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[Future Events]

DOOMSDAY APPROACHETH: Having passed the platinum mark with their breakthrough album, the digi-metal science-fiction epic Tonight the Stars Revolt!, homegrown stars Powerman 5000 are set to return later this summer with the eagerly awaited Anyone for Doomsday? (both DreamWorks), a taut assault on the senses that boils their video-game rock down to a dozen or so three-minute whiplash-inducing gems. The entire disc clocks in at just over a half-hour; our favorite song thus far is also the oddest, a vocoder-saturated old-school synth-funk track called “Megatronic” that harks back to Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock.” Meanwhile, the band are already lining up a fall headlining tour that will bring them to the Palladium, 261 Main Street in Worcester, on September 21. Tickets go on sale Friday the 13th at 3 p.m. over the phone at (800) 477-6849; there’s also an Internet-only pre-sale beginning today (July 12) at noon at www.tickets.com.

MONSTERS OF ART: After the shitstorm down at the Brooklyn Museum of Art over its sensational “Sensation” exhibit, is there really any room left in the visual arts for monstrosity? That’s one of the issues that underpins the DeCordova Museum’s upcoming “Terrors and Wonders: Monsters in Contemporary Art.” The exhibit, which runs September 15 through January 6, features painting, sculpture, and photography from 33 emerging and established artists, and it promises works that illuminate “personal and cultural metamorphoses, humor, and anxieties about biotechnology, spirituality, identity, consumer culture, gender, and the body.” There’s also a companion exhibit addressing the most popular realm of monsters: “What’s Under the Bed? Monsters in Children’s Book Illustration.” The DeCordova is at 51 Sandy Park Road in Lincoln; call (781) 259-8355.

 

NEXT WEEKEND

ArtBeat

“A lot of Somerville’s claim to fame over the past couple of years has been that it’s a hip place to live,” says Somerville Arts Council board member Jennifer Evans, one of the folks behind next weekend’s annual ArtBeat festival in Davis Square. “And that’s due, along with the end of rent control in Cambridge, to Somerville’s being viewed as a cool place for creative people to live, a place that’s good to art and that celebrates artists.”

Certainly these things must matter, at least as much as the quality of schools and the ready availability of designer coffee. One would like to live in a place one believes is enlightened — a place that supports, rather than grudgingly tolerates, a community of creativity. Not that there aren’t practical incentives for marketing one’s working-class town as a bohemian mecca. But it’s kinda nice — isn’t it? — to have an arts council and a chamber of commerce find some common turf, and on the Red Line, no less.

ArtBeat, Somerville’s inclusively eclectic annual arts festival, has grown over the past 15 years from a small volunteer-based enterprise to an organization with a couple of full-time employees, an active board of directors, and a huge volunteer support staff. It draws on a generous arts grant from the state; Somerville gets a juicy cut because of its high population density. And since 1995, the Windows Art Project has commandeered Davis Square storefronts during the week leading up to the festival to transform the sidewalk into a massive, playful, public-art installation.

This year’s festival begins next Thursday, July 19, with a 7 p.m. parade and concert — featuring the gonzo Chandler Travis Philharmonic — in Seven Hills Park; there’s also a 7 p.m. concert in the park on Friday night. On Saturday, Davis Square is closed to traffic for the main event, which offers a large pedestrian midway of crafts, food, and artwork; music on an outdoor stage (including the Silver Leaf Gospel Singers, the garage-blues duo Mr. Airplane Man, local indie-pop faves Francine, and avant-garde improv institutions the Binary System); a modern-dance showcase at the Somerville Theatre; folk-arts performances at the Works Theater; and roving performances from teen hip-hop groups and others. The outdoor events are free; a $3 donation gets you a dogtag good for admission to all the indoor events.

ArtBeat runs July 19 through 21 in and around Davis Square. On July 21, performers on the outdoor Park Stage include Bim Skala Bim, the Binary System, Francine, Dana Colley, Mr. Airplane Man, Halali, the Silver Leaf Gospel Singers, and the Dave Foley Band, beginning at noon. A dance showcase at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, includes performances beginning at 1 p.m. by Jody Weber and Dancers, Snappy Dance Theater, and the Boston Tango School. The Works Theater, 255 Elm Street, hosts Ricardo Frota, Rosalita’s Puppets, Motoko, and a Puppet Slam beginning at 1 p.m. For more information, call (617) 625-6600, or visit www.somervilleartscouncil.org.

BY CARLY CARIOLI

Issue Date: July 12 - 19, 2001