Rockers

To judge from its headlining set at Bill's Bar on Friday, hosted by WFNX 101.7's music show "New England Product, the stars are aligning for local indie-rock quartet Aberdeen City. Attendance had waned by the time the band played at midnight, but the good-size crowd that remained was smitten with its taut, moody set. Aberdeen City couldn't have chosen a better moment to coalesce than the eve of annual music-industry fest South by Southwest, which kicks off next month. Displaying the poise of veteran rockers, the band bashed out songs that balanced effusive pop melodies with dramatic rock 'n' roll.

The Boston Beer Co. has a new release for summer: Porch Rocker, a radler-style beverage. Not familiar with the German radler? Well, another name for "radler" is "shandy. " Starting to make sense? Yes, it's what you fear: Porch Rocker tastes like a hybrid of beer and lemonade. And that's pretty much what it is: a pale beer mixed with some sort of lemon drink. It pours pale yellow with a soapy head and lots of carbonation bubbles. The aroma is all lemon, as though lemon Pledge had been sprayed generously into the glass.

The pairing of wry Brit popsters Squeeze, on a reunion tour, with the Chicago-bred kings of power pop Cheap Trick, on a never-ending tour, might have seemed odd on the surface. But the direct line that can be drawn from Lennon and McCartney to the songwriting approach of both bands made them kindred spirits. Each group rose to prominence in the new wave era but neither were quite of it. Squeeze was too clever and quirky and Cheap Trick too metallic. Wednesday night's show at the Bank of America Pavilion promised a Wonka factory's worth of everlasting pop-rockers.

Swapping drinks and war stories backstage at the Wilbur Theatre Thursday were old pals Nick Lowe (right) and Peter Wolf (left), joined by theater owner Bill Blumenreich. Lowe and his band performed at the Wilbur as part of their current US tour (see review below).

**½ THE OTHER F WORD Written and directed by: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins At: Kendall Square Running time: 99 minutes Unrated (lots and lots and lots - I mean lots - of punk language, attitude, appearance, and ambience, which alternates with the love-filled mood of a maternity ward) All right, you know what the first "f" word is. You would know even if you had no idea that "The Other F Word" is a documentary about aging punk rockers. As for the titular "f" word, it's "fatherhood.

Sunday's tribute to songwriters Leonard Cohen and Chuck Berry was hosted by PEN New England, so it makes sense that several well-known writers made the scene at the JFK Library or stopped by the after-party at literary agent Esmond Harmsworth's fabulous Arlington Street abode. The stars of the show were Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Shawn Colvin, and Paul Simon, but we also spied "The Saint of Lost Things" author Christopher Castellani, Megan Marshall, who was a Pulitzer finalist for "The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism,"...

It's hard to say what makes Snow Patrol so likable. Could it be the band's humble charm? The melt-your-knees dreamy accents? Or the sheer energy behind its guitar-driven pop? Whatever the reason, the sold-out audience at the Paradise Saturday lapped up the Irish boys' smart, sharp alt-rock. Shaggy-haired lead singer Gary Lightbody crooned with superbly smooth vocals and just enough Irish brogue. He's an amiable frontman, dutifully pausing between songs to extend his gratitude to the crowd and the city.

BUFFALO TOM With With special guests each night including J Mascis, Tanya Donelly, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, Mike O'Malley 1 At: Brighton Music Hall , Boston , Nov. 25-27, 8:30 p.m. . Tickets: $22 , 800-745-3000 , http://www.ticketmaster.com Next weekend Boston-based rockers Buffalo Tom will celebrate 25 years of bandhood with three shows at Brighton Music Hall. Superfan Mike O'Malley will be one of several special guests helping the trio - singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz, drummer Tom Maginnis, and bassist-singer Chris Colbourn - ring...

Five years and four albums into their career, Kings of Leon finally earned a fan base as big as their wide-open choruses. The Tennessee-bred rockers hadn’t been stagnant, but initially it was never clear where their Southern-fried garage rock would take them. To the top, it turned out. In 2008, “Only by the Night’’ hit Top 40 radio hard and eventually sold more than 6 million copies, vaulting the Kings from indie hopefuls to stadium rockers; even the Grammys came calling. Obviously, then, the pressure is on for “Come Around Sundown,’’ the band’s sturdy new...

We hear MTV Hive Live will kick off its first Boston show March 25 at Brighton Music Hall, featuring Cleveland indie rockers Cloud Nothings. As with the MTV Hive Live in NYC series at Webster Hall - which has featured the Black Keys, the National, Sleigh Bells, and Theophilus London - the concert will be live-streamed for audiences far and wide. Also bringing the high-profile project to fruition: Crossroads Concerts and Fenway Recording Sessions. A Classic Education and the Dirty Dishes will also be on the bill.

Hanni El Khatib has a new album with a particular song title we can't print here. Let's call it "Funk It, You Win. " It's a beast: a snarling slab of junkyard rock, heavy under the weight of distorted blues riffs, clashing cymbals, and Khatib's manic vocal assault. It's refreshing to learn the performance wasn't calculated. Quite the opposite. El Khatib says he had written the song with different music, but when the tape kept rolling in the studio, something else emerged.

We hear MTV Hive Live will kick off its first Boston show March 25 at Brighton Music Hall, featuring Cleveland indie rockers Cloud Nothings. As with the MTV Hive Live in NYC series at Webster Hall - which has featured the Black Keys, the National, Sleigh Bells, and Theophilus London - the concert will be live-streamed for audiences far and wide. Also bringing the high-profile project to fruition: Crossroads Concerts and Fenway Recording Sessions. A Classic Education and the Dirty Dishes will also be on the bill.

Sunday's tribute to songwriters Leonard Cohen and Chuck Berry was hosted by PEN New England, so it makes sense that several well-known writers made the scene at the JFK Library or stopped by the after-party at literary agent Esmond Harmsworth's fabulous Arlington Street abode. The stars of the show were Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Shawn Colvin, and Paul Simon, but we also spied "The Saint of Lost Things" author Christopher Castellani, Megan Marshall, who was a Pulitzer finalist for "The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism,"...

Other Lives' "Tamer Animals" is already a widescreen record, a tug-of-war between acoustic melodies and orchestral arrangements that gradually swell and lift the songs like helium balloons, free to float into the ether. For shorthand, I like to think of the Oklahoma indie rockers as a hybrid of Radiohead and Midlake - they're out there, but still within reach. "Tamer Animals," the group's sophomore album released early last year, cemented that cinematic aesthetic. Its intimacy was shot through with grand intentions.

PATTI SMITH: Camera Solo CLAIRE BECKETT/MATRIX 163: Simulating Iraq At: Wadsworth Atheneum, 600 Main St., Hartford, through Feb. 19 and March 4, respectively. 860-278-2670, www.thewadsworth.org HARTFORD - All rock stars age. They may constitute AARP's fastest-growing category. But the idea of Patti Smith turning 65, which she does on Dec. 30, comes as a shock somehow. She's always been more seer than singer, rock's Delphic Oracle or Cumaean Sibyll: a figure who stands outside of time almost, and a bit spooky that way. One of the advantages of standing outside of...

BUFFALO TOM With With special guests each night including J Mascis, Tanya Donelly, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, Mike O'Malley 1 At: Brighton Music Hall , Boston , Nov. 25-27, 8:30 p.m. . Tickets: $22 , 800-745-3000 , http://www.ticketmaster.com Next weekend Boston-based rockers Buffalo Tom will celebrate 25 years of bandhood with three shows at Brighton Music Hall. Superfan Mike O'Malley will be one of several special guests helping the trio - singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz, drummer Tom Maginnis, and bassist-singer Chris Colbourn - ring in its...

Having earned his chops with two of the hardest-hitting bands in rock, the Replacements and Guns N' Roses (the revamped version), and having fronted his own shambling rockers, Bash & Pop and Perfect, it was to be expected that Tommy Stinson's debut solo album would feature some fierce and fiery rock 'n' roll. And consider the album's guest turns from GNR keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus, and A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese. What's more surprising is that "Village Gorilla Head" is a stylish, eclectic album that shines brightest when Stinson stretches beyond his roots to incorporate...