Roadtrips

Perhaps the finest band to emerge from whichever wave of ska this is we're in, Hepcat hit the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on July 30 with punk stalwarts No Use for a Name. In the middling-but-mildly-entertaining wing of industro-metal, Gravity Kills and Pitchshifter -- the former a Nine Inch Nails clone done good, the latter an underground breakneck electro-thrash outfit that emerged watered down after signing a major-label deal -- hit Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on August 5 and Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton on August 8. Delving further into the metal cauldron, we find Cannibal Corpse -- so gory they were singled out for congressional outrage, but otherwise harmless -- hitting the Living Room (401-521-5200) in Providence on August 3 with Vital Remains and Angel Corpse. Max Cavalera, formerly of Brazilian thrash-metal champs Sepultura, brings his similarly voodoo-inflected Soulfly to the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester on August 7 with Incubus and Snot.

The Massachusetts label Hydrahead has been putting out consistently brilliant hardcore/metal records (Cave-In and Miltown among them), but its bands keep breaking up. Add to the list Cable, who play their final show at the Space (617-753-0017) in Worcester on August 3. On the up side, the Hydrahead-affiliated Isis -- buzzed about heavily among metal insiders, and rumored to be in negotiations with a large indie -- open up. Overlooked Boston punkers Doc Hopper crawl out from whatever rock they've been hiding under for a bill with Lord Sterling, No Knife, and Garrison at the Space on August 7; the show moves lock, stock, and barrel to O'Brien's (617-782-6245) in Allston on August 8.

Lupo's and the Met Café unite to celebrate their fifth anniversary on July 31 with a blowout featuring Gruvis Malt, Formula (the artists formerly known as Fat Bag), Freak Show, Pappy Chullo, the L.U.V.'s, the Mr. Rogers Project, and android new-wavers Servotron.

Finally, pulling one out of the "you mean they're not dead yet?" file, we have Quiet Riot staging an all-original-members reunion at the Station (401-823-4660) in West Warwick, Rhode Island on August 5.

-- CC