VIDEO: Mayer Hawthorne live at Great Scott

^{Photo by Nellie Sweet}

A swarm of KMFDM fans in shin-swallowing boots, leather bondage kilts, and fishnets stream by as my friend Andy and I loiter in the House of Blues lobby, killing time until Andy’s concert buddies show up. When they do, the girls come bearing gossip: they were at KMFDM's afterparty in NYC last night, and they report that the band mentioned being nervous about playing Boston.

It’s unsettling news, but not too surprising. After all, we’re standing on the grave of Axis, the site of a disastrous 2003 KMFDM show. That night six years ago, the band members were all sick as dogs, and even though they put on a more-than-decent show, the Axis audience was legendarily awful. KMFDM hasn’t played Boston proper since (they did swing by the Middle East for their 20th anniversary tour) and skipped Massachusetts completely on their Hau Ruck tour.

Tonight's crowd is the expected mix of grizzled old-school rivetheads and folks like me who first jumped on KMFDM’s industrial wave of destruction as high schoolers in the mid-'90s. Less expected is the horde of dewy-faced young things. I suspect more than a few of them were lured here by the openers, the Aussie electro-industrial duo Angelspit.

Questlove on Dirty Projectors before their performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night: "based on their setup and sound....imma take a wild guess dirty projectors are from BK?"

Questlove on Dirty Projectors after their performance of "When the World Comes to an End," one of the songs from that Housing Works benefit thing they did with Bjork: "I will follow y'all to the ends of the earth."

CAVE-IN's don't-call-it-a-comeback continues next week with a pair of West Coast free gigs sponsored by Toyota -- but this morning the band announced it'll be playing non-auto-bailout gigs in New York, Boston, Providence, and Philadelphia, with support by Trap Them and Narrows.

We've also received word that the band will be releasing a DVD of its July reunion show at Great Scott in Boston

Photo: Phil Farnsworth

Considering that hurricane-driven rain closed down last year's event, you couldn't have asked for better weather than the mid-60s sunshine bathing Colombus Ave last Saturday afternoon for the signature outdoor portion of the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival. Because, let's face it, when it comes to free outdoor music, you're there as much for the stroll and the hang as for the sounds.

Americana rockers CASSAVETTES, who differentiate themselves from this guy by spelling their name with two Ts, have been well-regarded in this town for some time now. They're about to drop a new album, though, that could well see them blow up in a big way - or at least, that's what this week's mp3, the short-but-catchy-as-fuck "Ordinary Girls," leads us to believe.

With a nearly two-decade-long career of grinding out soulful, tortured songs about life, love, and the pursuit of sex under her belt, singer/songwriter Tori Amos has already written a foot-stomping anthem declaring herself a MILF. Now for her next milestone: a Christmas album. (And, hey, if it’s good enough for Dylan

It's been 10 years since Mark Sandman's death, but the legacy of this Revere-born, Cambridge-bred icon thrives. Old friends, bandmates, and admirers unite for the Mark Sandman Memorial Concert, a tribute to the Morphine frontman's soul, talent, and enduring influence. Playing will be Orchestra Morphine, Elastic Waste Band (with Dana Colley of Morphine), Treat Her Right (Sandman's pre-Morphine band), Mean Creek (see below), Faces on Film, Zili Misik, and many more, with a raffle, auction, and food sale to benefit the Mark Sandman Music Project.

The Mass Industry Committee (MIC) doesn’t mind that throwing Boston music award shows is more thankless than drumming. Nor do they anguish over criticism that their first two MIC Awards played favorites. Last week, committee organizers voted to ignore naysayer player haters and announced plans for a third gala in four years.

We're still not quite sure how it all happened. Here's the Villa Victoria Center for Arts, a renovated church nestled in a charming South End nook, effectively hollowed out and packed full of the latest rave technology: audio-reactant video projections, holographic LCD screens, multiple bars, loads of PBR, limitless Red Bull.

Metalocalypse: Dethklok & Mastodon (second show) | Wednesday, October 28 at the House of Blues, Boston | $34.50-$45 | On sale Friday at noon | http://www.ticketmaster.com

Joel Plaskett + Adam Arcuragi | Thursday, November 10 at the Middle East upstairs, Cambridge | $8 | On sale Friday at 10 am | http://www.

1. "Cold," Hydro Keke
2. "Struggle," Lady Lee
3. "Hey Sexy Lady," Jah Bless
4. "What Do I Owe," Ajahni
5. "Rough Life," Lady Lee

Lady Lee writes:

Boston boasts a strong reggae community and has a lot of seasoned artists with a variety of vocal styles. Every Sunday, from 7-9pm, their music can be heard on The Lion's Den radio show at Vibe 105.

To keep me from resembling a young mobster, my mom never let me sport gold chains or leather jackets. My beak rivals the nose that Double Dare contestants mine for flags on Nickelodeon; between that Roman asset and my inherent Kung-Fu hand-gestures, lustrous accessories make me look like Mickey Rourke in the Pope of Greenwich Village

30 MORE PHOTOS: U2 at Gillette Stadium, September 20, 2009. Credit: Richard McCaffrey.

If you happened to take a cigarette break on the north concourse of Gillette Stadium last night, about a dozen songs into U2's US-tour kickoff, you might've noticed two young men who were not acting like everyone else.

^{Photo by Michael Kurgansky}

I’m loath to review shows that I’ve written previews about -- after all, they put me the the position of either saying “I told you so” or apologizing for someone who didn’t live up to my own hype. But the case of Julian Lage is different. Lage’s debut solo CD, Sounding Point (Concord), was recorded in May and June of 2008, shortly after his band’s formation.