The Musical Box

the weekend begins tonight with the return of rod stewart at riverbend.

What better befits the long, hot summer days of August than with a long, hot summer weekend? With top seasonal sounds abounding well into next week, we suggest viewing one of the last summer weekends before school sets in and the week ahead as essentially as one and the same. Here are a few reasons why.

 + In recent years, one had little choice but to view Rod Stewart as a pop revivalist. After all, his last five studio albums have been covers collections (a rock sampler preceded by four Great American Songbook sets). But when he returns to Riverbend Music Center tonight in Cincinnati with Bryan Adams as opening act, the standards will be shelved in favor of Stewart hits from the early ‘70s (You Wear It Well, Maggie May) and ‘80s (Young Turks, Forever Young). But then again, Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? has been popping up an encore. Oh, the past can be a fearsome place. (8 p.m.; $31.75-$246.75). Call TicketMaster at (859) 281-6644.

+ The fact Scott Miller will be playing the Phoenix Hill Tavern, 644 Baxter Ave. in Louisville on Saturday just hurts. The Knoxville songsmith was a frequent flyer at local venues from the mid-90s on. He played Lynagh’s Music Club with his barnstorming power-pop band The V-Roys and then The Dame with the more Americana-inclined Commonwealth. There is now no place for our ol’ pal to play in town. Granted, a trip up to the Phoenix Hill on a Saturday night is a pretty doable deal. Still, it burns to not even have an available Lexington venue for such acts. Americana rockers The Gougers will open Saturday’s performance (8 p.m., $12). Call (502) 589-4957 or go to TicketWeb.

+ Fresh from last weekend’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago comes the Homemade Jamz Blues Band, a roots music trio that takes its name, and its music, very seriously. Comprised of three siblings from Tupelo, Miss. – Ryan Perry (15), younger brothers Kyle (13) and even younger sister Taya (9) – the band utilizes homemade guitars and bass guitars built out of car mufflers. Chew on that sense of novelty all day long, if you like. It doesn’t subtract one bit from the worldly blues sound the trio comes up with on such songs as Who Your Real Friends Are and Penny Waiting on Change. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band teams with the Canadian Celtic ensemble The Barra MacNeils for Monday’s taping of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour at the Kentucky Theatre (7 p.m., $10). For reservations, call (859) 252-8888.

+ When Filter began rocking the world outside of its Cleveland home base in the mid ‘90s, its music wound up on the big screen as much as it did the radio. During the latter half of the decade, the band’s crunchy, guitar-driven tunes were featured in The Crow: City of Angels, The Crow: Salvation, Spawn and The X Files: Fight the Future. The latter proved to be somewhat fortuitous. Filter frontman Richard Patrick’s brother, actor Robert Patrick, went on to star in the last two seasons of The X Files series. For now, though, Filter favors the road over Hollywood and will perform on Wednesday at A1A, 367 E. Main with Lucid Grey and Clear Conscience opening (8 p.m.; $12 in advance and $15 day of show). Call (859) 231-7263 or go to Ticket Fusion.