Debo, Ivers part of ‘international week’

Celtic fiddler Eileen Ivers will perform at the Music Haven Stage in Schenectady's Central Park on Sunday.

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“International” week? In several ways.

Worldwide popster Justin Timberlake plays the Times Union Center on Wednesday (see Jeff Wilkin’s story, page D1), Ethiopian Afro-pop orchestra Debo plays Freedom Square in Troy on Friday and pre-eminent Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers plays Music Haven on Sunday. (OK, I goofed last week: I’ll get to that.)

First-class U.S. performers play here, too: Southern California hard rockers Queens of the Stone Age storm the Palace on Sunday, soft-rockers Lord Huron harmonize at Alive at Five tonight; Canadian-but-close-enough troubadour Sarah McLachlan folk-rocks at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, and pop-rock bandleader turned solo artist Marshall Crenshaw sings at Caffe Lena on Sunday.

Playing the TU Center (51 S. Pearl St., Albany) on Wednesday, Timberlake follows Paul McCartney and precedes fellow Superbowl halftime star Bruno Mars there (July 20). 8 p.m. Wednesday. $178, $93 and $48. 800-745-3000 www.timesunioncenter-albany.com

Boston-based Ethiopian-pop orchestra Debo returns to Freedom Square (101st St., North Troy at 5th and 6th avenues) on Friday in a free show. Eleven players re-create the zip of Ethiopian funk’s 1960s-’70s golden age. See what they did here in 2001 on YouTube. 6 p.m. Rain site: The Sanctuary for Independent Media (3361 6th Ave.)

Corrected error

I erred in last Thursday’s Jukebox, saying Celtic fiddler Eileen Ivers would play on Sunday, July 6. Wrong, and sorry. I discovered this by walking over to see the show myself and finding Music Haven full of sunshine but empty of the happy crowds who flock to free shows there.

So, let’s try this again: On Sunday, Celtic fiddler Eileen Ivers plays Music Haven (Central Park, Schenectady). Mentored by Martin Mulvihill, Ivers has won nine All Ireland Fiddle Championships, another on tenor banjo. After founding Cherish the Ladies, she toured with Riverdance and played on the “Gangs of New York” soundtrack, then launched her own band. The new local folk trio Annalivia — Liz Simmons, Flynn Cohen and Lissa Schneckenberger — opens at 7 p.m. Rain site: Proctors

Fresh from blasting out last year’s toughest, most beautiful hard-rock album “. . .Like Clockwork,” Queens of the Stone Age rock Albany’s Palace Theatre (19 Clinton Ave. at N. Pearl St.) on Sunday. QOTSA rocks a gloriously aggressive, deeply human sound, with a lineup that took some time to gel behind singer-guitarist-pianist Josh Homme: multi-instrumentalists Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Schuman and Dean Fertita and drummer Jon Theodore.

Australian-born rocker Brody Dalle opens at 8 p.m. Married to Homme, she’s a talent for real on albums with Sourpuss, the Distillers and Spinnerette. $59.50, $49.50, $39.50. 800-745-3000 www.palacealbany.com

Alive tonight

QOTSA’s fellow Californians Lord Huron hail from a distant (quieter) musical zip code, singing so beautifully you almost forget they play instruments too. Think a mightier Mumford or bigger Bon Iver, a more rocking, less twangy Lone Bellow: in other words, really good.

Founder Ben Schneider made some EPs as Lord Huron; then a band gathered around him: percussionist Mike Barry, bassist Miguel Briseno, guitarists Tom Renaud, Karl Kerfoot and Schneider — the crew on their fine first full album “Lonesome Dreams.”

Lord Huron headlines tonight at Albany’s Alive at Five (Jennings Landing). Our own (also really good) MaryLeigh Roohan opens. 5 p.m. Free. Rain site: Corning Preserve boat launch under I-787

Road Trip Bonus: Great Brooklyn country-rock newcomers Lone Bellow, aforementioned, plays on Sunday at Club Helsinki (405 Columbia St., Hudson). 8 p.m. $20, advance; $25 on Sunday. 828-4800 www.helsinkihudson.com

Fans of Sarah McLachlan’s women-only Lilith Fair tours and who haven’t kept up might ask, “Where are the others?” when McLachlan returns to Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC, Rts. 9 and 50, Saratoga Springs) on Wednesday with just her band: bassist Jon Evans, drummer Curt Bisquera, guitarist Joel Shearer and keyboardist Vincent Jones.

Achieving an intimate feel in songs of love broken and under repair, she recently released “Shine On,” her first album of new songs in four years and 8th overall. Reports from the tour have been positive and more, stressing cozy warmth and her familiar vocal power. Oh, yeah — and a couch — 8 p.m. 70.50, $45. 800-745-3000 www.livenation.com

Solo troubadour

Singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw was a SPAC-sized performer when he fronted a compact band and made perfect rock and pop songs in the 1980s. He still makes those perfect songs, but he generally performs them alone — perfect for Caffe Lena where he sings on Sunday.

Once able to fill big rooms with his beautifully realized songs and wide-screen vision, Crenshaw has become a masterful solo troubadour, scoring big in small-scale but hugely effective shows at the Van Dyck and WAMC’s The Linda. 7 p.m. $28, advance; $30 door. 583-0022 www.caffelena.org

Reach Gazette columnist Michael Hochanadel at [email protected]