E-Mail This Article to a Friend It's time to get ill The Beastie Boys at the Worcester Centrum, plus a blues journey by train and more

From the 5 Boroughs

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Beastie Boys’ groundbreaking partnership with Rick Rubin (though we’re still a couple years away from the anniversary of License To Ill), and it seems fitting that both parties have re-emerged at or near the top of their game: Rubin returned to hip-hop from the House of Cash to lend Jay-Z a crashing-guitar beat for "99 Problems," and the Beasties came out of semi-retirement for their back-to-basics To the 5 Boroughs (Capitol). Another Paul’s Boutique? Not in the cards, but if they want to put out an album’s worth of "Intergalactic" sequels twice a decade, we’ll happily do the robot so long as they tour. And it turns out that they still do: their first jaunt in a dog’s age hits the Worcester Centrum, 50 Foster Street in Worcester, on October 12. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, September 18, at 10 a.m.; call (617) 931-2000.

Mystery trains

Phoenix music writer Ted Drozdowski is a man of many hats: in addition to his journalistic endeavors, he’s also an accomplished songwriter (for Ronnie Earl and Irma Thomas, among others), bandleader (lately of the Delta-inspired blues duo Scissormen), and — who knew? — railroad enthusiast. He’s combined several of these passions in a series of "Blues Train" adventures aboard vintage cars on several historic New England rail lines. It’s an homage, he says, to "the days when acoustic bluesmen rode the rails, entertaining passengers on the great trains of the ’30s and ’40s." The next one departs at 6:30 p.m. on September 25 on the Wilton Scenic Railroad in Wilton, New Hampshire; Drozdowski’s Scissormen and local bluesman Peter Parcek’s Forty-Four will provide the intimate licks on the 90-minute ride out to Greenfield and back, and there’ll be a short outdoor concert before everyone embarks for the return trip. For tickets, call (603) 654-RAIL. Drozdowski is also organizing a "Blues Train" combined with a wine tasting aboard the Naugy, as Connecticut’s Naugatuck Railroad is affectionately known, for October 9, with departures at 5:30 and 8 p.m.; the line’s vintage New Haven Railroad cars run out of Thomaston. Tickets for that one are $40; call (860) 283-7245.

Hip-hop Halloween

For the past few years, JAMN 94.5’s annual "Monster Ball" has fallen in October, but this is the first time it’s landed square on October 31 — and even if half the announced line-up cancels, it’ll still be the hottest Halloween party in New England. Former Cash Money player and current G-Unit baller Young Buck ("Let Me In") and fellow 50 Cent protégé Lloyd Banks ("On Fire") are on board a bill with street legend and ’04 comeback-kid Jadakiss and Dirty South don Petey Pablo (whose latest disc boasts both a standout Lil’ Jon banger in "Freek-a-Leek" and a sick new Timbaland jawn, "Get on Dis Motorcycle"), not to mention the crew who taught Bruce Willis to "Lean Back," Fat Joe’s Terror Squad. Fabolous, Juvenile, and Miami thug Trick Daddy round out the card. That’s at the FleetCenter, on Causeway Street at North Station, and tickets are $55 to $94; call (617) 931-2000.

Finding NEMO

In case you missed the memo: the Boston Music Awards have been restructured — they’re at Avalon this year, on September 29, and you’re not invited. Attendance is being limited to industry hacks (unless you win tickets through radio-station giveaways), but if you’re wondering what you’ll be missing: the ceremony includes two hours of condensed rock, pop, hip-hop, and folk by Dropkick Murphys, Ellis Paul, the Perceptionists, Jake Brennan, and Bill Janovitz, among others. You can get in, however, to the accompanying NEMO showcases on October 1 and 2, which flood every available club with local and national talent. Here are the highlights. On October 1, Janovitz plays the Abbey; the Perceptionists hit the Middle East; Flogging Molly play Avalon with the Street Dogs; the Von Bondies and Melissa Auf Der Maur are at Axis; Damone and the So and So’s do T.T.’s; Muck & the Mires and the Downbeat 5 garage-punk the Paradise Lounge while the Black Keys do it in the Paradise’s big room; and the Cambridge Elks Lodge in Central Square hosts a roots-rock blowout with Three Day Threshold and Dennis Brennan. On the 2nd, Keane and French Kicks are at Avalon; Further Seems Forever headline Axis; the Hold Steady are at Bill’s; Elgin James strums at Club Passim (what?!); friends-of-Dresden-Dolls the World Inferno Friendship Society play outside the Hyatt Regency downtown (double what?!); Lori McKenna plays the Somerville Theatre; and Bleu and Ad Frank are at T.T.’s. For complete schedules of showcases, workshops, and panels, visit www.nemoboston.com