And the winner is ...
There are plenty of reasons you should attend tonight's Boston Music Awards at the Wang Theatre. There are performances from Tracy Bonham, Rubyhorse, Bleu (left), and the Dresden Dolls, plus appearances from Godsmack and the Celtics' Walter McCarty. But the primary reason you should drop in on this swellegant soiree is to see Go! in action. That's right, your very own Go! presents the award for best live show, or some such nonsense. We don't understand why we weren't give a real category to present, such as act of the year or album of the year. Sure, Gary Cherone is thinner, but Go! is more articulate. Nonetheless, we'll be there with a smile on our lips and venom in our veins. We expect the same of you -- minus the venom. Tickets range from $28 to $100.
270 Tremont St., 800-447-7400.
Tales from the brothel
Go! is more than a bit skeptical of journalist Jill Nelson's latest novel. For the most part, her books have been confessional biographies such as "Straight, No Chaser: How I Became a Grown-Up Black Woman" and "Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience." Suddenly, she's produced "Sexual Healing," an allegedly fictional account of two women who set up a male brothel in Nevada. We think that Nelson has gone and set up a real house of ill repute in Nevada and changed the names to protect the not-so-innocent. You can ask her about it tonight, because Nelson reads from her steamy tome at Center for New Words (the store formerly known as New Words Books) at 7. This event is free -- thereby affirming our suspicions that the real moneymaker is the boy-toy brothel.186 Hampshire St., Cambridge, 617-876-5310.
Poetic justice
Our career as a rock star never really got off the ground because we wasted too much time obsessing over a name for our nonexistent act. Early contenders were far too embarrassing to mention in print, but since you insist, they were the Vic 20 or Captain Cupcake. But our indecision cost us what would have been an otherwise lucrative career in music. Other folks don't let a small thing like a bad band name -- or a lack of talent -- stand in their way. And no, we're not talking about 3 Doors Down. There is a whole group of people who write poems, then pay song sharks to have the poems put to music. Who knew? Evidently documentary filmmaker Jamie Meltzer did. He made a movie about this wacky song-poem subculture called "Off the Charts." Tonight, the film screens at the Milky Way Lounge at 9. After the movie, one-woman band Snoozer, plus the Weisstronauts, will work with the audience to come up with on-the-spot song-poems. Perhaps Captain Cupcake will ride again after all. Tickets for this night of film and music are just $5.403 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617-524-3740.
Honky-tonk sweetheart
Go!'s older sister once owned an album by Shaun Cassidy called "Born Late." Our favorite part of the album was its romantic title. (OK, we also occasionally snuck a listen to "Hey Deanie.") And although we never really believed that Cassidy was born late, we have found a singer who was truly born too late. She's Robinella Contreras, and she sings country-influenced jazz that is positively silky. Think Dolly Parton in front of delicate arrangements designed for Ella Fitzgerald. You are welcome to pick out your own influences if you don't like ours. Tonight, Robinella and the CC Stringband perform at Club Passim at 10; the price is $10.47 Palmer St., Cambridge, 617-492-7679.
Star search
Those of you who regularly take your ginkgo biloba will recall the story of Glen Goland. He's the lucky duck who was plucked from the audience at a U2 concert a couple of years ago at the FleetCenter to play guitar onstage with the Irish supergroup. What you probably don't know is that Goland has a band of his own called Focusin. Goland's band isn't quite as huge as U2, but it's getting there. Focusin won the Hard Rock Cafe's battle of the bands in Boston, then won the national competition and subsequently opened for Sum 41 and blink-182. Tonight, you can see what all the fuss is about when the band performs at the Middle East at 9.472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-492-9181.
Events can always be canceled, rescheduled, or sold out; call to confirm. Go! can be reached at go@globe.com or by calling 617-929-8257.
