'Six Picks' Music: The best in local music this weekend (May 19-21)

Our biggest piece of advice this weekend … leave your house early… even earlier than you had planned to leave. Friday night has two sold-out stadium shows along the 95/495/Route 1 corridor between Providence and Boston, so it’s clear traffic will be a nightmare. Read “Six Picks Music” to learn more.

All Weekend: Perhaps you’ve heard an international superstar is in town. (Of course, she’s already a part-time resident of RI, with a nice stretch of beachfront property in Westerly, but that’s another story.) This weekend, Taylor Swift becomes the first artist to sell out three shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. We hope you already have tickets and didn’t have to take out a second mortgage to buy them. If you don’t, a few tickets are still available on the secondary market in excess of $2000 per ticket. Have fun if you’re going. Click here for details.

Friday: The concert season gets underway at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA when Janet Jackson hits the stage in a leg of her “Together Again” tour. Reviews of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s tour so far have been quite positive. Ludacris opens at 7:30. Click here for details.

Friday: Hear some of the most iconic songs in history when two of the greatest R&B bands of the 1960s play The Vets in Providence. Sing along to “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” and more as The Temptations and The Four Tops share the downtown stage. Click here for details.

Saturday: The International Portuguese Music Awards (IPMA), an awards show recognizing outstanding achievement in the music industry by artists of Portuguese ancestry, are held right here in Providence. Head to the Providence Performing Arts Center to see awards handed out in multiple categories along with two “New Talent” finalists performing live. Note: The event is being recorded in Portuguese for television broadcast. Click here for details.

Saturday: The Whelks are a RI-based acoustic trio comprised of Erin Mason (upright bass), Peri DeLorenzo (violin), and Mark Dobbyn (guitar). They’ll feature sweet three-part harmonies and more at the Four Corners Arts Center in Tiverton Saturday at 8PM. Click here for details.

Sunday: The Sun Ra Arkestra is a force of nature… led by a 98-year-old saxophonist Marshall Allen who is turning 99 next week! Playing The Met Sunday in Pawtucket, the Chicago-based cosmic jazz act combines big band swing, outer-space jazz, dancing, singing, chanting and Afro-pageantry. Don’t miss a rare chance to see them in a small club! Leland Baker opens at 6PM. Click here for details.

Road Report: Schedule of lane closures and road construction projects (June 3 – 10)

The following road and lane closure notices have been scheduled by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA).

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