Miracle Legion was a New Haven band that hit some heights in the ‘80s and ‘90s — international tours, videos and interviews on MTV, an appearance on Letterman — and vocalist Mark Mulcahy and guitarist Ray Neal wrote powerful songs that made forever fans out of future stars like Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.
The quartet ended up suffering setbacks that are all too familiar in the music business (old record label goes bankrupt, new record label shackles them in contractual limbo) before calling it a day circa 1997, naming their final album “Portrait Of a Damaged Family.”
Thankfully the band’s friendships never ended, and after two decades, the stars finally aligned and the time was right for Miracle Legion (which also includes bassist Dave McCaffrey and drummer Scott Bouthier) to reunite last summer.
The shows were such a success that the band turned a couple of them into an epic live album — “Annulment,” out now on Mulcahy’s own Mezzotint record label — and decided to do one more string of shows this spring, which includes a concert at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday at 8 p.m. Starting off the night is a special solo set by Lou Barlow.
“Annulment” is almost two hours long, a generous collection of Miracle Legion greatest hits and deep cuts, recorded live in front of energetic audiences at The Bell House in Brooklyn and, for the majority of the record, the legendary Codfish Hollow barn in Maquoketa, Iowa.
“This is the best gig ever,” Mulcahy says somewhere in the sea of 23 jangly and rocking songs, and you can feel the electricity in the air as the band soulfully storms through fan favorites like “Country Boy,” “Mr. Mingo,” “Storyteller,” “The Backyard,” “All For the Best,” “Ladies From Town,” “Snacks and Candy” and more.
And speaking of storm, the ominous cover art is related to the band’s experience out in Iowa, as Mr. Ray explained in an interview last week: “A few hours before the Codfish Hollow show, it started getting real dark. Me, Scott, and Dave were driving back to the hotel through endless cornfields when Dave’s phone went off. It was a tornado warning. We high-tailed back to the hotel and hid out in the basement. Thankfully there was a bar and restaurant down there!”
Local groove ensemble Free Range Cats — with special guest Eric Olsson — plays Brew Practitioners in Florence on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Folksinger/songwriter Jonathan Edwards, best known for his 1971 Top 5 hit “Sunshine,” put out a new album in 2015 entitled “Tomorrow’s Child.” No stranger to the Valley, he’ll return to the area for a show at the Iron horse in Northampton on Saturday at 7 p.m.
“Friendly Forest Creatures” is a night featuring live music from The Bunnies, Golden West Service (on tour from NYC), Easthampton Savings Band and Greenwood (playing its first show), as well as poetry readings by Marisa Crawford and Mark Gurarie, all taking place at the Brick House Community Resource Center in Turners Falls on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard has a new quintet called The E-Collective (guitarist Charles Altura, keyboard player Fabian Almazan, bassist David “DJ” Ginyard Jr. and drummer Oscar Seaton) that travels into funky fusion. They put out the album “Breathless” in 2015 and will appear at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall at UMASS Amherst on Saturday at 8 p.m.
The latest season of the Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares concert series continues with trumpeter Peter Evans and his septet (violinist Mazz Swift, pianist Ron Stabinsky, Sam Pluta on live electronics, bassist Tom Blancarte, Levy Lorenzo on percussion and electronics, and drummer Jim Black) at the Arts Block in Greenfield on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Fully Glazed (Richie Records, members of Watery Love); Dredd Foole; Epstein, Melendez, & Krutz; and the Matt Krefting/Bill Nace Duo perform at the Root Cellar in Greenfield on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Lonesome Brothers, Greg Hall & the Barnhouse Band and Kelsey Birk make up the next Reanimate the Bay State triple-bill at the Sierra Grille in Northampton on Thursday at 10 p.m.