Mike D’s Top 5 Can’t Miss Shows of August 1. Monday, August 18: “Tunes on the Dunes” with Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds; Free!; 6 to 8pm; All ages; Westerly Town Beach. Here we are in August and once again summer is almost over. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I accomplished very little. I know nothing about this music series, but I know it’s very to close to the beach. Beach, outdoor music, one last chance at redeeming summer. Sister Sparrow are an eight-piece funk / soul act hailing from Brooklyn and seem like they would be perfect in at sunset. So where should one get dinner in Westerly? As a true Rhode Islander, I’ve never been — too far to not have a casino. 2. Tuesday, August 19: Arcade Fire, Antibalas, Dan Deacon; $40 and up?; 7pm; All ages; XFinity Center (GREAT WOODS), Mansfield, Mass. What price were tickets set at? No clue. Clicking on the venue’s site directs you to the Ticket Liquidator. Thanks for everything, Ticketmaster. Anyway, being a fan of Arcade Fire is much like being a fan of Kanye West in that you have to consistently be an apologist for their actions and words. And this tour has ruffled some feathers with the band’s instructions that patrons should wear formal attire or costume. I will be wearing my iron-on tuxedo t-shirt to the 15,000 plus Mansfield costume ball. The huge crowd should be an excellent contrast in high concept art piece meets suburb culture. Maybe I will dress up my red Solo cup for the parking lot as well. 3. Sunday, August 24: Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, The Raskins; Xfinity Center (GREAT WOODS), Mansfield, Mass. Finally, a farewell tour to Motley Crue. I have never been to a Crue show, and I most likely did myself a disservice by not seeing them in the heyday. Not entirely sure I recommend the show, but here’s notice to all those who, like me, did want to see them at some point. Regardless of it being 2014, Crue and Alice Cooper should deliver some fantastic circus-type atmosphere. And for all those who wish they had and still refuse to see them in 2014, I recommend reading The Dirt, the band’s first-person tell-all of their sordid and almost ludicrous adventures from humble beginning to the furthest thing from and on top of the rock world. It is the best autobiography of a rock band I have ever read hands down, and enjoyable regardless of whether you like the band or not. 4. Wednesday, September 3: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist; $32; 7pm; All ages; House Of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St., Boston, Mass. The two best hip-hop turntablists of the ’90s/early 2000s are touring together for the first time since 2008. DJ Shadow broke into the mainstream with his 1996 debut full- length record Endtroducing, a masterpiece in samples and made Time Magazine‘s Top 100 All Time Albums (and my top 10 all time records as well). Cut Chemist came to popularity working with funk act Ozomatli and hip-hop act Jurassic 5 in the ’90s. The two collaborated on the 1999 self released Brainfreeze and 2001’s Product Placement. Both showcase not only the depth of their collective record collection with samples of obscure soul and hip-hop, but stand as the benchmark for the flux of mix artists to come. Do yourself a favor and pay the large cover for this one. 5. Sunday September 7th; Wavves; $16.50 advance / $20 day of; 6:30pm doors / 7:30pm show; All ages; The Met, 1005 Main St., Pawtucket. Psych surf punk stoner favorites Wavves return to Rhode Island for the first time in almost four years. They are playing a few dates on what seem to be warm-ups on their way out to Riot Fest in Chicago. Since their last time into town, they released Afraid Of Heights in 2013, a record that shows great leaps forward in song writing and recording, but still doesn’t entirely take itself seriously. The record grows on you with each additional play and spent the entire summer in my car player last year. Not only are Wavves one of my favorite bands of this decade, they are at their best live. Dinosaur Jr. Brings the Raw, Brutal Power of Rock & Roll The original lineup of Dinosaur Jr. came through a packed Met last Friday to pump some loud guitar music into the veins of local residents. Consisting of guitarist J.Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph, the band pioneered a high-octane, guitar- heavy sound in the mid-80s that was a precursor to the grunge explosion of the 90s. The show was originally supposed to be headlined by King Buzzo of the Melvins, but in a fortuitous turn of events, Dinosaur was added to the bill, turning this show into one of the concert events of the summer. The band split in the late in the late ’90s, but the original lineup mended their famously fractured relationship in the mid-2000s and hit the ground running, making new music. And unlike many of their contemporaries, their new material has held up compared to the band’s golden age. The show was kicked off by solo guitarist Mary Halveston, whose solo set included a number of diverse pieces. She incorporated elements of jazz, classical and distorted rock riffs to create a unique sound to effectively build the anticipation. Buzz Osborne, a.k.a King Buzzo, frontman of metal legends The Melvins, took his turn next. Armed with just an acoustic guitar, he performed a mix of songs from his new album, This Machine Kills Artists and old Melvins tunes. There are few people who could command a room with just an acoustic guitar and vocals; his songs employed the punishing, down-tuned doom riffs he’s known for, and his voice boomed so loudly that even the people drinking outside were forced to take notice. Dinosaur kicked off their set with the last thing I expected to hear: “Bulbs of Passion,” the first track from their debut album Dinosaur, which contrasts quiet, ambient verses with distorted, metal choruses aided by Barlow’s screaming. It was a good way to punish the audience’s ears right off the bat. Dinosaur Jr. is the loudest band I’ve ever seen, by a considerable margin. The stage was dominated by Mascis’ three full Marshall stacks, which, as you can probably imagine, make the guitar’s volume deafening. And, of course, the volume of the other instruments has to be increased to compete, so the whole thing just ends up being ludicrously, gloriously loud. There are some who may be thinking: That’s totally absurd! Why would anyone need three full stacks? But I say the more stacks the better! The heightened sensitivity of a lot of today’s indie music is great and all, but sometimes it’s great to just sit back and bask in the raw, brutal power of rock & roll. J. Mascis has admitted outright that their songs are pretty much “just build up to the guitar solo,” and watching the master at work is the best part about their live show. He just stands there, hardly even changing his facial expressions while his fingers skate around the neck, creating roaring, distorted madness like only he can. The other members are no slouches either; Barlow frantically strummed his Rickenbacker Lemmy-style, and Murph’s blazing-fast fills were as clean as ever. You’re Living All Over Me, which came out in 1987 and is thought by many to be their best album, was very well represented in the set, with songs like “The Lung,” “Raisins,” “Tarpit,” “In a Jar,” and their cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.” The band also tore through their ’90s radio hits “Start Choppin” and “Feel the Pain” and post-reunion singles “Pieces” and “Watch the Corners.” The band even brought it back to the early ’80s, playing a song called “Training Ground” by Barlow and Mascis’s hardcore band Deep Wound that’s “about how school sucks.” The highlight had to be their encore, the fan favorite “SludgeFeast,” with the crowd going into circle pit frenzy. My only complaint: It’s great that the band regularly plays the crowd-pleasers, but they seem to cycle through the same songs during every show. With such a large catalog, Dino could really expand their setlists into something a little more comprehensive. The concert may have killed a few brain cells, but it was totally worth it to see a band that is showing no signs of slowing down. FringePVD Brings Work on the Fringe Into the Fold The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society was founded in 1958 to accommodate the influx of artists and performers who tended to appear around the edges of the traditional Edinburgh Festival, unannounced and unplanned. Instead of discouraging these performers from dropping in, they were incorporated into the event in the slightly anarchic spirit of the performers themselves. The Fringe was purposefully formalized, but unorganized with “no artistic director and … shaped by the very initiative and vision of performers willing to showcase their work here.” Many American cities have embraced the Fringe ethos and now curate annual Fringe Festivals of their own, encouraging artists to present their work, unvetted, but loosely organized to maximize exposure and impact. Providence now joins the fray and announces its very own Fringe Festival as The Wilbury Theatre Group announces the 1st annual FringePVD, to be held July 24 through July 26, 2014.