It's a good week for live music in NYC. As I scribbled for this week's Voice:
WEDNESDAY 2.8
Poco + Steve Forbert
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W 42nd, 212-997-4144.
8pm, $25-29.
Dude, it’s yacht rock! Poco weren’t always that way—they started out as progenitors of the SoCal country-rock movement of the ’70s, then, as most did, mellowed out further as the decade progressed. The puerile will giggle that their latest album is titled Bareback at Big Sky, but they and opening longtime guitar folkie Steve Forbert are consummate professionals who’ll give both the hits and the misses their best.
THURSDAY 2.9
Aimee Mann + Chuck Prophet
Town Hall, 123 W 43 rd, 212-840-2824
8pm, $25-35.
Mann might not be in the best of spirits as she absorbs the unexpected loss of her brother-in-law, actor Chris Penn, but one hopes the power of song will help get her through; and indeed, there’s much power to be found in her Forgotten Arm album as well as in the output of unheralded guitar genius Chuck Prophet. An inspired pairing.
FRIDAY 2.10
Jefferson Starship: ‘Jefferson Airplane Galactic Reunion’
North Fork Theatre, Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, NY, 516-334-0800
8pm.
The last time the touring aircraft of Kantner, Balin, et al. touched down in the NYC area, they played three-hour sets two straight nights. Not bad for a crew of sixtysomethings. Balin isn’t around this time, but Country Joe McDonald and G-Dead pianist Tom Constanten are, ensuring less late-’70s MOR and more hippie shakes.
TUESDAY 2.14
Tom Jones
Nokia Theatre Times Square, 1515 Bway, 212-930-1950
8pm, thru Feb 15, $65-85.
The Nokia venue might not be big enough to hold the still-booming voice and presence of His Tomness. The sexbomb continues his unpredictable recording career with wildly incongruous duets while his live shows remain thrillers to the MILF set and beyond. He can cover anything, and has, so expect the kitsch’n’sink, and then some.
