The boho hip-hop caravan known as the Smokin’ Grooves tour has been in mothballs for three years. Likely reasons: no new OutKast album, no new Lauryn Hill album. There still isn’t a new OutKast studio album, and Hill’s Unplugged is turning into a bit of a fiasco, but what the hell: they’re at it again. OutKast’s intergalactic funk vibe carries over into the set by former Goodie Mob principal Cee-Lo, this year’s must-see performer. Soul diva and Dre protégée Truth Hurts and beat jugglers Jurassic 5 fill out the bill, which puts in an appearance on Wednesday at the Tweeter Center (617-931-2000) in Mansfield.

And then the Who were two: Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are soldiering on in what’s become a memorial to late bassist John Entwistle. Their show at the Tweeter on Friday has been officially sold out for months, but high-priced VIP seats are still available. Tickets are also still available, we’re surprised to report, for Creed at the Tweeter tonight (Thursday, July 25). We were given to understand that the Lord would handle the buyout in such cases, but perhaps even He’s gotten sick of ’em. Creed are also at the Verizon Wireless Arena (603-644-5000) in Manchester on August 6; former Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell opens both dates, and he plays his own headlining gigs this Friday at the State Theater (207-780-8265) in Portland and on August 5 at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence.

Exiles from indie-rocker mecca — that’d be Louisville — VHS or Beta prove they can get the drum machines and handclaps and jazzy keyboards and flutes and wah-guitars and vocoders of late-’70s/early-’80s disco just as right as Air and Daft Punk. The half-dozen tracks on their debut EP, Le Funk (ON! Records), are prime mirrorball howlers, and we’re happy to observe that the Betas aren’t finicky about hamming it up: see " Disco Paradise " and " Solid Gold. " They’re at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on Saturday; at the Call (617-751-2255) in Providence on Tuesday; and at T.T. the Bear’s Place (617-492-BEAR) in Cambridge on Wednesday. Can VHSOB sustain indie disco for a full set? Will they turn out to be good, bad, or funky? Or will they, like the Tom Tom Club, turn out to be a little bit of all three? The exiles from Talking Headsville are spending a couple of weeks in New England, including dates tonight at Toad’s Place (203-562-5589) in New Haven; Saturday at the FleetBoston Pavilion (617-931-2000), for a one-off show with the B-52’s; Tuesday at the Iron Horse; Wednesday at Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Winooski, Vermont; and next Thursday, August 1, at the Asylum (207-772-8274) in Portland. You can also catch the B-52’s at the Cape Cod Melody Tent (508-775-9100) in Hyannis on Sunday.

If you happen to be in the Green Mountain State this weekend, the 16th Vermont Reggae Festival (802-862-3092) brings together Michael Rose, the Abyssinians, Third World, and others on Saturday at Champlain Valley Exposition Center in Essex Junction. And if you work up an appetite, pop over to the New England Barbecue Championships at the Harpoon Brewery (888-HARPOON) in Windsor on Saturday and Sunday.

Issue Date: July 25 - August 1, 2002
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