E-Mail This Article to a Friend

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7

BENEFITS

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES TO BENEFIT ROSIE’S PLACE AND SAFER is tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Northeastern University, Blackman Auditorium, 360 Huntington Ave., Boston. Tickets $15; (617) 373-2244.

AT THE CLUBS

JAZZ. After 25 years, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band show no signs of running out of steam. They began by taking New Orleans brass-band music into bebop and free jazz. But on last year’s Funeral for Friend (ropeadope), they went back to the earliest roots of their second-line sound, the Crescent City funeral parades. They’re at Harpers Ferry, 158 Brighton Avenue in Allston; call (617) 254-9743.

ELECTRONIC. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away — okay, it was at Axis sometime in the ’90s — we stumbled on a band who were far, far ahead of their time. They played ridiculous hardcore punk songs with guitars and ’80s synthesizers and had elaborate costumes and monitors blasting weird collages of Atari video games and war footage and occasionally covered Run-DMC. They might have invented electropunk-as-nostalgia-fetish-gone-to-art-school. They called themselves Institute of Technology, and they disappeared long before the rise of Le Tigre, Adult, and Tracy + the Plastics. But lo, their frontman Josh Randall — still calling himself Robotkid — has re-emerged! He’s guest-DJing at Enormous Room’s "Beat Research" residency, spinning a set of "Video Music"; not to be confused with music video, it’s stuff by folks like EBN and Coldcut who appropriate film sources to create sound collages. Afterward, Randall turns avant-VJ and drags out some of the old IT footage (Atari, breakdancing, video games) while resident DJ Flack spins. That’s at 9 p.m., and Enormous Room is at 567 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square; call (617) 491-5550.

Joe Shepard is a member of the Somerville modern-dance ensemble Hoi Polloi, a back-up dancer for the NYC electro-pop siren Heloise, and a member of Ryan Landry’s queer-theater troupe the Gold Dust Orphans. He’s also, it seems, totally psycho. At least that’s what you’d guess from "Grim Fabrications," an exhibit of his gnarly, folk-artsy fabric collages that opens at ZuZu this week. In Wendigo, New England’s answer to Bigfoot terrorizes small children; in Attack Kyoto, a half-woman/half-octopus threatens the structural integrity of a Japanese megalopolis. On a pillow! Tonight’s reception is going to be nuts too: Heloise & the Savoire-Faire Dancers (think ’80s Madonna, on a DIY budget) with the Boston underground lap-top-rap crew Big Digits and Plunge into Death, who transport Miami bass to Transylvania. That’s at 474 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square; call (617) 864-3278.

ROAD-TRIP ROCK. Providence’s Sage Francis wrecks decks with distaff battle rhymes, paranoid introspection, and literary elusiveness, like Eminem with six degrees and a head full of Fugazi’s DIY politics. After a couple of cult-making releases on the avant-friendly label Anticon and the underground-tastemaking imprint Lex, he’s got Danger Mouse (among others) making beats and indie-rocker Will Oldham singing a hook on his Epitaph debut, A Healthy Distrust. Sage is at Higher Ground (888-512-SHOW) in Burlington, Vermont, tonight; at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge for a CD-release party tomorrow; and at Toad’s Place (203-624-TOAD) in New Haven on Thursday.

OTHER LIVE SHOWS:

For the following shows, see the Club Directory for phone numbers and addresses.

BELL IN HAND TAVERN, Boston. "Tommy’s Jam Session."

BOSTON ROCKS, Boston. "Martini Mondays."

BROTHER JIMMY’S BBQ, Cambridge. At 9 p.m., "Blues Jam." Toussaint & the Liberation Band.

THE BURREN, Somerville. Front Room: At 10 p.m., "Traditional Irish Music."

CANTAB LOUNGE, Cambridge. At 8 p.m., "Geoff Bartley’s Open Mic." At 9:30 p.m., Kelly Lin Knott, Kissers.

CHARLIE’S KITCHEN, Cambridge. Fellas, Bugs & Rats, Fistfucks.

CHOPPIN’ BLOCK PUB, Boston. At 9:30 p.m., "Jazz Jam Session" with Marianne Solivan.

DICK’S LAST RESORT, Boston. Nate Watkins.

ENCORE, Boston. Clara Lofaro Quartet.

FRANKLIN CAPE ANN, Gloucester. Anthony Weller.

GREEN BRIAR, Brighton. "Irish Seisiun."

HARPERS FERRY, Allston. Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Tons of Chill.

HENNESSY’S, Boston. Joe Carson.

JACQUE’S, Boston. At 10 p.m., "TraniWreck" with Heywood Wakefield, Miss Dominica K, Mr. Lady, Donita Roxx/Sir Loins, Haiku King.

LES ZYGOMATES, Boston. Yoki Miwa.

MATT MURPHY’S, Brookline. Will Dailey.

MIDDLE EAST, Cambridge. Upstairs: Endway, Loss for Words, Blue Letter Days, A Hero Next Door.

O’BRIEN’S, Allston. Thylacine, Small Life Forms, Ultra Plush, Wisteriax.

O’CONNOR’S, Boston. Gannon Brothers.

PARADISE LOUNGE, Boston. At 7:30 p.m., "Open Mic" with James Cleare.

PURPLE SHAMROCK, Boston. Scott Damgaard.

SISSY K’S, Boston. Justin Beech.

TIR NA NOG, Somerville. Benders.

TOP OF THE HUB, Boston. Marty Ballou Trio.

VAPOR, Boston. "Piano Open Mic" with Michelle Curry.

WALLY’S CAFE, Boston. Jose Ramos & the Special Blend.

WONDER BAR, Allston. Johnny Horner/Joe McMahon Trio featuring Barry Ries.

ZUZU, Cambridge. Big Digits, Plunge into Death, Heloise & the Savoir Faire.

OTHER DJ SHOWS:

AN TUA NUA, Boston. "Ceremony," goth & industrial.

AXIS, Boston. At 10 p.m., "Static," Gay night drag show with DJ Adilson.

BLUE CAT CAFE, Boston. DJ Armen.

BRENDAN BEHAN PUB, Jamaica Plain. "Sonic Ginger," down tempo lounge and dub with DJs Martini and Ah Dub.

ENORMOUS ROOM, Cambridge. At 9 p.m., "Beat Research: Video Music" with VJ Robotkid and DJ Flack.

THE E ROOM AT THE GOLDEN TEMPLE, Brookline. House and acid jazz with DJ Johan Van Cauwenberghe.

PHOENIX LANDING, Cambridge. "Makka Mondays," Hip-Hop and Reggae with DJs Voyager :01, Uppercut, and Blackfinger

RIVER GODS, Cambridge. "Weekly Wax."

TOAST, Somerville. "Industry Night."

VERTIGO, Boston. "The Movement," deep house, house, and progressive with DJ Eric Santangelo.

COMEDY

COMEDY CONNECTION, Boston. At 8 p.m., "Amateur Showcase" with Kevin Knox.

KENNEDY’S, Boston. "Comedy Night."

CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS

Well, if the BSO can serve up Richard Strauss with a side of puppets, then we suppose we can’t fault Boston Musica Viva for serving up Francis Poulenc’s Babar the Elephant with guest narration from Bob McGrath, the bell-toned singing neighbor from Sesame Street. Bob will also narrate the world premiere of local composer Michael Gandolfi’s The Piper’s Tale, which is based on the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. That’s at BU’s Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $22; call (617) 354-6910.

YURA LEE gives a violin recital at 8 p.m. at Jordan Hall, 33 Gainsborough St., Boston. Free; (617) 585-1122.

DANCE/PARTICIPATORY

BULGARIAN/BALKAN DANCING is at 7:30 p.m. at Green Street Studios, 185 Green St., Cambridge. Tickets $12; (617) 840-2362.

GREEK FOLK DANCE is at 7 p.m. at the Hellenic Cultural Center, 25 Bigelow Ave., Watertown. Suggested donation $10; (617) 491-5463.

HAVANA CLUB MAMBO MONDAY SALSA DANCE is at 9:30 p.m. at Green Street Grill, 280 Green St., Cambridge. Tickets $8; (617) 312-5550.

HAVANA CLUB SALSA is at 9 p.m. at Ryles Jazz Club, 212 Hampshire St., Cambridge. Tickets $10; (617) 312-5550.

ISRAELI FOLK DANCE is from 8 p.m. to midnight at Temple Kehillath Israel, 384 Harvard Ave., Brookline. Tickets $4, $3 for students; (617) 484-4282.

NEW ENGLAND SQUARES AND CONTRAS features music by Yankee Ingenuity at 7:30 p.m. at the Scout House, 74 Walden St., Concord. Tickets $7; (781) 272-0396.

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE is at 7:45 p.m. at Springstep, 98 George P. Hassett Dr., Medford. Tickets $7, $4 for students; (617) 661-5899.

SWING ARLINGTON is at 9 p.m. (with lessons at 6:45 and 7:45 p.m.) at Elks Dance Hall, 56 Pond Lane, Arlington. Tickets $10 before 9 p.m., $6 after; (617) 623-3134.

DINING & WINING

It was a long, hard day, and the weekend seems so far away. You need to wash away your Monday woes with some fine wines. Hell, bring the whole work crew to Croma (269 Newbury Street, Boston) for its new Wine Mondays. Every Monday, you can enjoy fine vintages from a featured region alongside Croma’s signature gourmet thin-crust pizzas, all for a mere $25. Four different wines and accompaniments will be sniffed, swirled, snacked upon, and swigged, and discourse on each wine is encouraged. Tonight’s featured country is Italy, appropriately enough. Reservations are required, so call ahead at (617) 247-3200.

GAY & LESBIAN

LESBIAN RAP is at 7:30 p.m. at the Women’s Center, 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge. Free; (617) 354-8807.

LIVING ART GROUP for lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer women, 13-25, is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Boston GLASS Community Center, 93 Mass Ave., 3rd floor, Boston. Free; (617) 266-3349.

SPEAKEASY DISCUSSION GROUP FOR LGBT YOUNG ADULTS 18-25 is at 7 p.m. at Boston GLASS Community Center, 93 Mass. Ave., third floor, Boston. Free; (617) 266-3349.

READINGS & LECTURES

Whether he’s revealing the chasms of difference that hang in the nuance between "choking" and panicking or elaborating a theory of trends as social "viruses," the New Yorker’s Malcolm Gladwell has a knack for boiling down big, complex analyses into portable, condensed-soup cubes: his prose is dotted with "Eureka!’ moments where he allows you to feel as if you’d solved some cryptic problem all on your own. He’s become one of those writers who seems able to explain just about anything, and tonight at 6:30 p.m. he’s at the First Unitarian Church, 3 Church Street in Harvard Square, to discuss his new Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Brown, Little). (Jon Garelick’s review is on the "Books" page of this site.) The reading is free; call the Harvard Book Store at (617) 661-1515.

GRUB STREET RIOT ACT OPEN MIC is at 7 p.m. at Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St., Somerville. Free; (617) 776-2004.

SOUTH BOSTON POETRY SLAM is at 8 p.m. at the Farragut House, P. and 6th St., South Boston. Tickets $5; (617) 269-7090.

STONE SOUP POETRY OPEN MIC with Jack Powers is at 8 p.m. at Out of the Blue Gallery, 106 Prospect St., Cambridge. Suggested donation $4; (617) 227-0845.

BARBARA SUTTON reads from her The Send-Away Girl at 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 56 Brattle St., Cambridge. Tickets $3; (617) 547-6789 ext. 1.

JOE TORRA reads from his My Ground trilogy at 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 56 Brattle St., Cambridge. Tickets $3; (617) 547-6789 ext. 1.

"FIRST STEP: PERSONAL LOCAL/GLOBAL CHOICES" is a discussion with Deborah Bial, Ronnie Levin, George Okrah, and Farrah Raskin at 7 p.m. at Brandeis University, Rappaporte Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library, South St., Waltham. Free; (781) 736-8577.

"THE FUTURE OF JAZZ IN BOSTON, PART 2" is a discussion with Christopher Lydon, Donal Fox, Gary Giddins, Roger Brown, Ann McQueen, and Bob Blumenthal at 6:30 p.m. at the Regattabar, Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St., Cambridge. Free; (857) 544-0739.