Dylan and the Dead reunite! Well, not really, but His Bobness and the not-dead-yet members of Jerry’s old band are keeping strangely similar schedules these days. In fact, you might even say the Other Ones are shadowing Bob Dylan. Zimmy (as rock snobs like us call him), who’s been covering songs by Neil Young ("Old Man") and ailing Warren Zevon ("Mutineer") of late, brings his Never Ending Tour to the FleetCenter (617-931-2000) in Boston on Saturday, then heads south to the Insurance Capital of the World for a show at the Hartford Civic Center (617-931-2000) on Sunday. He’ll also hit the University of Rhode Island’s Ryan Center (617-931-2000) on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Other Ones, who’ve been covering songs by the Grateful Dead of late, hit the FleetCenter (617-931-2000) for a two-night stand starting Monday, a mere 48 hours after Dylan has left the building. Then next Friday, November 22, they too play the Hartford Civic Center ((617-931-2000). What’s that Emerson used to say about foolish consistency?

Groovesters who haven’t gotten their fill of good vibes from hoary renditions of "Estimated Prophet" and "Cryptical Envelopment" also might want to noodle on down to any one of the shows put on by Galactic, who are traveling light years across New England this week playing their joky Nawlins jazz funk in many, many nightclubs. They’re at Lupo’s (617-931-2000) in Providence on Saturday, the Roxy (617-931-2000) in Boston on Sunday, Pearl Street (413-584-7771) in Northampton on Tuesday, the Higher Ground (617-931-2000) in Winooski, Vermont, on Wednesday and Toad’s Place (617-931-2000) in New Haven on Thursday. At the Roxy Show, artists SKW and Doze will create a live mural as the band perform.

On his new Mundo, salsa savior Rubén Blades adds more ingredients to his already piquant recipe. A record that incorporates musical idioms and instruments from the world over into his trademark Spanish-language soul, Mundo features bagpipes, didgeridoo, and a Celtic-Afro-Cuban version of "Danny Boy." The second-place finisher in the 1994 Panamanian presidential election plays the Garde Arts Center (860-444-7373) in New London on Saturday and then the Berklee Performance Center (617-931-2000) right here in Boston on Sunday.

And Luciano is in town this week. No, not Pavarotti. Different guy. This one is a thick-dreadlocked songster from Davey Town, Jamaica, who’s a superstar in his homeland thanks to his uplifting and intensely spiritual brand of reggae. He loves life, he lives for performing, and his live shows are said to be near-transcendent experiences. Luciano bestows his benison on the Paradise (617-423-NEXT) in Boston tonight (Thursday the 14th), Lupo’s (617-931-2000) on Monday, and the Higher Ground (617-931-2000) on Tuesday.

Finally, doll-faced 24-year-old singer-songwriter Erin McKeown has put an end to a year without a headline performance: she’s undertaking a tour of the eastern half of the United States that will bring her and her wistful, winking multi-instrumental folk acousticisms to Arlington’s Regent Theatre (781-646-4849) on Friday, the Met Café in Providence (617-931-2000) on Saturday, and the Iron Horse in Northampton (413-586-8686) next Friday, the 22nd.

Issue Date: November 7 - 14, 2002
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