On Stage: Put on your ‘Kinky Boots’

Also: Metal in Chinatown, young local artists at The Flash

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times

With the arrival of warmer temperatures, many people are thinking that it’s time for sandals. Fans of musical theater, on the other hand, know that it’s time for boots — “Kinky Boots.”

“Kinky Boots” is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winner Cyndi Lauper and a book by Tony-winner Harvey Fierstein. The Broadway production opened in 2013 and scored well at the Tony Awards — 13 nominations and six wins, including Best Musical and Best Score for Lauper.

Now on National Tour in addition to Broadway, “Kinky Boots” has arrived in Philadelphia and will run through May 10 at the Forrest Theatre (1114 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 800-447-7400, http://www.forrest-theatre.com).

The inspirational story, which is actually a true story, tells the tale of a shoe factory owner facing bankruptcy who works to turn his business around with help from Lola, a fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos.

“Kinky Boots” is based on the 2005 British film of the same name which was inspired by a 1999 episode of the BBC2 documentary television series “Trouble at the Top.” It followed the story of Steve Pateman, who was struggling to save his family-run shoe factory from closure and decided to produce fetish footwear for men.

The show is lively, colorful, fast-paced and highly entertaining. The touring production showcases stellar young actors who can sing, dance and nail their roles. And, it is fueled by an evening’s worth of great songs by Lauper.

The cast features Steven Booth as Charlie Price, Grace Stockdale as his fiancée Nicola and Kyle Taylor Parker with a show-stopping performance as Lola.

“Cyndi was there for the rehearsals,” said Grace Stockdale, during a recent phone interview from a tour stop in Cleveland. “She was there all the time — discussing the way her music should feel. She’s a wonderful lady.

“I was a senior at Ithaca College and we had to do a showcase in New York. The audition for ‘Kinky Boots’ was the day after my showcase back in March 2014. I went for the audition and then kept getting callbacks. I was in the city for three weeks doing callbacks. It took months to reach fruition.

“I had never seen the show before I auditioned for it. I knew it had won a lot of Tonys and I was a big fan of Billy Porter (who played Lola on Broadway) and Harvey Feinstein. I did all the research I could do even though the audition was a last-minute thing.”

As Nicola, Stockdale does not get to be one of the audience’s favorite characters.

“Don and I are the antagonists,” said Stockdale. “She’s Charlie’s fiancée. She’s a very driven woman — very materialistic and a bit selfish. She doesn’t support Charlie in his endeavor and tries to sell the factory.

“The show has a great ending — and a great message. The message of the show us so universal — if you change your mind about someone you’re judging, that is what will change the world. It shows that anyone is capable of changing and being accepting.”

Video link for VBroadway musical “Kinky Boots” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UHs5b5F7mIQ.

Tickets for “Kinky Boots” at the Forrest Theatre range from $57-$152.

There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind with regards to what to expect from the show at the Trocadero (1003 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 215- 922-6888, www.thetroc.com) on April 30 when the venue in Chinatown hosts Testament’s Dark Roots of Thrash II tour.

Billed as “the greatest heavy metal tour of 2015,” the tour will include support from fellow Bay Area-thrashers Exodus and Texas melodic metal band Shattered Sun.

Testament, which features Chuck Billy (vocals), Eric Peterson (guitar), Alex Skolnick (guitar), Steve Di Giorgio (bass) and Gene Hoglan (drums), will perform an exclusive new set list, including two albums in their entirety — “The Legacy” (1987) and “The New Order” (1988) along with select tracks from the “Practice What You Preach” (1989) album.

“We had been trying to put a Bay Area package but it didn’t quite work out,” said Billy, during a recent phone interview from his home in northern California. “Us and Exodus have the same booking agent and our schedules were open. Touring together is something we’ve talked about for 20 years and finally it happened. There is a lot of history between the bands bit we’ve never toured together before.

“We’re playing two albums in their entirety. We tried playing each album front-to-back but it didn’t work right. So, we had to mix it up a little bit. The first record had too many songs that sounded alike.”

After 25 years, the songs as played now are recognizable but also different.

“When we recorded them, we tuned them a lot different,” said Billy, a Native American who is a member of the Pomo tribe. “Now, they’re tuned more natural to the way my voice sounds now. When you start playing them together as a set, there is definitely a different type of rhythm. We all have 25 years of performing them so the songs open up a lot.”

Testament dates back to 1983 when the band was initially known as Legacy — which is also the title of Testament’s debut album in 1987.

“At our very first show on this tour, there was a meet-and-greet and we met a grandfather, father and son who had come to the show together,” said Billy. “That’s always cool — looking across generations. It shows me to be grateful for what I’ve been able to do.”

Testament’s most recent album is “Dark Roots of the Earth,” which was released on Nuclear Blast Records in July 2012.

“We’re writing songs for the next album but we’ve not gotten into the studio yet,” said Billy. “Alex lives in New York. Gene lives in San Diego and Eric is in Sacramento. It’s a big task just to get the guys together.

“With our songwriting, Eric will come up with the riff and and I’ll come up with vocals I like. I think Eric always tries to come up with something different. That keeps me on my toes — helps with my creativity.”

Exodus is also one of the oldest metal bands around. Formed in 1980 in Richmond, California, Exodus’ current line-up features Steve “Zetro” Souza (vocals), Gary Holt (guitars), Lee Altus (guitars), Jack Gibson (bass) and Tom Hunting (drums).

Zetro was Testament’s vocalist from 1983-1986 and was replaced by Billy. He and Billy are also have their own band called Dublin Death Control, which released its most recent album “Death Sentence” in 2012. Zetro has had three stints as vocalist for Exodus — 1986-1993, 2002-2004 and 2014-present.

“I just rejoined Exodus last June,” said Zetro, during a recent phone interview. “They were thinking about using a new singer and I was asked to come back. I also have my own thrash band Hatriot.

“Thrash has changed a little over the years but it’s always kept its edge. It’s always been raw. All the bands on this tour write great songs. They’re all really delivering.”

Nine months ago, Exodus released its 10^th album “Blood In, Blood Out” — also on Nuclear Blast Records.

“Our new record is great,” said Zetro. “I only wrote one song on ‘Blood In, Blood Out.’ They had it pretty much written already when I rejoined the band. We didn’t just go through the motions when making the album.

“You always have to be heavy. If you stay heavy, everything else will fall into place. If you’re in the audience, you get to be part of the show — 15,000 people crushing each other. When we play, I want to see people move. With our current show we hit all the bases. The first couple records were staples. That’s where the band was built.

“A lot of metal bands have two vocalists but not us. I’ve never really been a fan of clean vocals along with dirty vocals. Some are good so I won’t knock it down. It’s just a part of the revolution. But, I prefer rock like Lemmy (Kilmister, bassist and vocalist for Motörhead).

“Exodus has 30 years history and 10 records. We’re very fortunate to have survived. Every day, I’m very grateful I’m still doing this. I never take anything for granted. And, I’m singing better now than I ever have.”

Shattered Sun is a metal band featuring Marcos Leal (vocals), Daniel Trejo (guitar), Jessie Santos (guitar), Joseph Guajardo (bass), Robert Garza (drums) and Henry Garza (keyboards, samples). The band hails from Alice, Texas — a small town near Corpus Christi. These musicians are also grateful for what music has allowed them to do.

“We believe in each other,” said Leal, during a recent phone interview. “If we can make it out of Alice, there is hope for all musicians.

“Alice is a small town just off the oil field. We all worked on oil rigs until just recently. We didn’t take seven days on/seven days off like a lot of the workers. We’d work six days from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. and we still played gigs. We’d rehearse in the evenings and play shows on the weekends.

“Daniel and me started the band in 2005. At the start, we’d play places and get paid in pizza and beer. All of us except Jesse went to the same high school. We’ve all known each other since we were kids and we started playing instruments when we were 10.

“In 2011, we had to pick which road we walked. We made the decision to follow the dream. We signed with Breaking Bands management. Then, we found Victory. They believed in us as a band and individually.”

On February 5, 2015, Shattered Sun announced that the band had been signed to Victory Records and would be releasing its debut album “Hope within Hatred” on April 21.

“When we went in the studio to do the album, we just knew that we wanted to make a great record,” said Leal. “We recorded it at Precision Studio in Corpus Christi. Victory loved the album just the way we recorded it. The album is well-rounded and diverse.”

Video link for Testament — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-O3dxUXl-qE.

The all-ages show at the Trocadero will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance and $27 day of show.

On May 2, The Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) will host a special evening of music billed as “Young Stars of the Flash” with Nalani & Sarina as the headliners.

Nalani & Sarina are twin sisters Nalani and Sarina Bolton — singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists from Flemington, New Jersey.

When audiences hear Nalani & Sarina perform, they invariably are impressed with the sisters’ cohesion and harmony — and their musical versatility. Audience members are usually also left wondering just how the sisters, who recently turned 21, became such talented and seasoned musicians at such a young age.

With roots based in rhythm-and-blues, soul and rock, the sisters create vocal harmonies that only twins can make.

“We’re sonically alike and there is this telepathy,” said Sarina, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from their home in Flemington, New Jersey. “We’ll be singing a new song and when one of us gravitates to a harmony, the other knows exactly where to go. We’ve been singing together ever since we were three. Being twin sisters, there was nothing else to do. We started singing professionally when we were 15.”

Nalani, who, like her sister, plays acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards and ukulele said, “We’re identical twins. We graduated early from Hunterdon Central High a few years ago and we’ve been doing music ever since. Actually, we both started playing classical piano when were six and then studied operatic vocals when we were in sixth grade.

“Classical music and opera provided good basics for us. And, our mom was a folkie so we listened to a lot of folk music when we were young — great songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. We joined a folk band in our early high school years. And, we’ve listened to a lot of classic rock. We do a lot of hard rock covers– Led Zep, AC/DC, Ramones — but we do it on ukulele.”

The sisters’ first recording they released was an EP titled “Carriage House Sessions” and they followed with an LP last year titled “Lessons Learned.” The first single from the new EP was “We’ll Be Free,” which they issued on March 16. The second was “Runaway,” which came out April 22 and the third single is slated for release any day now. The EP will come out in June.

“We recorded the new EP at Carriage House in Connecticut,” said Sarina. “Most of the pre-production was done at Julian Herzfeld’s studio in Wayne. “We used a lot of the same musicians that were on the album — Will Lee on bass, Jim Pines on drums, Oscar Rofriguez on guitar, Tommy Mandell on organ and Leni Stern on guitar.

“Adding musicians in the studio brought an awesome amount of energy. We play live shows in New York with this band so we wanted to get the same sound in the studio. It challenges us having other musicians play with us.

“We have conversations with them through the music. They’re so great with taking directions. They knew exactly what we wanted — what our vision was. Playing with them is a different kind of energy.”

The twins were very familiar with the songs by the time they brought them to the studio.

“We had played all the songs live at least once before we recorded them,” said Nalani. “We always road test songs to see how they go over with the audience.”

Sarina said, “They’re all new songs — all of them written in the last few months. We had a new approach this time. The songs on our last album were based on personal experiences. This time, it’s other people’s stories – more of a world-wide approach. The new EP has more of an emphasis on lyrics.”

Nalani said. “It was a different experience taking on other people’s stories. It was sort of like playing God — writing stories about characters and deciding what they do. Some of the stories were based on friend and others were based on fictional characters.”

Sarina said, “When you’re writing in the third person, you’re able to go anywhere you want. When you’re writing about personal experiences, you can get too attached. We treated each song as a separate piece of work.”

Video link for Nalani & Sarina — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8hmACguaTvs

The show Saturday night at The Flash will also feature Amanda Nolan, a 14- year-old singer/songwriter from West Grove; Valerie West; Grace Otley (Miss Delaware Teen); Rock & Roll After School SuperGroup; and Richards Guitar Studio. Tickets are $10 in advance and $14 day of show.

On May 1, The Flash will present singer-songwriter Chris Bruni as the headliner and Chelsea Berry as the opening act.

There will be music to satisfy almost any taste at venues in Philadelphia this weekend — from the mellow sounds of singer-songwriter Emily Hearn to the raucous music of the Meatmen and from the Moorish griot music of Noura Mint Seymali to the Americana offerings of Spuyten Duyvil.

Hearn, who hails from Athens, Georgia, will be performing at the World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com). The 25-year-old singer has released four records so far — “Paper Heart” EP in 2010, “Red Balloon” in 2012, “Promises” EP in 2013 and “Hourglass” in March 2015.

“I recorded the new album in Norman, Oklahoma,” said Hearn, during a recent phone interview from her Georgia home. “I recorded the album with my husband Michael Harrison. When I’m on tour, it’s just me on guitar and vocals and Michael on bass. We’re trying to make it work as a two-man band.

“All my albums blend together. To me, the new one seems like a progression. The songwriting and singing have stayed the same but we built this record around a designated part. It was a little bit different approach.”

On the road, Hearn sticks with guitar but she adds piano when she’s in the recording studio.

“I played piano before I played guitar,” said Hearn, who studied journalism at the University of Georgia. “I wrote 10 of the album’s 12 songs on guitar and two on piano. We were on tour at the time. It was my longest tour — four months.

“I wanted to write for the album but I wasn’t inspired. When it was time, I wrote down ideas and journaled. In the past, I wrote a lot about relationships. This time, I wanted to tackle different types of songs. The first song I wrote was ‘Oak Tree’ when we were in Michigan. When I finally got that song out, I felt like a path was opened.

“The new songs are about the passage of time and how it affects us. It deals with lots of questions and reconciling everything with how you expected and how they really are. For me, it’s been a really good experience.

“On this tour, most of my set is from the new album. But, I also do two songs from my older albums. I’m Opening for Tyler Wells so I only have a half-hour set.”

Video link for Emily Hearn — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PCxdvMnhRts.

The show at the World Café Live, which also features Dominic Balli, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14.

The Meatmen, who will be performing at Kung Fu Necktie (1250 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, 215- 291-4919, http://kungfunecktie.com), are a band with history and hysteria. The constant factor in the band since it began in 1981 is frontman/founder Tesco Vee.

“We’re considered to be a punk band but we’re more,” said Vee, during a recent phone imnterview from his home in Michigan. “What’s cool with the Meatmen is that I’m not limited in my music or my lyrics. I was raided on prog rock, metal and punk. I’m not restricted.

“I can do what I want. I can say what I want. I like to make people laugh. I like to get people pissed off. I’m like a punk rock Don Rickles. I play on the crowd and do what I do — being Tesco Vee.”

The Meatmen, who have had more than 30 different band members over the course of 34 years, have released seven studio albums starting with “War of the Superbikes” in 1985. They have over a dozen EPs to their credit and have also released a number of compilation albums. The most recent studio album is “Savaga Sagas” in 2014.

“The line-up we have now has been together about three years,” said Vee, who has built a reputation as an iconoclastic performer. “We recorded ‘Savage Sagas’ in 2013. It took awhile. I call it climbing a mountain. It started two years ago with songs banging around in my cranium.

“The album came out May last year and we toured the whole country except Florida and the South. And, we also had a European tour. Now, we’re doing the East Coast again

“We’ve been getting a younger audience. We had a show in Santa Clara (CA) the other night and had all these college girls in front of the stage. We’re not just playing to old, bald dudes with GG Allin t-shirts — not that there’s anything wrong with old, bald dudes with GG Allin t-shirts — but it’s nice that we’re playing to a diverse audience.”

One of the Meatmen’s more interesting songs is “Pain Principal.” It was written about Jay Smith, the former principal of Upper Merion High School who was convicted of murdering Upper Merion teacher Susan Reinert and her two daughters. Smith spent six years on death row before his conviction was overturned on the ground that the judge had erred by allowing hearsay evidence.

“We moved to King of Prussia and I spent grades 9-11 at Upper Merion High,” said Vee. “My dad was superintendent of the Upper Merion School District. I was on the crew team in ninth grade and in the marching band all three years. After three years, we moved to Michigan and I’ve been there ever since.

“For this tour, we have Against the Grain as the opening band. We found them in 2011 and showed them the ropes. They’re a killer band.”

The show at Kung Fu Necktie, which also features The Warning Shots and Action Man, will start at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15.

While it’s a bit strange that a band from Michigan revolves around a musician who performed at Sixers games as part of a marching band, it’s a lot stranger that the drummer in a band from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a Delaware Valley native who graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia.

When Noura Mint Seymali and her band perform at Crossroads-Calvary Center (801 South 48th Street, Philadelphia, crossroadsconcerts.org), Matthew Tinari will be playing drums.

“I’m living in Dakar (capitol of Senegal) and the rest of the band is from Nouakchott (capitol of Mauritania),” said Tinari, during a phone interview Monday evening. “I went to Oberlin College. After I graduated, I got a scholarship to study Wolof (the language of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania) in Senegal.”

Tinari has been providing the beat for Seymali and her band for several years.

“The band has been together in its current formation for about four years,” said Tinari. “Noura and Jeiche (her husband Jeiche Ould Chighaly) got married 18 years ago and have been playing traditional music ever since.

“They draw on traditional music but, in 2004, they started trying fusion music. There was no-one else doing it. There is a vibrant traditional space but beyond that was open space. Noura’s father (Seymali Ould Ahmed Vall, a seminal scholar figure in Mauritanian music) was supportive of a more dynamic vision of expanding traditional music. What we’re doing is modernizing it. But, we also have songs that are straight traditional. We also found ourselves in the position of being the only band from Mauritania that is touring.”

Seymali was born into a prominent line of Moorish griot and began her career at age 13 as a supporting vocalist with her step-mother, the legendary Dimi Mint Abba.  Trained in instrumental technique by her grandmother, Mounina, Seymali mastered the ardine, a nine-string harp reserved only for women.

Jeiche, a master of the tidinit, brings the force of yet another important line of Moorish griot. He has been translating the tidinit’s intricate phrasing to a modified electric guitar. In addition to his work with Seymali, Jeiche remains one of Nouakchott’s most sought-after guitarists for traditional ceremonies.

Seymali released two albums — “Tarabe” (2006) and “El Howl” (2010) — which were only released locally in Mauritania. “Tzenni,” the band’s first full-length album for the international market, was release on Gliiterbeat Records last year. Tinari’s drumming figured prominently in the music.

“As a drummer, the drum parts I write are based on traditional rhythms,” said Tinari. “I use a bass drum called a t’beul and a high hat that is actually a metal plate. The rhythm is called gangesh.”

Video link for Noura Mint Seymali — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jENMcnDs5yo.

The Noura Mint Seymali show is scheduled to get underway at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20.

Spuyten Duyvil, who return to the area for a show at Burlap and Bean Coffeehouse (204 South Newtown Street Road, Newtown Square, 484-427-4547, www.burlapandbean.com) are one of the country’s most highly-regarded Americana bands.

But, they are far from your average traditional band. Spuyten Duyvil play American roots music with its own distinctive swagger. While most Americana music is like decaf coffee, Spuyten Duyvil’s music is like a double-caffeinated espresso.

Their brand of original and traditional American roots music is an amalgamation of blues, folk, old-time, “Second Line,” folk-rock and bluegrass — served with the punch of a rousing rock band. The six-piece group is led by songwriting couple, Mark Miller and Beth Kaufman.

“Spuyten Duyvil started off as a front porch jam session — fire up the barbecue, gather the neighbors and play music,” said Miller, during a recent phone interview from Yonkers. “Before we knew it, there was a band. The jam sessions started back in 2002. The band actually started playing gigs in 2008.”

Kaufman said, “The real breakthrough for us was being accepted as emerging artists at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in 2009. That got us some notice. A lot of regional promoters come to the festival. After that, we started doing showcases. And, each record has helped us take the next step up to a larger venue.”

The band, which is based in the Hudson Valley, recently released its third full-length CD “The Social Music Hour, Vol. 1” — an album that immediately received rotation on SiriusXM’s “The Village.”

“The songs on our first two albums were primarily originals,” said Miller. “The new CD is all traditional songs. Traditional music has always been at the heart of the music we play. We’ve always played a lot of traditional songs in our live shows. It tends to be simple in form. Traditional songs that survive touch on the human condition. They’re very powerful.”

Kaufman said, “As a band, we take pride in how we’ve done traditional songs in the past — making them fresh and contemporary.

“When we made the new album, we started with about 400 possible songs and listened to them all. Then, we whittled it down to 40 or 50 that we played and tried — songs that are recognizable to the audience. Then, our criteria was — is there something we can do with the osng that is different?”

Video link for Spuyten Duyvil — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=PL6382FF7E54FCDDEE&v=NmWYqNtRLBc.

The show at Burlap and Bean, which has Rivers as the opening band, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. On May 1, the venue will host Matthew Mayfield with Ruut as the opening act.

On May 4, Your Favorite Enemies will play a show at Underground Arts: Black Box (1200 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia, http://undergroundarts.org).

Formed in Montreal in 2006 by Alex Foster (vocals), Jeff Beaulieu (guitar), Sef (guitar), Ben Lemelin (bass), Miss Isabel (keyboards) and Charles “Moose” Allicie (drums), Your Favorite Enemies is a rock band that plays a blend of noise, psych, prog, shoegaze and art-punk. Its new album is “Between Illness And Migration”?

“We recorded the album in 2013,” said Beaulieu, during a recent phone interview from his home in Quebec. “We recorded the album in our own studio. We bought a former catholic church close to Montreal five years ago. There is a part in the middle that is round and we converted it to a recording studio.

“We like to record live. For this album, the moments were so powerful. We realized how music is about the moments. A vibe is so powerful and perfect, if you try to replicate it, it isn’t as good. Some songs had been following us for awhile.

“Half of the album’s songs — maybe more — were created during jamming or sessions just prior to making the album. The band had been having problems. We gathered together the six of us and it was do-or-die. So many great songs came out of a scream of despair.”

Fortunately, the band was able to overcome growing pains and other ailments that threatened its existence.

“For us, the band started quite quickly,” said Beaulieu. “Sometimes, you lose perspective. For us, the band has always been much more than just melodies or songs. It’s deeper than that. We always put pressure on that we can touch something real.

“It took us maybe two months or three months. We had an appointment with engineer John Agnelli to mix the album so we had a deadline. We had a tight schedule. We had to do it. We created the time limitations and used them to our advantage.

“We’ve released the album in Japan and then a little later we put it out in Europe in Canada. We’re hoping to release the album in America in the fall. It’s more about creating a name for ourselves. We want to make some fans in the United States and then release the album there.”

Your Favorite Enemies is currently in America for a month-long tour with …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. After each show, the band will be offering fans a free copy of the EP “A Vision Of The Lights We’re In.” The EP features select tracks from the “Between Illness And Migration” along with the new song “Yūnagi”.

“We want people to hear us so we’re giving the EP away,” said Beaulieu. “We really excited to be able to start fresh. We know there will be a different vibe in each city.”

Video link for Your Favorite Enemies — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eecaiwwGH7Q.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. for the show at Underground Arts: Black Box with tickets for the show priced at $15.

The Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043, www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com) will present Rob Dickenson & Band’s Get Right Show with Rat Adkins on May 1and Marshall Crenshaw with Cliff Hillis on May 2.

Chaplin’s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110, http://chaplinslive.com) will have Knightlife, Lucky 3, The Jumpin Juvies and Overfield on May 1 and Alimony’s Farewell Show, Eunoia and Terrell Atrophy on May 2.

Melodies Café (2 East Ardmore Avenue, Ardmore, 610-645-5269, www.melodiescafe.com) will host Big Hoax, Rivers and Jason McGovern on April 30, Maddie Hogan and Liam Lynch on May 1, and Justin Traywick, Chelsea Berry and Matthew Ryan on May 2.

The Grand Opera House (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-652-5577, www.thegrandwilmington.org) will host Marc Roberge on April 30, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra on May 1 and Kids in the Hall on May 3.

The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com) presents Ms. Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton on April 30 and the Mavericks on May 1.