Must-see summer concerts
Giant hamster balls, pinball wizards and Eddie Izzard on a ukulele.
WFNX Clambake 2011 featuring Buffalo Tom + Noah and the Whale + Cold War Kids + Foster The People + The Naked & Famous + Young The Giant + DOM
Thursday, Jun. 16, 3pm
House of Blues
WFNX’s annual summer shindig hits all the prerequisite notes for a suitable outdoor summer show: booze, loud music and—because this is Boston, after all—seafood. The radio station takes over the House of Blues and Landsdowne Street, where local alt-rock heroes Buffalo Tom, now two albums deep into their new millennium resurgence, will headline inside HoB along with Noah and the Whale. The Cold War Kids will lead a strong stable of rock radio-ready acts on the outdoor stage. Street tickets $20; street and House of Blues combo pass $29
Eddie Vedder
Thursday, Jun. 16, 7:30pm
Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre
Pearl Jam is taking time off from its near-annual summer touring. But while the grunge vets are largely lying dormant in 2011, frontman Eddie Vedder is making some noise on his own. Well, not quite. Vedder’s debut solo album, Ukelele Songs (due May 31), is—as the title suggests—a far more subtle affair than you might expect. But what the songs lack in muscle, they’re bound to make up for in heart. The earnest Vedder always takes the stage ready and willing to surprise, and his stop at the Wang shouldn’t be any different. $78
Dinosaur Jr. + Henry Rollins + OFF!
Wednesday, Jun. 22, 7pm
Paradise Rock Club
Any bill boasting Dinosaur Jr., Henry Rollins and Keith Morris’ hardcore throwback supergroup OFF! should be enough to make any nostalgic punk rock fan’s heart melt. But for those poor souls who still need convincing, the hyper-wordy Rollins will open the show by attempting to interview the famously monosyllabic J Mascis. Make no mistake—this will be the most awkward interview in history. But given the odd couple pairing of Rollins and Mascis you can’t help but feel that’s the point. Openers OFF! will likely tear through their entire new album in roughly 20 minutes. It doesn’t get more punk than that. $33 advance
The Flaming Lips
Wednesday, Jun. 27, 7:30pm
Bank of America Pavilion
Bands often reveal another side of themselves when onstage, but the Flaming Lips is one of the few bands that needs to be seen almost as much as heard to fully comprehend it. Since morphing from indie rock oddballs into the world’s most delightfully twisted chamber pop band, the Lips’ live show has become the stuff of legend, complete with dancers, lights and an abundance of props—most notably singer Wayne Coyne’s human hamster ball. On paper it may sound like a freak show composed from debased parts, but onstage it all comes together as one of the most whimsical live shows around. $35-$45
Eels
Thursday, Jul. 28, 8pm
Paradise Rock Club
As far as rock stars go, few are as enigmatic as Mark Oliver Everett. Then again, few share his off-kilter musical savvy either. As the nucleus behind the Eels, Everett has run the entire spectrum of human emotion as a songwriter, but largely keeps to the bookends of sunny indie pop and devastatingly confessional singer-songwriter fare. After a brief flirtation with MTV buzz band status in the ‘90s, the Eels have settled nicely into a comfort zone amongst the indie rock crowd, thanks in no small part to their prolific schedule of touring and recording in recent years. With three albums released in 2010 alone, the band shouldn’t be short on songs to bring to the stage at the Paradise. $20
Tedeschi Trucks Band + Steve Earle and the Dukes (and Dutchesses)
Wednesday, Aug. 17, 7pm
Bank of America Pavilion
At the ripe old age of 32, virtuoso guitar guru Derek Trucks has already built up a resume most musicians would give their slide finger for. But while most would happily hang their hat on sitting in with Buddy Guy at the age of 12 or touring with the Allman Brothers Band while still under the legal drinking age, Trucks has never rested on his laurels. In August, he’ll swing through town as part of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, which finds him playing co-bandleader alongside wife and fellow blues guitarist Susan Tedeschi. Outlaw country hero Steve Earle will open in support of his latest effort, I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive. $25-$60
Rock On! Concert Cruises presents The Slackers
Friday, Aug. 19, 7:15pm
Mass Bay Lines MV New Boston (rockonconcerts.com)
Ska has more or less gone the way of the dinosaur in the eyes of many, but the Slackers’ soul- and R&B-infused take on the genre has proven relatively timeless by comparison. One of the last remaining entries from the early- to mid-‘90s ska boom, the New York ensemble has come a long way by keeping things slow and groovy while sticking closely to the genre’s roots. And while the band is known to make even the most lethargic of concertgoers move and sway, their August set as part of this summer’s Rock On! Concert Cruise series offers the perfect setting to compliment the music. $26 advance; $30 day of show
Roger Daltrey performs The Who’s Tommy
Saturday, Sep. 17, 8pm
Agganis Arena at Boston University
The Who are, quite literally, half the band they once were; but that fact has done little to slow down the iconic rock group’s brain trust of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. The latter will return to Boston (sadly sans Townshend) to resurrect The Who’s legendary rock opera, Tommy. The album will be played in its entirety from front to back, and while performing without the album’s chief architect on board might ring of heresy, don’t worry—Roger has his partner’s blessing. In the end you’ll be hard pressed to find a better way to ring in the Indian Summer season. $58-$124
