Barbeque sauce always makes it better, don't it? A little light finally shined down on Big City Summer Fest with Ribbin' On The River. Barbeque-scented smoke filled the downtown air and was so tempting that I bet more than a few vegetarians crossed over to the dark, delicious side. And talkin' 'bout tasty, man, you shoulda seen Austin's Guy Forsythe lay it down. Starting with some mellow juke on his uke, Forsythe wailed and plinka-plinked "St. Louis Blues" before graduating to the saw to cut up "Summertime." It was when he dug into a mean, mean rub shuffle on his

Tom Haney blew his harp for the last time as a White Hot last week to a packed Little Theatre Café. It was a dignified affair, if not a little bittersweet. After ending with a pretty take of "As Time Goes By" Haney promised to hug everyone in the audience. I rushed forward to get the first farewell squeeze - got it, too - before realizing I had cut off Haney's mom in the process. Classy...We'll cross paths on our way to each other's promised land - me and the hippies, that is. And The North Mississippi All Stars are

The Fiona Apple/Nickel Creek show has moved to the Harro East Ballroom, 155 Chestnut St, due to "production issues." Showtime is still 8 p.m., and tix are $34.50.

...the gruesome spectacle of a live GWAR show will numb you to a lot of  things. The band's act is so ridiculously over the top you forget how incredible the music actually is. These guys are playing fast, fairly complex metal in costumes that probably weigh 100 pounds. This all the while blood and assorted bodily fluids flow freely from the various effigies the on-stage slaves gut, gore, and eviscerate.Monday night's sold-out show at Water Street Music Hall was textbook GWAR: loud, violent, bloody, and incredibly vulgar. Singer Oderus Urungus took pleasure in extended periods of urination over the audience. The blood that sprayed over the

Man that Jenny Hurricane (singer for the Midnight Creeps) has got some pipes. The band's disc "Doomed From The Get Go" has Miss Hurricane bellowing fierce and inclement, but live Tuesday night at The Bug Jar her voice was even luxurious and big a la Johnette Napolitano. She still roared snotty, and with a wallop that reduced the mic to the role of mere prop. Warped Tour celebrated its 13th year with a stop at Darien Lake Friday. I brought my 13-year-old niece along to solidify my cool uncle status. With approximately 16,000 kids running around the place looked like

The last minute change of venue to Harro East Ballroom didn't jog the jiggin' to Nickel Creek or squash the squirming to Fiona Apple last night. The comfortably packed, age-diverse crowd seemed glued to the floor, partially because it was melting. It was hot in there! And it wasn't just the music. Apple upped the temp even more when she came on to close the first set with her "Extraordinary Machine." And the crowd piled out to resuscitate themselves.After taking a bite of the forbidden Apple it was a bit of a let down to not have her back on stage

Too Tall and the Howlin' Mercy Blues Band host a righteous open blues jam at The Dinosaur every Tuesday night. Assorted knuckleheads (myself included) of assorted talent line up to sign up to get up with the band. TT and the boys burn red hot 'n' blue and graciously make room for others to do the same with them. But last week's affair had the extra-young trio Mint Jam get up and get down all by themselves. I figured guitar player Gabe Condon would whip out some Freddy King or something, but no, he dove face first into Robin Trower's

You'd think the super-salacious, twangtastic, luchadorable Los Straitjackets would be impossible to overshadow. The masked quartet's B-movie, beach blanket boogie is all kinds of fun, son. And the precision musicianship is made oddly hysterical by the deadpan gaze the members give through their wrestling mask eyeholes. And when's the last time you saw 600 souls shimmy in George Eastman's backyard?Anyhow, overshadowed...right. Big Sandy has joined the group for its album "Rock En Espanol," and the subsequent tour where the masked guitar marvels play beneath Sandy's golden-throated takes on classics by groups like The Kinks and The Clovers. Well lemme just