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DIG THIS: ELECTRIC WIZARD, HIGH ON FIRE, ROBYN HITCHCOCK

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FRI 11.22

Electric Wizard @ The Palladium

 

All Rights Reserved / © Tim Bugbee

 

Steeped in bong resin and occultism, Electric Wizard let you know exactly where they are coming from and what you are in for. Jus Oborn has been plying his stock for decades now, using the well-worn Sabbath playbook but adding in an unwavering focus on the darker side of things. Legalise drugs and murder indeed.  You can bet he’ll be bringing clips of vintage Hammer Horror/Jess Franco to show on the backdrop as he and the band bludgeon you over the head with heaps of down-tuned riffs so heavy they make Thor’s hammer look like a Fisher-Price tool. It’s been four years since their last Boston show, and to make the short trip out to Wormtown even more enticing, the support act is Midnight who are the perfect blend of thrash and punk laced with an unapologetic assault on all senses.

 

The Palladium. 261 Main Street, Worcester. 8:00 pm/All Ages/$30-60. Tickets on sale now

 

SAT 11.23

High On Fire @ Webster Theater

 

All Rights Reserved / © Tim Bugbee

 

High On Fire never really had a chance to take a proper victory lap after their improbable and unexpected Grammy win last year, between Matt Pike’s medical problems and Sleep’s fairly incessant touring schedule.  Now that Sleep has been put to, well, temporary sleep, it’s nice to see the rip-roaring three-headed monster of High On Fire back and taking no prisoners. It’ll be interesting to see how their sound may be affected by founding member Des Kensel’s departure but I can’t imagine that heads won’t be torn off, as is the custom. Unfortunately the closest stop is Hartford, but this bill is pretty stacked… Devil Master’s debut on Relapse is a frenetic gallop through the fields of thrash, but Power Trip are currently at the top of the heap in that particular realm. The Dallas band’s pulverizing set at the pool was one of Psycho’s top highlights, and if you have a copy of a Slayer or Metallica record and wanna be transported back to a time when those bands were good, look no further.

 

Webster Theater. 31 Webster St, Hartford CT. 6:00 pm/All Ages/$24. Tickets on sale now

 

 

 

SUN 11.24

Robyn Hitchcock @ City Winery

 

All Rights Reserved / © Tim Bugbee

 

If you’ve made it through the metal-up-your-ass maelstrom as suggested for Friday and Saturday, Sunday is a nice respite in a completely different direction. And it’s much closer with a workday-friendly start time, so there’s really no excuse to skip out on Robyn Hitchcock’s show. Hitchcock has been the reigning king of marrying folk/psych compositions to surreal imagery, and his stream of consciousness, between song banter is inscrutably hilarious and often worth the price admission by itself.  Though the self-titled 2017 release is his latest record (did it really take 22 records to finally succumb to that naming convention, Robyn?), he’s always drawing on his formidable catalog of solo records, stuff from post-new wave/neo-psych heroes The Soft Boys, as well as fleshed-out records with either The Egyptians or The Venus 3. Expect some well-chosen covers to close out the evening, and who knows – maybe even Al Kooper will join in again on a Dylan song.

 

City Winery. 80 Beverly Street, Boston. 7:00 pm/All Ages/$25-35. Tickets on sale now

 

 

TIM BUGBEE

TIM BUGBEE

Tim Bugbee writes about, listens to, and photographs musicians in the same way that sharks swim. Constantly.