Our Critics' Picks

THURSDAY 7/10

FilmMOVIES@MAIN: WAIT UNTIL DARK Talky, contrived and stagily acted, Terence Young’s 1967 film version of the Broadway thriller is cinematically undistinguished, at least until the last half-hour—fortunately, the end is all anyone remembers. As blind New Yorker Audrey Hepburn battles a ruthless drug-seeking psycho—Alan Arkin, a Middle American’s nightmare of a Greenwich Village hophead—director Young stages their confrontation in near-total darkness. For added measure, theater managers were instructed to dim the house lights “to the legal limit,” thus leaving moviegoers stranded in the dark with the characters. Those who saw it then haven’t forgotten Hepburn’s terrified face, the only light in the pitch-black room, dwindling with the glow of her protective matches. As slow (and tawdry) as the build-up is, the climax remains pretty damn scary—a reminder that confinement, if handled with rigor, is a foolproof mechanism for suspense filmmaking. Shown on projected DVD, the film is free and open to the public. 5:30 p.m. at Nashville Public Library (615 Church St.) —JIM RIDLEY

MusicGLEN PHILLIPS With NASA’s space shuttle program sputtering toward its end, former Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman Glen Phillips decided that now is a good time to launch himself toward outer space with his new album, Secrets of the New Explorers. He’s adventuring further than ever from his mainly acoustic, singer-songwriter pop foundation, though he’s never been one to pass over a good creative concept. (His Mutual Admiration Society collaboration with Nickel Creek a few years back is a case in point.) Secrets is filtered through a vintage sci-fi vision of the future that—in 2008—comes off as refreshingly whimsical. The album is made current with wittily skewed Simon and Garfunkle references (“I am a rocket/I am an island”), Steven Tyler namedropping and the general implication that adventure and progress don’t necessarily make one more human. New age keyboards, whizzing and whirring loops and odd vocal effects give the album faint shades of David Bowie and The Flaming Lips. 8 p.m. at The Belcourt —JEWLY HIGHT

MusicBLUEGRASS NIGHTS AT THE RYMAN: RHONDA VINCENT & THE RAGE W/RUSSELL MOORE & IIIRD TYME OUT, DAILEY & VINCENT While there’ll be plenty of instrumental fireworks in this three-part bluegrass extravaganza, the biggest boom will come in the vocal arena. On their own and with others, Vincent, Moore and Dailey have earned more than 20 IBMA singing awards, while Dailey & Vincent—that’d be Rhonda’s brother, Darrin, late of Ricky Skaggs’ band—have successfully moved from sidekick to star status largely on the strength of plaintive duet harmonies on songs like Welch and Rawlings’ “By the Mark.” Behind them stand a clutch of hidden weapons like Vincent’s Darrell Webb and Mickey Harris, IIIrd Tyme Out’s Steve Dilling and Edgar Loudermilk, and Dailey & Vincent’s Jeff Parker, all of whom occasionally take their own turns out front. Urban aficionados of the “raw” who equate uncertain pitch and ragged harmonies with authenticity tend to sneer at these polished outfits, but anyone who’s seen them out in the bluegrass heartland knows better. 7:30 p.m. at Ryman Auditorium —JON WEISBERGER

MusicTRISTEN With a crystalline voice and a sincere, fresh-faced presence, local singer/songwriter Tristen has a sound that falls somewhere between anti-folk and simple pop. While this Chicago native once trafficked in carefully produced radio-ready tunes, her new sound is a bit more Kimya Dawson—if she happened to be a petite, grinning twentysomething with a stronger voice and a splash of the Nashville sound. Tristen and Theory 8’s pride-and-joy Caitlin Rose recently debuted their collaborative effort The Garland Sisters for the Mercy Lounge’s 8 off 8th series. The duo belted out a handful of stunning, heartfelt tunes in interwoven, luminous voices, and while Rose is also on this bill, there’s no word on whether the two will be performing together. Washington State Americana act The Lonely H and locals Atlas Songs also open up. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot; Tristen also plays The Basement on Wednesday, 16th. —D. PATRICK RODGERS

FRIDAY 7/11

MusicLUCERO With Mercy Lounge closed until July 21 for remodeling, you’ll have to go elsewhere for your Cannery Row debauchery—fortunately, a band that knows a little something about getting debauched happens to be coming through town. Memphis’ Lucero are a band of extremes—extreme emotion, extreme talent, (occasionally) extreme drunkenness and very extreme fans. Their faithful might be a bit intense—especially when it comes to the sing-along portions of the evening—but the devotion is well deserved as gravel-voiced frontman Ben Nichols & Co. continue to craft a contemporary breed of Dixie rock that swings wildly from punk grit to naked emotionalism to Springsteen-like grandiosity. Murfreesboro’s Glossary open. 9 p.m. at Cannery Ballroom—LEE STABERT

MusicSTRICTLY BUSINESS HIP-HOP NIGHT Tyzayah Gold-Kiser and the Combined Visions crew are at it again, bringing Nashville the best in progressive Southern hip-hop. Yeah, you heard us right: progressive Southern rap, as forward-thinking as anything coming from coastal cultural centers, yet distinctly Southern in funk and flair. It’s not a new phenomenon, but it was an oft-neglected facet of our regional scene while the monsters of crunk roamed the airwaves. Now that the pimp juice is running dry, it’s time for this sound to take its rightful place in the pantheon of Dixie dopeness. In addition to a new tag-team spectacle from local DJs Wick-it and Kidsmeal, the Queen of Cashville DJ Eticut, Crisis and Just One from Lovenoise, Virgina Beach is sending us its finest exports since Teddy Riley. Ced Hughes, Barz Vic, Max Mega and Battle are stadium rap sent from the future to save our Southern souls. Be sure to check out the Combined Visions website (combinedvisions.com) for the latest info and bumpin’ new tracks from all the artists. 9 p.m. at Exit/In—SEAN L. MALONEY