Wed. Oct. 15

 Beat Circus released “Dreamland” at the first of the year and they're back playing at the Middle East Upstairs where they might – at most - play a couple of its songs. This is not the usual way bands go about these things. What Beat Circus will do is feature  “Boy From Black Mountain,” a disc they won’t even release until 2009. That will be the second CD of what band leader/multi-instrumentalist Brian Carpenter (in photo) explains as a “weird American Gothic trilogy, a cacophony of songs about children, dreams, fatherhood, revenge, redemption and murder. ‘Dreamland’ is the fantasy epic part – it’s a composer’s record and the instrumentation has a lot to do with a Brecht-Weill presentation. The second album is more personal, about my son and seeing childhood through his eyes.” “Dreamland,” produced by Martin Bisi (Swans, Dresden Dolls), is a dark carnival ride, with song titles like “Death Fugue,” “Delirium Tremens” and “Hell Gate.” Both giddy and horrific, it’s set amidst a devastating fire at a Coney Island theme park in 1911. Recorded when Beat Circus was a 12-piece, it often features Alec K. Redfearn’s accordion. Redfearn left the band – now an octet -- after the record was done, however, making it trickier to play live. Carpenter says he views “Dreamland” primarily “as a headphones record, where people are taken into a world. What the band’s doing now, live, comes out of a Southern Gothic tradition – with a beautiful and fiercely driven string sound, upright bass and drums, low brass, harmonica, guitar and banjo. It’s more somber.” Beat Circus is joined by Wovenhand. Starts at 9.  Tickets: $12 at door/$10 advance. 

472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-4515 www.middleastclub.com