Return to forever's reborn: DiMeola shows off his chops.

Considering our bouts with rain, flooding, high humidity and other anomalies that have marked the summer, you certainly couldn't have asked for a better evening weather-wise as the iconic fusion group Return to Forever took to the stage last Tuesday. Although this group spent a short time in the spotlight before disbanding in 1977, it reached the pinnacle of what many considered a perfect blending of rock, funk and jazz sensibilities. Only reuniting for a one-shot concert in 1983, this summer's tour would be the first for the band in 25 years.

As the band opened the show with favorites such as "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" and "Vulcan Worlds," it was apparent the audience was filled with those who had more than a casual familiarity with the vintage material. This point wasn't lost on drummer Lenny White when commenting during the one and only conversational break in the show. As he put it, "Other people have hits and everyone knows all the words. With our stuff, you all know all the notes." Still, much of the first set was slow in developing, marked by some aimless noodling by Chick Corea on his arsenal of old-school keyboards that included a Fender Rhodes and a Mini Moog. Finally, on "Song to the Pharoah Kings," things started to take shape. Both bassist Stanley Clarke and White got in solid face time with lengthy solo spots.

The second set struck a far more disparate stance and was all the more satisfying as a result. Guitarist Al DiMeola showed off his chops early on, followed by Corea's rhapsody on acoustic piano that included "Sometime Ago." This spot then morphed into a trio performance of "Green Dolphin Street" with Clarke on acoustic bass. "Romantic Warrior" was the place to pull out all the stops as Clarke slapped the strings of his bass furiously and White stretched out with a melodic solo that boasted thundering low notes, courtesy of his three large floor toms. "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant" provided a high-octane encore to wrap up the evening. Despite the mixed results, overall the evening's two generous sets provided an entertaining forum for several of music's most accomplished musicians.

Don Dixon & Marti Jones
Winchester, Saturday, June 28

The song is the building block of great pop music. Few performers have a better ear for a strong song than Canton-based husband-and-wife team Don Dixon and Marti Jones. In more than two decades each as solo performers, they've written and/or recorded dozens of them. So the 11 tunes performed by Jones, the 16 played by Dixon and his band the Jumprabbits, and the two they did as encores represented the best of the best, including their own tunes, as well as ones by writers ranging from Peter Holsapple to Nick Lowe.

Originally booked as a Don Dixon/Jumprabbits show, Jones, who doesn't perform much, was an extra treat. Backed by Dixon for a couple of songs and the whole band for the rest of her set, she skimmed the cream of her 23-year solo career, performing some of her better-known tunes such as "Life's a Game," "Hideaway," "Follow You All Over the World," and the insanely catchy "Inside These Arms," the latter featuring an intro sung by Dixon and counterpoint vocals by Dixon and Jumprabbits guitarist Jamie Hoover. Jones' and Dixon's vocals mesh as well as their personalities, their easy banter and dry wit onstage being part of their appeal. But it was Jones' voice, cool and confident and natural as breathing, that provided the slipstream through which the songs were delivered, and the band added energy to the songs while letting her vocals remain the focal point.

Dixon also always manages to find the perfect balance between rocking out and giving a song room to breathe, even though his set rocked harder. It drew heavily on his new disc, The Nu-Look, including the Beatlesque "Skinny," written by Hoover and Bill Lloyd, "Amplifer" with its Bo Diddleyish beat, a version of Jones' "Always" that he said was "more obnoxious" than hers but was in fact sweet and lilting, and the vividly wistful "The Night That Otis Died." The pensive "Why Do Children Have to Die" offered a dramatic contrast to the rest of the set, with its Indian-flavored drone and drummer Jim Brock coming from behind his kit to add feathery percussion touches and winding up the song with a solo on a single drum. The evening concluded on an upbeat note with a driving, uninhibited version of Dixon's best-known song, "Praying Mantis." - Anastasia Pantsios

Black Angels
Beachland Ballroom, Wednesday, June 25

Helped by an almost blinding strobe light and some striking visuals, the Black Angels concert was worthy of one of Ken Kesey's acid tests. The acid test of a show started when the Black Angels opened with the droning, Joy Division-like tune "Manipulation." They went on to play a number of tunes off their first album, Passover. Of the many songs the Angels played from that album, none got the crowd more frenzied than "Young Men Dead," which is pure psychedelic rock genius. Throughout the show, the band displayed its musicianship, as every member switched instruments at least once, sometimes even mid-song, and three of the five members played drums. But no one played drums better and more ferociously than Stephanie Bailey, who performed with the intensity of Dave Grohl in his Nirvana days.

"The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven" demonstrated Bailey's ability to create a rhythmic atmosphere on her own and had lead vocalist Alex Maas majestically singing, "Where do you go when heaven calls you?/What do you do/Who do you turn to?" A few songs later, the band played its most guitar-oriented songs, notably "Black Grease" which sounded as heavy as most of Jack White's riff-roaring distortion-based tunes. The band didn't forget to mix in some of its recently released tunes from Directions to See a Ghost. "Science Killer," one of the highlights, featured a brilliant African drum melody. The Angels then went on to play "Never/Ever," which is another quintessential Black Angels song that extended well past eight minutes. The Warlocks opened and played a psychedelic set that sounded similar to the Black Angels but heavier. - Ryan MacLennan