Bring the Noise

Philadelphia, you've got some decisions to make.

by Patrick Rapa

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Published: Jun 2, 2009

Rob Sheridan

[ all-star weekend ]

There's always some kinda big old music thing going on in this city, but the next few days look particularly nuts. The question is, which of these monster shows is worth your time and money? I'm breaking it down and making predictions.

This Lollapalooza '91 redux is goodbye for the former and hello again for the latter, and both bands are dusting off the "hits." It's been a long coupla decades. Trent Reznor was industrial royalty from day one, so his artistic evolution mimicked the whimsical eccentricity of the super-rich. He was up above it enough to indulge his every gnarled fantasy without fear of losing you, and down in it enough to stay current-ish. Recent Nine Inch Nails shows have been intensely visual techsplosions; expect something humbler here at the end. Perry Farrell, well, he's got this switch that flicks between annoying and brilliant. His best stuff was with Jane's, of course, so, if he eases up on the echo effect and Dave Navarro doesn't get a microphone, it should be a good show. Fri., June 5, 7:30 p.m., $25-$99, Susquehanna Bank Center, 1 Harbour Boulevard, Camden, N.J., livenation.com.

Prediction: The river will run black with man-scara.

The head Talking Head is touring without his Everything that Happens Will Happen Today co-conspirator Brian Eno (who was called back to Rivendell, I believe) but he'll still be playing the music from it. No doubt he'll dip into some classic Eno-era TH stuff, too: "Take Me to the River," "Once In a Lifetime," etc. Fri., June 5, 8 p.m., $25-$59, with DeVotchKa, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue, 215-893-1999, manncenter.org.

Prediction: >Somebody will show up in a big suit, humidity be damned.

Michael T. Regan

?uestlove has said he wants to be the new Patti Labelle, telling everybody to get to know Philly. This show should do the trick, especially when the Legendary Roots crew backs up Public Enemy to perform It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in its entirety. This is the show to beat. Believe the hype. Sat., June 6, 2 p.m., $51, with Public Enemy, TV on the Radio, The Black Keys, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and Santigold, Festival Pier, Columbus Boulevard and Spring Garden Street, livenation.com.

Prediction: Between songs, Flavor Flav will interrupt a poignant Chuck D anecdote to say something so mind-bogglingly irrelevant and attention-coveting that you will feel really bad for him. This will pass.

No weekend roundup would be complete without this free blissful indie rock alternative to the Roots hot hip-hop parking lot. Sprawl out in the grass at the newly landscaped Liberty Lands Park, sip a Kenzinger and enjoy some sweet music by your friends and neighbors. Sat., June 6, 3 p.m., free, with Sweat Heart, Audible, Bloody Catholics, Twisted Kites, Social Hall, Parsnip Revolt, Sir Charles Latham, Liberty Lands Park, Third and Wildey streets.

Prediction: >It will not rain.

Set one will be that guitar-tastic The Hazards of Love rock opera, start to finish. Even for a concept album it's a slow cook — let's hope the plot and characters, if they exist, will be made concrete in a live setting. Set two is the Portland dramsemble's regular menagerie of hyper-literate indie showtunes. Sat., June 6, 8 p.m., $32.50, Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow streets, Upper Darby, livenation.com.

Prediction: Somebody will shout for "July, July" in the middle of Hazards.

Courtesy of Island

Polly Jean doesn't need a wingman, but there's something charming, even dreamy, about her latest get-together with John Parish, A Man A Woman Walked By. Sun., June 7, 8 p.m., $38.50, with Pop Parker, Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE, thetroc.com.

Prediction: >Hearing PJ Harvey's shrieks, dolphins will flop out of the Delaware and over to the Troc hoping to mate with her.

Has the five-year retirement changed these jam-band overlords? Well, their new comeback single is 13 minutes long (and sounds like a half-hour of getting warm noodles poured on your head) so, no: same old Phish. Question: Does your office test for shrooms? Follow-up: Would you like to buy a cup of my pee? Sun., June 7, 7:30 p.m., $51.50, Susquehanna Bank Center, livenation.com.

Prediction: You will lose your favorite Frisbee and not even care because whoa.

(pat@citypaper.net)

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