Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy believes in showmanship. For two hours Sunday at the Keswick Theater, the 58-year-old Chicago blues legend gave away guitar picks, flailed at his instrument in unnatural positions, sauntered through the aisles playing a cordless guitar, and offered tributes to famous names in blues and rock as though his survival depended on it. Along the way, he managed to execute some remarkable guitar solos. These moments of severe, blistering blues contrasted with his more jovial entertaining style and served notice that the blues for Guy remain a serious business.

"We didn't want to come out as a blueprint of yesterday," Carlos Santana reports from his home outside San Francisco, "so we changed everything around. " The live Sacred Fire (Polydor), released less than a year ago, bears little resemblance to his current show. "We do anything and everything to constantly keep all the windows and the doors open in the house so it's vented. You know, you don't want it to smell like last night. " While Sacred Fire includes a smattering of new tunes among the inevitable hits, at the Mann on Sunday Santana will play a smattering of even newer tunes among the inevitable hits.

The noirish Latino rumble of Los Lobos and the blustery roar of Buddy Guy in the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall on Thursday night were the sound of the blues at its red-hot, wiggly and weirdest best. Los Lobos, the first to perform, have refined their fusion of Los Angeleno punk, Mexican roots music, and ambient noise to include an eerie psychedelic feel. But each song's innate sadness is clear and blue. Singer-guitarist Cesar Rosas brought blistering, fuzz-toned solos to the fluty "Hearts of Stone" and the Mexicali rockabilly of "Shakin' Shakin' Shakes," stretching out each with a '60s-mystical feel.

Music Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers / Buddy Guy. Tom Petty pits Mojo, his exercise in Chess Records blues and Allman Brothers jams, against Buddy Guy's half-century-plus experience in blues-guitar heroics (Eric Clapton has called Guy his favorite guitarist). Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Buddy Guy play Saturday and Sunday night at 7:30 at the Wells Fargo Center (formerly the Wachovia Center), 3601 S. Broad St. Saturday sold out. Sunday tickets: $52.50-$128. Information: 800-298-4200, www.livenation.

Brooklyn lays claim to Beyonc? Beyonc?, 28, yesterday was accorded a world-historical honor: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz declared her an official Brooklynite. B, whose husband, Jay-Z, is a B-native, was in the New York borough to open the Beyonc? Cosmetology Center, a substance abuse program at Phoenix House. The center will train rehab patients for a career in cosmetology. Jada honors the Queen "When I think about [Queen] Latifah I think about a woman who makes me feel loved.

A concert film that's a must-see - and must-hear - for fans of the blues, Lightning in a Bottle brings together veterans and newcomers, guitar legends, croaky old warblers, spry chanteuses, and a couple of rock carpetbaggers (Steven Tyler, please go away!). "An All-Star Salute to the Blues" took place on Feb. 7 of last year at New York's Radio City Music Hall, where director Antoine Fuqua oversaw a team of camera and sound folk documenting the performances of B.B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, James "Blood" Ulmer, Hubert Sumlin, John Hammond, Bonnie Raitt, John Fogerty, Chuck D., David "Honeyboy" Edwards, and many more.

G.E. Smith rocked the North Star Bar on Saturday when he and his Generic Blondes threw down some righteous electric blues. The band is a rotating cast of musicians organized by Smith, former leader of the Saturday Night Live house band and a natural blond. On Saturday, he was joined by bassist Paul Ossola, also from the Saturday Night Live band and a bottle blond, and drummer Steve Holley, a brunet. This is cliche by now: It's amazing how much power can come from three instruments when the players are pulling their weight.

With songs such as "Mama's Selling Heroin" and "Plastic Spoon," about an elderly couple forced to eat dog food in order to afford their medication, Otis Taylor delivers a gripping but severe brand of blues that is not designed to elicit whoops of "Otis, my man!" from an audience. Especially a party-hearty one. The 56-year-old Boulder, Colo., resident will be playing Saturday at Warmdaddy's, the Old City blues club and restaurant where audiences expect to enjoy a good time. That doesn't faze him. "They're going to hear a style of blues they've never heard before, and I can't tell you how they're going to react," Taylor said last week from Providence, R.I. "We've played Buddy Guy's in Chicago, that's a hard-core blues club, and we got a pretty good reaction.

Bally's Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Park Place, 609-340-2000, ballysac.com. "The Price Is Right Live!" starring Joey Fatone, 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Monday through Wednesday, 2 p.m. Sunday (Palace Theater), $25 and $20. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, 1 Borgata Way, 609-317-1000, theborgata.com. Billy Gardell, 9 tonight and tomorrow (Music Box), $25. David Guetta, 10 p.m. tomorrow (Event center), sold out. Caesars Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Arkansas Avenue, 609-348-4411, caesarsac.com.

The stage was set for an epic showdown - or at least a scripted bout of indulgent one-upmanship. In one corner, at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, was Buddy Guy, 61, Louisiana-born Chicago blues legend and one of the most electrifying guitarists alive. In the other, Jonny Lang, 17, baby-faced North Dakota hotshot whose 1997 debut Lie to Me (A & M) has made blues safe for teenyboppers and who guests on "Midnight Train" on Guy's funky new Heavy Love (Silvertone)

In Concert Broad & Locust Sts.; 215-893-1999. www.academyofmusic.org . Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. $39.50-$49.50. 11/11. 8 pm. Joe Bonamassa. $39.50-$59.50. 11/12. 8 pm. 3680 Walnut St.; 215-898-6701. www.annenbergcenter.org . Hiromi. $20-$40. 11/12. 8 pm. 2301 Boardwalk, Atlantic City; 609-348-7000. www.boardwalkhall.com . Furthur. $39.50-$59.50. 11/12. 7 pm. 1853 Wrightstown Rd., Washington Crossing; 215-493-6500. www.crossingvineyards.com . Fridays Unplugged.

Bally's Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Park Place, 609-340-2000, ballysac.com. "The Price Is Right Live!" starring Joey Fatone, 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Monday through Wednesday, 2 p.m. Sunday (Palace Theater), $25 and $20. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, 1 Borgata Way, 609-317-1000, theborgata.com. Billy Gardell, 9 tonight and tomorrow (Music Box), $25. David Guetta, 10 p.m. tomorrow (Event center), sold out. Caesars Atlantic City, Boardwalk at Arkansas Avenue, 609-348-4411, caesarsac.com.

Music Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers / Buddy Guy. Tom Petty pits Mojo, his exercise in Chess Records blues and Allman Brothers jams, against Buddy Guy's half-century-plus experience in blues-guitar heroics (Eric Clapton has called Guy his favorite guitarist). Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Buddy Guy play Saturday and Sunday night at 7:30 at the Wells Fargo Center (formerly the Wachovia Center), 3601 S. Broad St. Saturday sold out. Sunday tickets: $52.50-$128. Information: 800-298-4200, www.livenation.

Brooklyn lays claim to Beyonc? Beyonc?, 28, yesterday was accorded a world-historical honor: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz declared her an official Brooklynite. B, whose husband, Jay-Z, is a B-native, was in the New York borough to open the Beyonc? Cosmetology Center, a substance abuse program at Phoenix House. The center will train rehab patients for a career in cosmetology. Jada honors the Queen "When I think about [Queen] Latifah I think about a woman who makes me feel loved.

We're feeling the love for Philly guys with new albums out today, as well for seasoned pros Buddy Guy, Willie Nile, Nils Lofgren and more. FOLK 'N SOUL MUSIC: His name means "happy" in Turkish, and that's how Mutlu will make you feel listening to his debut disc, "Livin' It" (Manhattan, A-) . The work of this vital singer and polished songwriter has an earnest, uplifting, sweet-soul feel that occasionally dabbles in Marvin Gaye slo-funk territory (check out "Livin' It") or raggedy reggae (dig "Shaky Ground," featuring Philly's acoustic rapper G.Love)

A concert film that's a must-see - and must-hear - for fans of the blues, Lightning in a Bottle brings together veterans and newcomers, guitar legends, croaky old warblers, spry chanteuses, and a couple of rock carpetbaggers (Steven Tyler, please go away!). "An All-Star Salute to the Blues" took place on Feb. 7 of last year at New York's Radio City Music Hall, where director Antoine Fuqua oversaw a team of camera and sound folk documenting the performances of B.B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, James "Blood" Ulmer, Hubert Sumlin, John Hammond, Bonnie Raitt, John Fogerty, Chuck D., David "Honeyboy" Edwards, and many more.

With songs such as "Mama's Selling Heroin" and "Plastic Spoon," about an elderly couple forced to eat dog food in order to afford their medication, Otis Taylor delivers a gripping but severe brand of blues that is not designed to elicit whoops of "Otis, my man!" from an audience. Especially a party-hearty one. The 56-year-old Boulder, Colo., resident will be playing Saturday at Warmdaddy's, the Old City blues club and restaurant where audiences expect to enjoy a good time. That doesn't faze him. "They're going to hear a style of blues they've never heard before, and I can't tell you how they're going to react," Taylor said last week from Providence, R.I. "We've played Buddy Guy's in Chicago, that's a hard-core blues club, and we got a pretty good reaction.