Room to Swing an Axe; Cherry Valence/Catheters/Federation X; DeLillo's Valparaiso (It's a Play); Mike Doughty at NorthSix; Hairspray; Satyricon/Decameron Double Feature; Sights/Kills/Star Spangles

If the Locust, Lightning Bolt, the Blood Brothers and Arab on Radar can tour the country under the moniker the Oops Tour! then the Cherry Valence can get away with titling their second album Riffin'. The North Carolina group boasts two drum kits, two guitarists, two singers and a bass player. They play heavy headbanger riffs and the vocals alternate between Lemmy-like and Zeppelinesque. Last time we saw the Cherry play, we were struck in the head with a shaker. So watch out for their rendition of "Shakin' All Over." With the Catheters and Federation X this Weds., Aug. 14, at NorthSix, 66 N. 6th St. (betw. Kent & Wythe Aves.), Williamsburg, 718-599-5103, 9, $8. Also Sat., Aug. 17, at Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St. (betw. Ludlow & Essex Sts.), 260-4700; 8:30, $10.

This week is everyone's last chance to see the Rude Mechanicals production of Don DeLillo's Valparaiso at the Blue Heron Theater. Yes, that Don DeLillo. What do you mean you thought he was a novelist? Haven't you ever heard of Anton Chekhov or Henry Fielding? Had you forgotten that Chekhov wrote more short stories than he wrote plays, and that Fielding started out writing for the stage? And what about Michael Frayn? Clearly you need to stop pigeonholing people and start thinking about what motivates a novelist to choose another form to tell a story. And then you need to go find out the answer. Seating's general, so get there early. And pick up a copy of DeLillo's first produced play, The Day Room, while you're at it. It rocks. Through Sun., Aug. 18, at the Blue Heron Arts Center, 123 E. 24th St. (betw. Park Ave. S. & Lexington Ave.), 206-1515, Tue.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sat. 2 p.m., Sun. 7 p.m.

Bring your bonbons and let our buddy Mike Doughty, ex-founder and frontman of the late and much lamented Soul Coughing, show you the love at NorthSix this Thurs., Aug 15, at 9 p.m. Now a solo acoustic funky whiteboy soulman troubadour, he's mixing new solo material with unplugged but still hepped-up renditions of Soul Coughing's greatest hits (which, by the way, Rhino released as Lust in Phaze earlier this year), and we expect he'll be merching his new solo live album, Smofe + Smang; if not, you can buy it at the not-shyly-handled mikedoughty.com. Oh, and he's got a new book of poetry out, and is contributing songs to movie soundtracks, etc. If he's taking requests, ask him to do his Jagger impersonation. 66 N. 6th St. (betw. Kent & Wythe Aves.), Williamsburg, 718-599-5103; $12.

As you can't have escaped hearing, Hairspray is the Broadway musical of the season. We were blown away by a fabulous preview performance last week. The production opens on Thurs., Aug. 15, at 6:30 p.m. You know the story. Marissa Jaret Winokur is Tracy Turnblad, a girl growing up in Baltimore in 1962 trying to win her way onto the Corny Collins Show and promote racial equality. In the Divine role, Harvey Fierstein dons multiple wigs, a body suit with silicone breasts, housewife dresses and a sparkling ruby-red gown. With its kick-ass dance numbers, timely jokes and cool period costumes, Hairspray is the hottest ticket in town?this season's The Producers?so act now. Neil Simon Theater, 250 W. 52nd St. (betw. B'way & 8th Ave.), 307-4100; $60-$95.

Leave it to the Irish to have their big summer festival at a race track: the Pepsi Irish Festival, at Belmont Fri.-Sun., Aug. 16-18. The music runs the gamut from trad to folky to rock to punk. Consult www.NYIrishFestival.com for the full schedule and ticket info. A few highlights: the Saw Doctors, who are a little bit country, a little bit rock, a little bit folky, a little bit pop, play Fri. at 9:45 and Sat. at 9. The folk-rocky Prodigals are Sat. at 4 and Sun. at 4:45. Hometown Celtic rock heroes Black 47 plat Sat. at 5:30 and Sun. at 8. And our faves of the bunch, Boston's hardcore Gaelic punks the Dropkick Murphys, will slam the suds right out of you Sat. at 7:15 and Sun. at 6:15. Also straight trad and green-hatter folkies, and pipers, and set dancing, and of course a Mass on Sunday, etc. And fuck the Pogues for not sticking around long enough to join in. 2150 Hempstead Tpk., Elmont, NY; $20 Fri. & Sat., $15 on Sun.

When Fellini's Satyricon had its first theatrical run in the U.S. in, we believe, 1969, it played for maybe three weekday nights in our small town's one arty cinema. We went opening night and, of course, we went tripping. Our minds, as they say, were blown, and when we left the theater, our whole town had been transformed into a Fellini world; somehow we had never noticed before how many freaks, crips, loonies, hermaphrodites and grotesquely fat and speckled human casualties populated our town. We went back the next night. Cineastes would call us philistines, but of all Fellini's films, Satyricon and the much-maligned Casanova remain our faves. This Sat., Aug. 17, the American Museum of the Moving Image screens Satyricon at 2 p.m. And, in a brilliant double-bill, it's followed at 4:30 p.m. by Pasolini's masterfully bawdy, earthy and satirical The Decameron (1970). When you step out onto the streets of Astoria after spending all afternoon with these two films, we guarantee everything will look a little off to you?even if you aren't tripping. 35th Ave. (36th St.), Astoria, 718-784-0077; $8.50, $5.50 st./s.c.

If you missed the Sights, one of our favorite pop groups, a few weeks back with the Detroit Cobras and Dirtbombs, redeem yourself this Sun., Aug. 18, at Mercury Lounge. They're young and cute, and their new Got What We Want (Fall of Rome) offers lotsa raunchy chords and lyrics about past relationships and wooing girls. Think the Small Faces mixed with the likable pop heroes Superdrag. Also on the bill are the Kills, a two-piece boy/girl group from London who recently released an EP on Dim Mak. Also local heroes the Star Spangles, who can be recognized by their thrift-store get-ups alone. 217 E. Houston St. (betw. Ludlow & Essex Sts.), 260-4700, 7:30, $8.