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Music: Country fireworks for Pops Fourth

Yeeeehaw! Now here's a skyrocket over the Esplanade: Redneck hearthrob Gretchen Wilson, country wild boys Big & Rich and hick-hop sensation Cowboy Troy will be the special guests for this year's Boston Pops Fourth of July Concert at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade. Nobody's gonna complain about this show being boring, that's for sure. In fact, some of the more staid fans of the Pops may swallow their teeth. There's a real debate about the increasing pop-music domination of orchestral pops programs around the country - but hey, if we're going that way, a hot bill like this is the way to do it, instead of the has-beens and middle-of-the-roaders who've often been featured in the past. And not coincidentally, the national TV ratings will kick denim-clad ass. You are likely seeing the effect of CBS clout in luring those performers to join the Pops.

Also sharing the bill with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will be the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus and the soon-to-be-decided winner of the orchestra's "American Idol"-style POPSearch contest. The last hour of the concert will be broadcast on CBS, featuring a new patriotic song, "Our America," the usual cannon-fueled 1812 Overture and "Stars and Stripes Forever," followed by fireworks. Earlier in the evening will be the Gettsburg Address read by WBZ's Jack Williams and several cuts from the Pops' new record, "America." WBZ-TV will air the 8-10 p.m. portion in Boston. The same bunch will play a warmup show on July 3, minus the bang-bang.

Music: Catch the beat with Tito Puente series

Berklee College of Music and La Casa de la Cultura will heat things up at O'Day Park and the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center in the South End this summer with the Tito Puente Latin Music Series. July 10 percussionist and Berklee alum Bobby Sanabria (left) will lead his group Ascension at O'Day Park at 4 p.m. - free! July 21 Berklee faculty member Eguie Castrillo will lead his small latin-jazz ensemble in the park at 7 p.m. - again, free. On Aug. 4, Tito Puente Jr. and his orchestra will shine a light on his father's musical legacy in a 9 p.m. concert at the cultural center; tix, $25. And on Sept. 2 Catrillo will lead his big band there in a tribute to Puente Sr. and other Latin music greats; again, 9 p.m., $25. Tickets: www.ticketweb.com.

Renovated O'Day Park won't officially re-open till July 23, but the Ascension show will serve as a sort of christening for the locale, which was designed to include an open-air performance space. And officials said Berklee welcomes the chance to "engage" the nearby Villa Victoria community. Related events include a Puente photo exhibit on display at the Center for Latino Arts Gallery inside the cultural Center, Aug. 3-Sept. 4. Info: www.claboston.org.

Movies: Bruuuuuce! Campbell, that is

Go tipped me that B movie king Bruce Campbell, star of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" series and TV's "Brisco County Jr.,"  is in town tonight at the Coolidge Corner pimping not one but two fabulously cheesy projects! At 6 p.m., he's at a Brookline Booksmith event at the theater for his new novel, "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" ($2, call 617-566-6660). And at 9:30 he'll host a screening of his first feature as writer, director and star, "The Man With The Screaming Brain" ($12, call 617-734-2500). Due in September on the Sci Fi Channel, the movie (which is also, no surprise, a comic book) tells of a capitalist (Campbell) looking for a tax shelter in the former Eastern Bloc. He ends up the guinea pig of a mad scientist and having his brain merged with that of Yegor, a former member of the secret police. And the fun starts there.

Music: Buffett return is a mixed drink

Jimmy Buffett told the Globe's Steve Morse that he's prepping a DVD of last year's Fenway Park shows and says he was invited back to Fenway this year. (Despite the Stones? Hmmm.) Instead he opted to play ballparks in Chicago and other cities, which is why this year's Boston shows weren't at summer's end as usual, Morse reports. "I'm still not over Fenway, I'll admit it," Buffett told Monday night's Tweeter Center crowd.

And what about the show? Well, this is one of those "thank God we're a two-paper town" stories. Morse calls it a "more unpredictable show than usual" and says, "To his credit, (Buffett) made an attempt to stay current" by covering Jack Johnson ("The Horizon Has Been Defeated") and Dave Matthews ("Tripping Billies"). In the Herald, Christopher Blagg writes that Buffett's experiments "crashed and burned" with those two "awkward and misguided attempts at reaching a younger demographic."

Both papers agree on one thing: the fans were much happier tailgating in what Blagg calls "the rum-drenched parking lots" of the Tweeter than at Fenway. Buffett even showed a video of tailgaters singing "Why don't we get drunk and screw" and pronounced it "the greatest parking lot in Parrothead land," according to Morse.

Second show tomorrow night if you can't resist.

The morning papers

In the Globe, Thea Singer says last weekend's "Unsettled States" dance performance was a mixed bag - clever, zany, often on target but also sometimes trite and wearying. ... Steve Morse says the Dropkick Murphys' new album, "The Warrior's Code," is a rocker but also "their most affecting." ... A concert update has Rickie Lee Jones at Berklee July 27, Los Lonely Boys at the Hampton Casino Sept. 24 and most interestingly, the White Stripes at the Opera House Sept. 20-21.

In the Herald, Bob Young helps Jose Masso celebrate 30 years of "Con Salsa" on WBUR-FM (90.9) Saturdays at midnight. .. Sarah Rodman gives a shout-out to sometime Herald writer Brian Coleman's book on old-school rap, "Rakim Told Me." He's partying at the Milky Way tomorrow night. Call 617-524-3740.

The Herald's T.J. Medrek says our own James Levine is on the cover of the July Opera News. But it sure hasn't been posted to the magazine's web site. That's definitely not Levine.

TV: Remember 'Rescue Me'

I said I'd remind you. Denis Leary. "Rescue Me." FX tonight at 10. Here's why, in case you've forgotten.

Music: Symphony debuts in Boston - and Newburyport

Symphony By The Sea will venture out of Marblehead to make its waterfront debuts in Boston at the Hatch Shell on July 13 (7:30 p.m.) and in Newburyport on July 15 (6 p.m.). The shows, especially the one at the Hatch, are cast as part of the orchestra's bid for big-time respect, which began in 2001 with the hiring of Music Director Jonathan McPhee and has continued with Board President Barney Weinstein's efforts to raise the orchestra's profile. Subscriptions are up.

McPhee will conduct the orchestra at the Hatch in Boston in Beethoven's Symphony No. 4, and excerpts from "La Boheme," "Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miz." Soloists and chorus will come from the Cape Cod Opera and the concert will be broadcast on WCRB-FM. The performance in Newburyport's Waterfront Park (site of recent WXRV pop concerts) will feature the same lineup, sans WCRB and the chorus. Both concerts are free. This is the Symphony's 25th season.

Followup: Spin this

You won't be getting the rest of that Spin Magazine list from me: the magazine posted no. 86-100 at Spin.com and said you can either buy the print mag for the rest or wait for them to be posted over the "next few weeks." Never mind. Just figure the Pixies and Burma are on there for sure, and maybe Buffalo Tom or the Lemonheads.

Arts: Not just another brick in the wall

The Dorchester Historical Society is using bricks and the power of art to push back against the destruction of historic buildings. The Society and the Dorchester Arts Collaborative on Monday announced Brick Contest 2005, making a point while honoring the Edward A. Huebner Brick Collection, held at the Society's Blake House. Huebner (1851-1936) collected one brick from Dorchester properties he thought significant - often when they were being demolished - and painted a picture of the structure onto the brick. More than 100 bricks are in the collection,  combining a bit of outsider art with a valuable record of the community.

Now - amid a "series" of recent demolitions of historic buildings - the Society is asking people to paint a picture of their favorite Dorchester building  - standing or not - or other Dorchester scene on a brick and submit it by October 1. All the entries will be displayed Oct. 21 at the Dorchester Open Studios, and there will be two $300 prize winners. Entry forms are at www.thedac.org. Bricks and forms should be dropped off at the Society, 195 Boston Street, on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, 2-4 p.m. The Huebner Collection is on display at the Blake house, 735 Columbia Road, on the same days and times.
 

Music: Jazz in Mother's Rest

For the seventh year,  Berklee College of Music, the Fenway Civic Association, and ParkARTS present the free outdoor jazz concert series Swingin' In Mothers Rest this July. Berklee trumpeter Lin Biviano will play with a sextet July 13; saxophonist and Danvers native Mike Tucker follows with his quartet on July 20; and the talented high-schoolers in the Berklee Jazz Workshop directed by Terri Lyne Carrington and Rick DiMuzio play on July 27. Concerts are at 6:30 p.m., weather permitting, at the Mothers Rest playground, down the stairs from the Boylston Street bridge in the Back Bay Fens. Folding chairs and blankets are recommended, and picnic dinners are encouraged. For more information please call 617-747-2447.