Brewing up a bargain

Dude, the whole thing kind of smacks of effort, but this is New England and you know what that means. (That we're, um, thrifty people who will do any anything to save a buck.) And, besides, it's a good excuse to visit the Big Apple and support a hometown band you like in the first place — even though they're playing a couple of local dates in a couple of weeks just up the road a bit. But, anyhow, here's the deal. Drive to New York to see the Brew at The Mercury Lounge. Track down Chizzle, the Amesbury quartet's tour manager, and, someone cue Groucho, say the secret word (that would be shaqulkin, pronounced sha-kul-kin, which probably means something, we have no idea what.) Got it? Then you'll be entered into a raffle to win two weekend passes to one of the major summer music festivals. Like Mountain Jam, which will feature Gov't Mule, Levon Helm and Alison Krauss. And the Brew. Or the Naveva Festival, which will have George Clinton and Parliament Funk and Furthur, the current live-and-kicking project by the Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. And the Brew. Seems like, with the raffle and all, the odds of getting to one of these hippie fests are pretty slim, but that's just your New England pessimism. The Mercury holds just 200 people and not everyone will know the password, so, if you have the energy for a road trip, you have a good chance of scoring the tickets and bragging rights for bagging a major bargain — the passes for Mountain Jam are worth more than $320. (We're assuming the band's going all-out and including a camping pass.) We'll probably just catch the band at two dates at the Stone Church next month — and curse the bargain that got away. Check 'em out online for more information.