Sound Menu May 30 2001 Wed week out

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, MACY GRAY, ANGELIQUE KIDJO — Peanuts, hot dogs, Cracker Jacks ... Matthews? Even the affable superstar probably wonders how he hit enough musical home runs over the course of four pleasant but hardly league-leading albums, to become a stadium act. His jam-worthy group will look like ants marching from the upper decks. Likewise, the old-school soul/funk of Macy Gray and Kidjo’s kinetic world beat will likely see their natural charm dissipate in this cavernous environment. Turner Field (Horowitz)

THE ETHER FAMILY PRESENTS... — See Earshot. The Earl (Smith)

FEAR FACTORY, SPINESHANK, DRY KILL LOGIC, NO ONE — After 1998’s gold and critically acclaimed Obsolete, the battle between machine and man continues with Fear Factory’s spectacular Digimortal (see Record Reviews). The band is at the top of its game, proving it belongs among the metal elite. Label mates Spineshank are touring on the largely unnoticed Height of Callousness, a rave-up metal psycho blender. Dry Kill Logic are simply along for Roadrunner tour ride, still earning it’s aggro wings. Heavy Metal newcomers No One mimics Metallica by way of Korn. A blindingly heavy show sure to set you up for summer’s wave of metal shows. Masquerade (Kohler/Butler)

JANAH — This young Atlanta band has a unique sound that fuses various genres, traditions and ethnicities while taking music down their own 360 degree path. With a front man that pushes Rusted Root to the edge of U2 and a diversity of exotic instrumentation, Janah is a tough band to categorize, but an easy band to enjoy. Smith’s Olde Bar (Bethea)

CHRIS SMITHER — Smither, a solo-guitar folk-blues finger-picking/foot-stomping favorite, returns to town for another of his intense, highly entertaining performances. Blind Willie’s (Sarig)

ANDALUZ: Flamenco Company of Atlanta

ANTHONY’S SPORTS BAR: Al Brock, Charlie Kinser

BILLY’S: Heather Luttrell

BLIND WILLIE’S: Chris Smither

BRANDYHOUSE: Nitti, Sipe, Cunningham Trio

BRIDGES: Piano with Bruce

CHECKERED PARROT: Randy Harper

CHURCHILL GROUNDS JAZZ CAFE: Totally Naked Jazz with Eric Vaughn, Kenny Banks, George Grier, Kebbi Williams

CJ’S LANDING: Top of the Tree Competition with the Accusations, Jeniphoria, Nanyana

COMEAUX’S: Sal Gentile & Rick Bell

COWBOYS: Darrin Robbins, Kickback

DAILEY’S DOWNSTAIRS: Atlanta Blaze

DARK HORSE TAVERN : New Talent Night with Grounded, The Jody Blonde, August Christopher

DARWIN’S: Open Blues Jam with The Blues Barons

DEUX PLEX: Neo-soul Wednesday with Funk Transcendental

THE EARL: Ether Family Presents, True Love Always

ECLIPSE DI LUNA: Charlie Williams (acoustic swing band)

EDDIE’S ATTIC: Liquid Pie, Wes Yoakam, Libby Eason

FADO IRISH PUB: The Charms

FAT MATT’S RIB SHACK: The Electromatics

FUZZY’S: Mike Veal

THE GRAPE AT VININGS: Charles Spencer

KARMA: Cream

KAYA: Wind Down Wednesday - live jazz, spoken word, poetry

KAZOO’S: Band X

MARY’S: Music videos with DJ Jigsaw

MASQUERADE: Fear Factory, Spineshank, Dry Kill Logic, No One

METROPOLITAN PIZZA: Metropolitan Wednesdays

NOMENCLATURE MUSEUM: Reunion - featuring dark wave, ether pop and trance

NORTHSIDE TAVERN: Christmas, Oliver Wood & Jon Liebman

PEASANT UPTOWN: The Steven Charles Jazz Duo

RED LIGHT CAFE: Open-mic

SAMBUCA JAZZ CAFE: Dan Coy

SMITH’S OLDE BAR: Janah

SPORTSTIME: Karaoke

STAR BAR-L5P: Drill Team, Salome’s Wish, stb

TURNER FIELD: Dave Matthews, Macy Gray, Angelique Kidjo

VININGS INN: Ian Schumacher

VIOLETTE RESTAURANT: Jus Jazz featuring Dave Wallis, Eddie Taylor, Dan Coy, Shack Lewis, Rita Graham

Contributors to this week’s Menu are Charles Bethea, Tray Butler, John Falstaff, Hal Horowitz, Matthew Hutchinson, Hamilton Jordan, Lea Keel, James Kelly, Regan Kelly, Matthew Kohler, Gregory Nicoll, Rosemary Noelzine, Bryan Powell, Chad Radford, Justin Robertson, Roni Sarig, Lee Smith and Tony Ware.