• Handpicked by Coldplay: They won’t be going by the name The Cockroaches and it isn’t a secret, but local band The Luxury is playing a warm-up show at The Lucky Dog this Saturday night. They’re warming up to open for the big Coldplay show at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston Monday. Here’s how they got there: Capitol Records ran contests in Boston, Hartford, Philly, D.C. and San Jose. Bands were required to submit a video to YouTube, all of them judged by local radio stations. In Boston, that station was WFNX. The DJs picked 15 semi-finalists out of close to 400 entries. The 15 bands were put to an online vote lasting 10 days. Those five finalists were submitted to Coldplay. Coldplay picked The Luxury. “It’s very cool to know that we were actually handpicked by those guys,” says bassist Justin “Pez” Day, who joins drummer/singer Stephen Foster, lead guitarist/singer Daanen Krouth, lead singer/guitarist Jason Dunn and keyboardist Steven Borek in The Luxury. The original band was a conglomeration of two Boston bands: Baby Strange and The Halogens. After a complete overhaul, and then unsteady membership in the band, this lineup has been together for a year. “None of us are really nervous about playing in front of that many people,” says Day. “It’s actually a lot easier to play in front of a whole sea of faces than it is to play in front of a small handful. I only get nervous when it’s like, ‘Hey, there’s Bobby from my 7th grade homeroom. Geez, I hope he doesn’t think we suck.’ But I am a little nervous about being out of our comfort zone, on a stage that size — just having to be a lot farther away from my band mates than I’m used to. Usually, Foster is like four feet away from me, tops. So knowing he won’t be right next to me is a little nerve-wracking.”
Want tickets? Well, the Coldplay show is sold out. Work your connections.
• This year in the name of Emil: The annual Emil Haddad Scholarship Concert is upon us, happening on Sunday, Aug. 3 from 6-9 p.m. at Periwinkles Restaurant in North Oxford. With proceeds to benefit the scholarship fund, the ticket price of $40 includes dinner and performances by Dick Odgren (pictured), Jim Odgren, Bob Simonelli, Bill Fanning, Eric Nebbia, Steve Cancelli, Brenda Padula and the Worcester Jazz Orchestra. This year’s scholarship recipient is Aaron Nebbia. Call 508-752-0700 for tickets through WICN.
• Club notes: On Thursdays, Rachel Wagner plays jazz at Castellana’s Restaurant. On Friday, The Matt Schwachman Band makes its Tammany Hall debut; Undercover hits The Blue Dog in Milford; Paul Combs leads his Pocket Big Band at The Acton Jazz Café; Chris Reddy sings at The Gardner Ale House in Gardner. On Saturday, the legendary Big Brother and The Holding Company rocks The Artist Development Group in Southbridge; Chet Williamson joins The Pete Henderson Band at Gilrein’s; The Silverbacks rock Greendale’s; and Hey Now helps open for The Franks at The Lucky Dog.
We want to hear about it. All of it. The horrors. The stories. The music news. E-mail Charlene at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 508-749-3166, ext. 245. Add cookiewomag to your buddy list, too, to chat live during the workday.
