Billy Bragg has a lot of Woody Guthrie in him. Like Guthrie, he hit the scene as just a guy and a guitar (although Bragg's was electric) and wrote songs for the voiceless. But Bragg is no more one-dimensional than Guthrie was, a point that Bragg underscored with a cross-section of songs on Mermaid Avenue, which transported Guthrie from dirt roads to New York City. When Bragg rocks out with a band, he moves comfortably from the rallies to the pubs. Darren Hanlon opens.—Rick Cornell