It was spectacularly cool to have Black 47, the New York-based Irish/activist rock band, play on one of the floats during the Mystic Irish Parade in March. The problem was, to see them perform even one song in its entirety, you had to walk along with their float at the exact speed of their travel momentum - dodging folks in your path - and stop, of course, when the parade bottlenecked. Hard to gain any real musical momentum.

This will not be an issue Saturday when Black 47 returns to the area for a performance in the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. Oh, and just because they're socially and politically committed, it doesn't mean the band doesn't rock its collective ass off.

- RICK KOSTER

Black 47, 8 p.m. Saturday, Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook; $30-$35; 1-877-503-1286, thekate.org.