Wed. Aug. 18 - Fri. Aug. 20

Dave Wakeling formed the Beat in Birmingham England in the late 1970s. It was one of the leading bands of the ska-punk, two-tone movement – two-tone meaning blacks and whites playing in the same band. The Beat, called the English Beat in America for legal reasons, has broken up, re-formed, and taken different shapes over time. Several members went off to form Fine Young Cannibals.  Wakeling has long been based in California and it’s a US band he brings to the Showcase Live in Foxboro Wednesday Aug. 18. (They also play Toad's Place  in New Haven Aug. 19 and Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence Aug. 20.) They're with another English pop ska band, Bad Manners.

We’ve known Wakeling going back to when the Beat first hit Boston, around 1979; we saw them play a great show last year; and we caught up with him again for a chat about then and now. The English Beat play What struck us - 2007 in a club, then at Earth Fest -  was how fresh, how pertinent old material like “Save It for Later,” “Twist and Crawl,” “Mirror in the Bathroom” and others seemed now, and we asked him about it.

 Does the music change its meaning over time?

 Sat. Sept. 11 & Sun. Sept. 12

 For years, multi-day rock festivals have been held across America and Europe. In Boston? We’ve remained, oddly, out of the big loop.  Not anymore. Tickets are on sale for the Life is good festival in Canton Saturday Sept. 11 and Sunday Sept. 12.
    What is this? The Life is good Festival 2010 features three stages and 24 acts. Ben Harper & Relentless 7 and Ziggy Marley headline Saturday. Jason Mraz and Guster headline Sunday. Others on the bill include Corinne Bailey Rae, Dr. Dog, Eli "Paperboy" Reed (in photo), OK Go, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Ozomatli, Mavis Staples and Brett Dennen. Dan Zanes and Friends, They Might Be Giants and the Laurie Berkner Band are the top acts on a separate “Good Kids” stage.
    Life is good is a New England-based wholesaler/retailer of clothing, accessories and, well, a philosophy, not far from the Ben & Jerry’s model. They’ve got five stores, one on Newbury street. The company grew out of the T-shirt design work of founders Bert and John Jacobs in the early ‘90s.
    This concert is a charity all the way through. They cover expenses, but then any and all profit goes Life is good’s Kids Foundation. The money – the hope to raisemm $1 million - will go to children facing life-threatening challenges such as violence, illness, natural disaster and extreme poverty
   “It’s been in the works two years.” Bert Jacobs, 45, says of September’s festival. “My brother and I are music lovers. We were road-tripping and looking at the major music festivals and had some fun.”
  

 Aug. 15-20, 22-27 

August. The dog days of summer. Perhaps you're on the Cape. Perhaps you're at Tanglewood. And that's at least part of the reason Boston Restaurant Week exists this time of year. (Well, it happens twice a year - this is now the start of that second sweek - and, guess what, the other time it's pretty durn cold out, generally speaking. Now, what Restaurant Week means is more than 210 restaurants in the Boston metro area are offering three-course prix-fixe meals. Lunch is (two course) $15.10 and (three course) $20.10.. Dinner is $33.19. (Oddly enough, these prix-fixe lunches have gone up a penny since last year. Seems like a lot to ask in this hurtin' economy, but what the heck.) Are they a good deal for you? Yes. For one thing, you're not slaving over a hot stove. For another, the price of food in grocery stores probably equals what you'd spend going out to eat. We're not saying that you should abandon your beachfront abode in Truro and race into Beantown, but if you're here - stuck, live here, on vacation going up and down the Bunker Hill Monument for no good reason - take advantage of restaurants you might be hesitant to try because of the usual prices (or whatever) and remember they all have air-conditioning. Where to go? There are so many choices - Azure, Davio's, Top of the Hub, L'Espalier, etc. - we're just going to have to refer you to the website below, where you can click through and get menu and direction info. American Express Cardmembers: You lucky dogs can make early reservations through July 24. (The photo here is of Davio's bar.)

www.restaurantweekboston.com

Sat. Aug. 14

 I first heard Russian rock band Mumiy Troll during the bleak winter of 2009 and it was their version of "California Dreaming" that got me revved. This is not uncommon in my world. The Mamas and Papas did exactly what they intended to do when the released this song back the '60s. Mumiy Troll was founded in 1983 in Vladivostok by linguist Ilia Lagutenko. (The name is taken from the name of the Tove Jansson characters, the Moomin Trolls.) At any rate, this quartet, which began as a garage band during the last years of the Soviet Union, is considered one of the most popular of Russian bands. Hey, like Plastic People of the Universe, they performed illegally and were even jailed on several occasions; as the climate improved for rock music, they became a popular act in Vladivostok. The band broke up when Lagutenko, who speaks both Mandarin Chinese and English, went to serve in the Russian army. But then he came back and they gained immense popularity with the release of their first (official) album. They're touring the States for the second time and are the Middle East Downstairs Saturday Aug. 14. Expect a charismatic band, lyrics said to be coy - sorry, we no speak - and an androgynous style. The music? Pretty melodic hard rock. Good kick, good edge, a good gamble for the rock fan whoses axis extends beyond the typical US-UK one. Run Run Run opens the show, which starts at 9. Tickets: $30, up $10 from their first time at the Middle, meaning people are willing to shuck out cash in these tough times for this uncommon band.

472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278 www.mideastclub.com

ongoing

Who don't like whales? Certain Japanese and Icelandic whalers, I suppose, or maybe we should say they like whales a little differently than we do. They like whale parts. So, did we, here in America in the 18th and 19th centuries. You've read "Moby-Dick." You might have heard Mountain's "Nantucket Sleighride" and done the digging to find out what that was - harpooned whaled talking whalers for a frightening ride. I've been to the whaling museum in Nantucket and it's quite a trip back in time. Sitting in the precarious whaling boats, taking in the lecture about whales meant then and now, honoring the island's proud whaling past and then coming to the 180 degree turn of: We don't do that anymore. We just about made these huge animals - the largest earth's ever seen - extinct.

The Museum of Science has just put up a new exhibit, "Whales Tohura," that encompasses an exhbit and an IMAX film "Whales." The film itself, made by explorer and President of the Ocean Alliance Roger Payne, was done 15 years ago. Need we say it's not dated. That is, whatever went on in the whale world 15 years ago is going on today. Payne spoke at a press function, before the film went up June 20. "Whales face more threats than ever before," he said. There are more than 80 species of whales, including dolphins (did not know this, dolphins are whales.) The film, he added, is "the next best thing to swimming with whales" - maybe even better because of the lack of actual wetness. He's right.