Mike D’s Top 5 Can’t Miss Shows of November

1. Saturday, November 4: Mister Heavenly, Anna Burch, Eric and the Nothing; 7pm doors / 7:30pm show (early show, goes til 10:30); $15; All ages; Alchemy, 71 Richmond St, PVD.
Indie rock super group Mister Heavenly finally comes to Providence! The band is composed of frontmen from Man Man (Honus Honus) & Islands / The Unicorns (Nicholas Thornburn) as well as the drummer of Cold War Kids (Joe Plummer). Their new album Boxing the Moonlight has an upbeat eclectic feel to it. Providence’s Eric and the Nothing fit perfectly on this bill, and if you haven’t seen them yet, make sure to get there early for one of the town’s best bands. Detroit native Anna Burch describes her style as bummer pop. “Doom-Wop,” “Bummer Pop” and “Nothing” making for one hell of a night!

2. Wednesday, November 8: Joyce Manor, Wavves, Culture Abuse; Paradise, Commonwealth Ave, Boston, Mass.
I have said before and I’ll say it again, I love Wavves. There are a lot of bands in the post-grunge genre, none of them quite get it right like Wavves do with the perfect amount of punk, fuzz and drunk and/or stoned bombast with really good song writing. And they are having as good a time as they seem to be. They once told me a story about how they decided to release the last record on their own label, but before doing so, looked up the top 10 restaurants in their hometown of LA, and got the record label to pay the tab at eight of them. Savvy. Get there early for Culture Abuse, who are one of my favorite new bands. They recently put out the teaser single, “So Busted” for their upcoming Epitaph Records debut.

3. Thursday, November 9: KRS-One, Camden Murphy with Z Boys, Freddie Black, Lord Gremithy, Kee Words, DJ Nook & DJ Jackie Treehorn; 8pm doors / 9pm show; $15 advance / $20 day of; 21+; Newport Blues Café, 286 Thames St, Newport.
KRS One is one of the biggest voices of all time in hip-hop. His message is large, covering many social injustice issues and inequality. The man himself and his volume is large; if you have seen him before you know that the man is a juggernaut who’s going to tell you everything that lingers in his mind with a megaphone of vocals to let you know. There are a few Newport locals on the bill. Camden Murphy is performing with local rockers Z Boys. And if it’s good in Newport and there’s a DJ, there will be my dude DJ Nook. Glad to see this show happening at Newport Blues Café.

4. Saturday, November 11: The Worried, Supernatural II, Benny Sizzler, Tall Teenagers; 8pm; $(doesn’t say, I would guess 8 or 10); 21+ only; Dusk, 301 Harris Ave, PVD.
If it’s a weekend night and you have nothing to do, Dusk is the place to go with consistently strong local rock, punk and metal shows. This show is the best of the local punk and roll that Providence has to offer. Providence punk veterans The Worried headline, with newcomers Supernatural II and Newport’s punk and rollers Benny Sizzler. Indie garage all stars Tall Teenagers round out the bill.

5. Friday, November 24: An Acoustic Evening with Deer Tick; 8pm doors / 8:30pm show; $36.50 / $26.50; All ages; The Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway, PVD.
Saturday, November 25: An Electric Evening With Deer Tick (Night 1); 8pm doors / 8:30pm show (sold out); $26.50; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St, PVD.
Sunday, November 26: An Evening With Deer Tick (Night 2); 7:30pm doors / 8pm show; $26.50; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St, Pawtucket.
Deer Tick are back with their first album (or actually albums) in four years. The band has always sorta’ been a few bands in one. They have a love for folk singer/songwriter culture, but also are a killer bar rock band that wants to act up and rock the fuck out. The two new albums try to isolate those inner desires and succeed in doing so. The first album, Volume 1, is an acoustic folk roots affair while the second album, Volume 2, releases their bar rocking garage leanings. It was a great idea; by isolating the two sounds, they were able to focus, and both records sound better and more cohesive than ever. The first night at the Columbus will focus on the first album and the band’s past acoustic material; the second night at The Met will focus on Volume 2 and the band’s electric past catalog. The third night stays at The Met and will be a mix. There are still tickets as of print for nights 1 and 3, but you need to get them soon if you are trying to get there.

Also worth noting:
Nov 8: Rodrigo Y Gabriela @ The Strand;
Nov 8: Citizen Cope @The Met;
Nov 9: Lady Gaga @ Mohegan Sun;
Nov 10: Obnox @ Columbus Theatre;
Nov 10: The Proletariat / Black Beach @ The Narrows Center;
Nov 11: P.O.S @ AS220;
Nov 11: Chief Keef @ The Strand;
Nov 12: Kindling / Twin Foxes / Boring @ News Café;
Nov 15: Mark Mulcahey, Bird & Horse @ The Met;
Nov 16: This Will Destroy You @ The Met;
Nov 18: Squeeze @ The Strand;
Nov 18: Ron Gallo @ Fête;
Nov 18: Mark Cutler / Michael Graham @ Dusk;
Nov 22: Daddie Long Legs @ The Met;
Dec 1: The Mallett Brothers @ Ocean Mist;
Dec 2: Onleyville Sound System @ Parlour