospel, folk-rock, and hillbilly-blues. Ramblin' Jack guests on McNurlin's new disc, Cowboy Boot Heel, recorded at Johnny Cash's cabin studio. The show starts at 8 p.m. with a performance by 15-year-old fiddler Cyrus Carawan. Cover is $6. (May 22, Skipper's Smokehouse)
—All entries by Stefanie Kalem
This article appears in May 17-24, 2001.