Nite Roundup

• Smart Rock: Pete Townshend once wrote, “You can dance while your knowledge is growing.” That’s the idea behind the Rock to Educate benefit show, which raises money for school music programs. The local show features Keep Me Conscious, Sleep Alive, Streamline, Living Syndication, Kinetic Theory, Blind Assumption and DJ Vicious. Attend the Rock to Educate Spotlight Show on Friday, Aug. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Milly’s Tavern, 500 Commercial St. in Manchester. Tickets cost $10; it’s 21+, ID required; more atwww.rocktoeducate.org.

• White Mountain Boogie: During a long weekend of blues music, Elvin Bishop, an original member of Paul Butterfield’s band, performs Saturday with famous progeny John Lee Hooker Jr. and Ronnie Baker Brooks, son of guitarist Albert Brooks. Sunday’s eclectic bill includes piano phenom Eden Brent and singer/songwriter Ruthie Foster. The Boogie ’N Blues Festival runs Friday, Aug. 20, through Sunday, Aug. 22, in a meadow located between Waterville Valley and Loon Mountain in North Thornton. Single-day ($25) and weekend ($45) tickets are available atwww.whitemountainboogie.com.

• Aqua top: Though it’s unlikely that Steven Tyler or J. Lo will sit on the judge’s panel, 15 local hopefuls will compete in Liquid Planet Water Park’s Planet Idol finale, the culmination of a month-long regional competition with a top cash prize of $1,000. Judging by the enthusiastic response to this, the sing-off’s first year, it could well become a tradition. Attend the finale on Saturday, Aug. 21, 6-9 p.m. at Liquid Planet Water Park, 46 Route 27, in Candia. Attendance is free with admission. Seewww.liquidplanetwaterpark.com.

• Al fresco: An outdoor music festival in Temple welcomes a varied array of local bands, with rockers Raising Scarlet, American Mixer playing reggae, the Boston-based Dirty Mac Blues Band and folkie Chris Horn playing solo. The all-day event closes with Rindge bluegrass band Hot Mustard. Admission is free, but bring a non-perishable item for the local food pantry. Attend the Temple Music Festival on Sunday, Aug. 22, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Old Town Common, Route 45 in Temple; call 878-1479 for more.

• Original voices: The latest entry into the local original music scene is the Jam Factory, located adjacent to Raxx Billiards in downtown Manchester. Two energetic bands — 23 Riddles and Porter — will perform Saturday night, with an opening set from acoustic guitarist Chris Emery. On Sunday, singer/songwriter Tanjoura Davis appears at a regular third Sunday event. See 23 Riddles, Porter and Chris Emery on Saturday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m. (21+); see Tajoura Davis on Sunday at 1 p.m. (18+) at the Jam Factory, 1211 Elm St. in Manchester. For info go towww.reverbnation.com/venue/thejamfactorynh.

Tore Down House helps out a friend

A strong sense of justice guides Mark Huzar. It’s evident in the music he makes with Tore Down House, the band he formed in 2006 with friend and drummer John Michaud. One Huzar original, “American Farmer,” borrows a riff from the Allman Brothers’ “Every Hungry Woman.” However, the song’s refrain is not about love gone wrong, but about a world turned upside down. Pondering a family farm facing foreclosure, Huzar rails, “Mr. Banker, tell me ain’t you got no soul? Breaking my back in the hot sun trying to dig out of this hole.”

“I get so fed up with the world sometimes, that I have to say what I gotta say,” said Huzar in a recent phone interview. “People are getting thrown by the wayside, losing jobs — it’s terrible.”

Wailin’ Jennys – Canadian (well, 2/3) Americana

Canadian folk trio the Wailin’ Jennys bring their lush harmonies to New England for a series of shows, including a stop on Thursday, Aug. 19, at Tupelo Music Hall. Joining soprano Ruth Moody and mezzo Nicky Mehta, newest member Heather Masse is the group’s third alto and, she jokingly says, its “token American.” The band’s latest CD, Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House, is the first to showcase her contributions to the Juno Award-winning group.

Masse brings a wide and varied background to the group. She studied jazz voice at the New England Conservatory, and later formed Heather and the Barbarians with a few of her classmates there; the band released one album, Tell Me Tonight. “But I also grew up going to church and singing in a choir,” Masse said recently from her home near Boston. “I had three sisters, and we all sang in harmony.”

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Where’s Steven? Aerosmith front man leaves NH charity in limbo

Sometimes, not having an event costs more than having it.

Child and Family Services of New Hampshire booked, advertised and sold tickets for a January show featuring Steven Tyler at the Capitol Center of the Arts in Concord — gross ticket sales in excess of $50,000. Then, Tyler cancelled, leaving the charity with expenses and no event to pay for them or raise money, the purpose of Tyler’s show to begin with. The organization spent $10,000 of its own money preparing for the event.

“That includes all related costs, promotion, box office fees, but mostly it comes from credit card fees,” said Kat Strange, communications director at Child & Family Services. “When you reimburse people, you have to give all their money back, and credit card fees are pretty high — double the work, double the money. It’s not something that you can negotiate really.”

On Saturday, Aug. 14, Aerosmith will headline a sold-out Fenway Park show in Boston, a triumphant return for a band that only a year ago faced an uncertain future filled with breakup rumors and public acrimony. The concert sold out in minutes, as did special VIP packages priced close to $1,500 each, which included personal face time with bandleaders Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. During the worst summer for live music in years, the Granite State natives are cleaning up.

But for the New Hampshire charity serving at-risk youth, the show is a reminder of Tyler’s deferred promise to appear at the January fundraiser and the challenges it has forced upon the organization.

To read more, download the PDF of this week’s Hippo, or read the online flip-through version.

This week’s Hippo

A weekend of inspirational music in the Lakes Region:

A four-day festival offering 121 musical performers and over a dozen speakers focuses on faith this weekend in the Lakes Region. SoulFest 2010 brings together several top names in Christian music, including Toby Mac, MercyMe and Kutless; Jars of Clay will perform two nights.

Plus Nite Roundup.