Our Critics' Picks

THURSDAY 2/28

MusicTOMMY AND THE WHALE Guys, hide your girlfriends: East Nashville’s finest new pop group Tommy and the Whale will undoubtedly leave you impressed, downright envious and quite possibly single. These piano based rock ’n’ rollers sound anything but contrived with main man Tommy Hans sporting his soulful croon and the rest of the Whale dabbling in trumpet, lap steel and the occasional accordion. They’re currently finishing up their first full-length, Shot for the Moon, an affair chock full of vintage sing-alongs. So grab a hold of your barstool, take a swig of your favorite flavor and prepare to witness a rickety, Americana-tinged music hall romp. 9 p.m. the Exit/In —MURRAY SHARP

Mixed BreedsMANGY DOG RADIO HOUR CD RELEASE PARTY Local funnymen Chad Riden, Jesse Perry, Mark Anundson and Sean Parrott have been producing a comedy podcast for some time (available at mangydog.comedypodcast.com). Now the quartet has put together its first “greatest hits” CD, which extracts the best of its parodies, pranks and character-driven sketches, including “The Incredible Adventures of Texas Toast and His Talking Dog Jesus.” Besides celebrating the new disc, the comedians will perform live skits, songs and their individual stock-in-trade stand-up acts. Free CD with admission. 8 p.m. at Bongo After Hours Theatre —MARTIN BRADY

Dance PartyFUNKY GOOD TIME D-Funk and crew top off a very funky February with another installment of their super-swanky DJ night. It is guaranteed to put more dip in you hip, more cut in your strut and more glide in your stride. And it is certainly going to be better than watching that Eli Stone piece o’ crap that comes on after Lost. 10 p.m. at Bound’ry —SEAN L. MALONEY

MusicAN EVENING WITH THE REFUGEES: CINDY BULLENS, WENDY WALDMAN & DEBORAH HOLLAND These three veterans—songwriters, rockers, groundbreakers—have carved out such individual paths that it’s hard to imagine them coming together. But that’s also what makes this bill so exciting. Waldman emerged from the early-’70s California folk-rock scene, a gypsy poet with a beautiful voice who ignored genre restrictions to excel at several musical styles. Bullens initially created a stir in the late ’70s as a concise, blue-collar rocker. And Holland first gained notice in 1989 as the young leader of Animal Logic, a band featuring established instrumentalists Stanley Clarke and Stewart Copeland. At this point, they all write songs about survival, living in the moment and finding a way despite all the obstacles. 9 p.m. at the Bluebird Café —MICHAEL MCCALL

PoetryJUDSON MITCHAM A two-time winner of the Townsend Prize for his novels The Sweet Everlasting and Sabbath Creek, writer Judson Mitcham is also a highly regarded poet. A lifelong Georgian, Mitcham uses Southern settings to explore universal themes of love and loss—especially loss. Mortality is a central concern in much of his verse, as in these lines from his 1991 collection Somewhere in Ecclesiastes: “What if it were true, after all / that the body is a garment, a light cotton shirt / we will easily do without?” Mitcham will read and discuss work from his latest poetry collection, A Little Salvation. 8 p.m. in Vanderbilt’s Buttrick Hall, Room 101. —MARIA BROWNING

Looking for LangstonAFRICAN AMERICAN TEEN POETRY CAFÉ Recapture the future-is-now creative explosion of the Harlem Renaissance at this Black History Month event, which invites Nashville teens to freestyle, emote, lift their voices and express their literary impulses any way they choose. Light refreshments will be served. If you want to write, rap or sing but you can’t find a forum, don’t blow this off. You know what happens to a dream deferred. Sponsored by Nashville Public Library; call 862-5870 for more information. 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Richland Park Library Branch (4711 Charlotte Ave.) —JIM RIDLEY

No Crosby, No HopeTHE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross’ controversial 2006 docudrama examines the case of the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims who were captured in Afghanistan on unfounded suspicion of terrorist activity and packed off to Gitmo for three years of interrogation, imprisonment and torture. The movie is this week’s selection in Vanderbilt’s Iraq War film series, free and open to the public. 7 p.m. at Sarratt Cinema —JIM RIDLEY

ComedyALONZO BODDEN It might not hold the same cachet anymore, but just a few seasons back Last Comic Standing was a spotlight of hope for comedians not seasoned, well-managed or ass-kissy enough to land a network deal. This is the LCS that this Leno, festival-circuit and Comedy Central Presents vet won; the LCS that meant the most to struggling practitioners of the nation’s most underestimated art form. With a smart, sophisticated and purposefully subdued take on relationships that offers far deeper insight than the standard “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus” gags, Bodden is clearly a man for whom emotional complexity is a performance cornerstone. Feb. 28-March 1 at Zanies Comedy Club. Last Comic Standing will hold auditions on March 3rd at Zanies: open auditions, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; callbacks, 7:30 p.m. ($10). —JULIE SEABAUGH