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

Monday, October 5: Wavves, Twin Peaks, Steep Leans; 7pm; $20 advance; 18+ only; Paradise, 967 Commonwealth Ave, Boston. If you are a regular to this column, then you might be aware already of my love for Wavves. This tour celebrates the soon-to-be-released fifth record, oddly titled V. It took a couple plays for their previous record Afraid of Heights to grow on me. What was great about the band before that record was their carefree, the-wheels-could-fall-right-the-fuck-off reckless, but functional cohesiveness. The Kings of the Beach Bong grew up? Afraid Of Heights took a large leap toward maturity musically, so far that it took me a minute to adjust. After several spins over a month, it spent the next 11 months constantly in my car CD player. From the little that has leaked of the new record, it seems the band has lightened up a bit on the grunge undertones and gone more forward with the garage pop leanings. What I know for sure is that on October 2 I will have the record, and I will be singing the songs along with a combination of some memory and mis-memory up in Boston on the 5th.  Wavves are the funnest live band in garage – indie – stoner – punk and worth the drive every time. GOOOOO.

2. Wednesday, October 7 to 11: Celebrating 40 years of Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel; 6pm doors; $10 to $15; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St, Pawtucket. Forty years — unbelievable to think that’s possible for a rock club. Think of your favorite night club in Boston. It hasn’t been open 40 years. It would take a lot of searching to find a club that has been. Every time I tell someone my age or older that I work there I get almost always the same response: a smile and something along the lines of, “Oh wow, the times and things I got into there.” Friends who met their spouses at WBRU night in the ’90s, people who remember the drink your weight specials of the ’70s, the time they saw Radiohead on their first album, the time Eddie Vedder was passed out on a couch at Mike Watt. An entire state of four generations who all grew up at Lupo’s. Some of my stories that stand out to me… My first show was in 1994, Pavement. My mother took me. There was the time I staged dived at Rancid in 2003, I barely made it to the crowd over the barricade. The time I as a teenager lost 20 dollars to a convincing punk rocker who was going to buy my friends and me beer while we waited in line outside the club. But he never came back, of course. The time I sold Dennis Leary a t-shirt at an Afghan Whigs show. The time I watched Liam Gallagher of Oasis throw a temper tantrum over a shoe tossed at him. I met some of my best friends at shows at Lupo’s and while the memories blur together, I cherish the friendships that came of them. We are all lucky for Rich Lupo keeping the doors open and the times we made. This celebration at The Met focuses mostly on talent from the early Lupo’s days, and should be a blast and definitely worth coming out of hibernation for all of those with fond memories of the club’s early days.