September 11-17, 2003

music

Soundadvice

Get Out.

Ritchie Blackmore’s Night

The Fender Stratomaster who invented the trucker riff (Rainbow, Deep Purple) has been absent from big-name, wank-yanging awards and top-ticket, reunion stuff. These days, Blackmore concentrates on Renaissance-era medieval music with vocalist Candice Night (of Long Island, the Stonehenge of New Yawk) on Ghost of a Rose. "Smoke On the Moors" maybe?

--A.D. Amorosi

Wed., Sept. 17, 9 p.m., $28.50-$30, The TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011.

Jeffrey Gaines

While his latest Mitchell Froom-produced CD, Toward the Sun (Artemis), was a mixed bag -- Gainesí expressive, deep voice being way too good for some of those bland melodies and cliched lyrics about hanginí on and letting go -- onstage the Philly-based singer/songwriter is (to coin a cliche) at the top of his game. With just that voice and a guitar, he makes an effortless and soulful connection.

--Nicole Pensiero

Sat., Sept. 13, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m., and Sun., Sept. 14, 7 p.m. $20, Tin Angel, 23 S. Second St., 215-928-0978.

The Ceili Group Festival

The fest has found a new venue and some old friends to help with the move. Musician and folklorist Mick Moloney is welcomed back, as are accordionist Billy McComiskey and fiddler Brendan Mulvihill. Pipe builder and player Tim Britton will also be a sight for sore eyes. Singer Niamh Parsons is a brilliant addition to the lineup.

--Mary Armstrong

Sat., Sept. 13, noon-11 p.m., $10-$25, Monsignor Bonner High, N. Lansdowne Ave. and Garrett Rd., Drexel Hill, 215-849-8899.

The Slackers

The lo-fi ska of The Slackers is the perfect bookend to summer -- brimming with lazy, breezy rhythms, smoked-out vocals, sun-kissed horns and drums that drop and skip like pebbles skimming the sea. Close My Eyes (Epitaph) -- a new entry in the traditional two-tone style library --is yet another reinvention of the sunset record, hardly the work of slackers.

--Andrew Parks

Fri., Sept. 12, 7 p.m., $13, The Trocadero , 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE.

Tim O’Brien

He touches your soul with a voice that is elegantly country in the way that makes him a definer of the Americana movement. He was the lead singer in the classic bluegrass band Hot Rize and their alter ego group Red Knuckles, too. The champion fiddler/mandolin-playerís songs have become standards with bluegrass pickers and hits via Nashville.

--Mary Armstrong

Sun., Sept. 14, 8 p.m., $15, NXNW, 7165 Germantown Ave., 215-248-1000.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Beyond socks on cocks, Eddie Hazel riffs and the worldís worst ballads, RHCP have grown into the sophisticated melodies of By the Way (Wea) without losing their funky-freaky style. Anthony Kiedis has matured, too, making "Universally Speaking" and an eerie, Beach Boys-like "Venice Queen" passionate and literate. Queens Of The Stone Age open. Wow.

--A.D. Amorosi

Fri., Sept. 12, 8 p.m., $35-$45, Tweeter Center, Mickel Blvd. and Riverside Dr., Camden, NJ., 215-336-2000.