Tuesday Happenings

Rock

-- Michigan band Awesome Color maintains its home state's undefeated record for hard rock awesomeness. You might hear as much Southern Rock as Stooges during the band's set, and all the better. With all of the people fleeing the Wolverine State, it's nice to know that its musical gene pool is still expanding. Playing with Unicycle Loves You and You Need New Glasses. Middle East Upstairs, 472 Mass. Ave., 9 p.m. $9.

Words

-- Dennis Lehane has a knack for recreating gritty Dorchester (or, in the case of Mystic River, his most famous novel, fictionalized Dorchester), but can he handle historical fiction? Lehane reads from The Given Day, his latest, a novel set in early twentieth century Boston, home to police strikes, Spanish flu, and the Great Molasses Flood. Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St., Brookline, 6 p.m. $5.

Burlesque

-- With Boston's wealth of burlesque, you need a pretty good reason to catch a troupe from out of town. NYC's Pinchbottom Burlesque might offer one: The group performs a hybrid of theater and burlesque, in which every show has a theme and every theme has a plot and a few characters. Boston boosters, don't feel bad: Co-founder Nasty Canasta is a native. The Beehive, 541 Tremont St., South End, 9:00pm. Free.

Openings

-- The Speaker Project is a massive interactive art installation that combines sculpture and sound as musicians and DJs perform from within a massive speaker-shaped structure. The brainchild of Chicago artist Juan Angel Chávez, the installation will offer a rare opportunity for an art experience that is as democratic and interactive as it is illuminating. Steven D. Paine Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Ave., 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (through November 22). Free.

Image of Denis Lehane from his website.