PERFORMING ARTS

Aside from a few too many drum and bass solos, the Femmes' sold-out 9:30 show on Saturday was more playful than preening. Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie, drummer Victor DeLorenzo and occasional addition John Sparrow on percussion box didn't deny the pogo-ready crowd their more melodically rockin' favorites -- which also gave DeLorenzo, clearly the band clown, the chance to bounce around behind his simple snare, tom and cymbal set.

But the most impressive selections of the night belonged to the Femmes' less recognized forays into dark, Johnny Cash-style country and gospel. The group's ever-changing "Horns of Dilemma" backers -- this time including a mandolinist, a washboard player and the famed Eugene Chadbourne on banjo -- sporadically filled the stage and helped take the audience decades past the Culture Club era with songs such as a rollicking cover of "Yield Not to Temptation" (which featured a terrific Chadbourne solo) and Gano's own "Country Death Song." Whether the angst was teen or spiritual, these fossils could still deliver.

-- Tricia Olszewski

Oliver Mtukudzi in Arlington

Zimbabwean singer-guitarist Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi headlined the Planet Arlington: World Music Festival on Saturday, but ended up with only as much time as an opening act. With the program running behind schedule, and the band due across the river at Zanzibar for another show, Mtukudzi and Black Spirits played for about 45 minutes -- shorter than his 2003 Millennium Stage set, and barely half the length of his career-spanning new CD, "Wonai." Yet Mtukudzi didn't appear rattled by the situation, handling the abbreviated concert with characteristic ease.

The nine-person ensemble opened with "Wake Up," one of its few English-language numbers, but a song whose gently exhortative message is typical of Mtukudzi's style. Sung mostly in Shona, Mtukudzi's songs address social issues in an earnest, hopeful manner that has yet to seriously rile Zimbabwe's repressive government. Indeed, it's possible to take Black Spirits as nothing more -- or less -- than a dance band. In addition to supervising an eminently propulsive groove, Mtukudzi led the group's three singer-dancers in chorus-line moves, twice putting aside his guitar to concentrate on footwork. Much like the music that accompanied them, the routines were relaxed, playful and less strenuous than the styles of many African performers.

"We are here to take you to Zimbabwe," announced Mtukudzi at the beginning of his set, an improbable destination for a crowd spending a chilly night on a hill with a view of the Washington Monument across the river. And with its eclectic mix of African, Jamaican and other influences, "Tuku music" is not a pure distillation of the land where it was devised. Yet the musician did accomplish something like what he promised. Wherever Mtukudzi was headed, and however short the trip, his performance was transporting.

-- Mark Jenkins