Our Critics Picks
THURSDAY 10/18
“Born With a Weak Heart” by Emily Leonard
Art Preview
EMILY LEONARD’S IN RETURNING
Emily Leonard’s large, oil-on-wood-panel landscapes depict dusk, dawn
and that fleeting moment when one season surrenders to the next. The
brooding, transitional light creates an apt setting for her to ask
questions about experience, memory and the borderline between dreams
and waking life. Nashville art-abouts will have a chance to pose their
own questions when Leonard opens her studio doors and offers a sneak
peek at the new work that will comprise In Returning, her show opening next month at Davidson Contemporary in Seattle. 5-8 p.m. in the Chestnut Building, 427 Chestnut Ave., Ste. 230 —JOE NOLAN
Benefit
THE MOLLY SHOW Think of this night as the ending of It’s a Wonderful Life,
only the part of George Bailey will be played by Molly Secours. An
agitator, in the finest sense of the term, on issues ranging from
TennCare and at-risk youth to racial disparities in criminal justice,
Secours has devoted her career as an author, filmmaker and activist to
speaking up for people without the means to buy ads or airtime. She was
sidelined by uterine cancer three months ago—a curve ball that prompted
agonizing rounds of chemotherapy and taxed her limited health
insurance. But one nice thing about helping out so many people is that
they tend to remember, hence this amazing potluck benefit featuring
talent from comedy (The Doyle and Debbie Show) to spoken-word
performance (Minton Sparks) to music (Maura O’Connell, Steve Conn and
Take 6 vocalist Claude McKnight) to art (painter James Threalkill).
Tickets are $20. Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 68534, Nashville,
37206 or made anonymously to the Molly Secours Benefit Fund, AmSouth
Music, 1600 Division No. 100, Nashville, 37203. 7:30 p.m. at the Belcourt Theatre —JIM RIDLEY
Mad Dash
DASH RIP ROCK In the tradition of Tommy, The Wall and the Fat Boys’ On and On comes Hee Haw Hell (Alternative Tentacles), the first concept album from the heavyweight champs of Louisiana frat-rock. A cowpunk variation on Dante’s Inferno,
with between-songs cantos read by such ivory-tower types as Mojo Nixon,
Supe Granda and Bill Lloyd, the record is a text you should familiarize
yourself with before the band kicks off its famed 100-proof live show.
But if you miss study hall, Prof. Bill Davis will be happy to instruct
you in bellowing glory-halla-stoopid meathead choruses like “She’s the
mother of all fuckers!” and “Fall down, go boom!” Some kegwork may be
required. 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —JIM RIDLEY
Evening With an Author
DARNELL ARNOULT & BLAS FALCONER
For October, “Evening With an Author,” a monthly event that brings
authors and readers together for informal discussion, showcases two
notable local writers. Darnell Arnoult’s debut novel, Sufficient Grace,
won critical praise last year for its wry, sympathetic portrait of a
middle-aged Southern housewife who finds herself seized by spiritual
and artistic visions. Stock characters of Southern fiction—the good ol’
boy, the black matriarch, the itinerant preacher—are presented with a
fresh perspective. Blas Falconer is a formally trained poet whose first
collection, A Question of Gravity and Light, explores themes of family, identity and sexuality. 6-7:30 p.m. at Art & Invention Gallery —MARIA BROWNING
Gov’t Mule
Photo: Danny Clinch
Music
GOV’T MULE
It would be easy to consign Gov’t Mule to the category of
Southern-fried heavy rock/jam-band hybrid, especially given their
origins as a latter-day Allman Brothers spinoff. And for the most part,
such categorization suits their sound’s most prominent elements. But
what becomes clear over time is how intently bandleader Warren Haynes
and his cohorts reach to jazz for their sense of group interplay. They
sound on the surface like they’re playing hard rock, but they are
perpetually trying, however discreetly, to reach higher levels of
flexibility and grace in their approach to timing and harmony. Mighty High, an excursion into dub/remix territory released this week, illustrates the band’s hunger for fusion. 8 p.m. at War Memorial Auditorium —SABY REYES-KULKARNI
Psychedelic Toolbox
FUNKWRENCH
Escaping from their respective regular gigs with Marty Stuart and Patty
Griffin, side-monster guitarist Kenny Vaughan and bassist Frank Swart
make the least likely getaway imaginable—essentially by crash-landing
the P-Funk Mothership in Electric Ladyland. Expect set-long space jams,
screaming leads and gristly more-bounce-to-the-ounce grooves from the
trio, anchored by drummer Adam Abrashoff. Also on the bill: hot country
trio Those Darlins, Matt Reasor & the Madness, and the first local
show in four years by compelling folk-pop vocalist/songwriter Tywanna
Jo Baskette. 8:30 p.m. at Exit/In —JIM RIDLEY
Movie Premiere
THE DRIVE
Since January, Hendersonville’s Cring family have vowed to make and
release a movie a month for 12 months, and with the premiere of their
latest, they’re at seven and counting. An apt if unintended companion
piece to the current In the Valley of Elah, The Drive
starts as a talky domestic drama about a middle-aged couple (Tammy
Hopkins and D.R. Smith) en route to scatter their soldier son’s ashes
at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. But as hints drop to darker
motivations, the movie takes a path that it’s safe to say no major
studio will follow anytime soon. The low-key thriller makes its world
premiere in Gallatin with the cast and filmmakers attending. Up next:
the Christmas comedy Wonderful. For information, visit extraordinaryfilmproject.com. 7 p.m. at the Palace Theater, Gallatin —JIM RIDLEY
FRIDAY 10/19
Music
KINGS OF LEON
The Followill clan’s herky-jerky commercial ascent has been interesting
to watch, and it’s been matched by growing maturity and sophistication.
Their first two albums bore the imprint of anxious post-punk wrestling
electric Southern twang. The addition of Ethan Johns behind the boards
for 2005’s Aha Shake Heartbreak helped polish their sound. Johns shepherded these preacher’s kids again on this year’s Because of the Times,
their best release to date. Typically an artist’s third album is their
most ambitious, and the Kings don’t disappoint. They indulge their jam
instincts with prog atmospherics that color most of the album without
sacrificing their jagged, Southern-fried allure. The lyrical subject
matter remains decidedly relational—there are lots of threatening
women—and offers little in the way of insight, but Caleb’s delivery has
become so accomplished it’s hardly noticeable. Their steady growth only
adds to the anticipation of what might happen when their hot blood
cools. 7:30 p.m. at Ryman Auditorium —CHRIS PARKER
Line Drive
“SHOE KICK” AT IMPROV NASHVILLE
Buddy, if it’s an Italian beef from Mr. Beef you’re wanting—or obscure
Art Pepper sides from the Jazz Record Mart, or tropicalia from Dusty
Groove, or a real deep-dish pie—you’re in the wrong city. But for two
nights only, Chicago and Nashville come together like Richard Roeper
and Snowbird thanks to Improv Nashville, this year’s victors in the
“Best of Nashville” Readers’ Poll. The troupe too cheap for scripts
plays host this weekend to Kate Duffy and David Montgomery from
Chicago’s famous Improv Olympic Theater, the comedy club that gave
early breaks to Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Mike Myers and other talents.
Friends for five years (they met in 1987), Duffy and Montgomery will
spin a one-act from an audience member’s suggestion of an emotion. (Our
pick: schadenfreude.) Improv Nashville will perform a short opening
set; tickets are $10. For information, call 418-0905 or visit
improvnashville.com. 10 p.m. Friday & 8 p.m. Saturday at 12South Arts Venue —JIM RIDLEY
Through the Looking Glass
OF CABBAGES AND KINGS
GroundWorks Theatre’s Robert O’Connell has written the second
installment of his trilogy of plays based on Lewis Carroll’s poem “The
Walrus and the Carpenter.” This work offers a variety of scenes—some
that thematically reemerge during the course of the evening—reflecting
the myriad comic, dramatic and absurdist ways humans attempt to
communicate. Like last year’s first entry in the series, Why the Sea Is Boiling Hot, Of Cabbages
serves up fast-paced sketches designed to tease and amuse while
simultaneously proffering political commentary. For example, “Darwin
Shmarwin” finds two chimps arguing that humans will never evolve and
are too thick-skulled to learn from history. As before, O’Connell
directs a cast featuring a mix of familiar locals and relative
newcomers, including Pat Rulon, Joseph Grant, Frank Preston and Andrea
Brooks. Oct. 19-27 at the Darkhorse Theater —MARTIN BRADY
To Be or Not to Be
THE COLLEGIUM OF BLACK WOMEN PHILOSOPHERS
In the 1950s, philosopher Hannah Arendt criticized the forced
desegregation of Little Rock public schools, saying that the black
parents who wanted their children to attend white schools were like
social climbers who sought admittance into a society that did not wish
to accept them. This year, Louisiana school officials refused to expel
the white Jena high school students who hung nooses from their
“whites-only” tree to keep black students away. University of
Pennsylvania law professor Anita Allen will address these events in a
speech titled “The White-Only Shade Tree: Moral Reflections of
Integration, Now and Then.” Allen speaks as part of the first
conference for black women philosophers, a Vanderbilt event featuring
lectures, programs and networking opportunities designed to promote
female African Americans who are professors or graduate students of
philosophy. Allen will speak at 4 p.m. Friday. A ceremony to honor
Joyce Mitchell Cook, the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in
philosophy, will be held at 6 p.m. the same night. For more
information, visit vanderbilt.edu/cbwp. Oct. 19-20 at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center —CLAIRE SUDDATH
Fright Night
DEVIL’S DUNGEON
Nestled in a bleak industrial sector of East Nashville, the Devil’s
Dungeon offers more than enough cheap thrills and schlocky gore to
justify the $10 admission. This attraction advertises itself as
“Nashville’s Most Controversial Haunted House,” and while we’re pretty
sure that distinction belongs to some Pentecostal Hell House, the
Dungeon crew certainly doesn’t shy away from obscene iconoclasm. This
entirely indoor screamfest capitalizes on its narrow hallways and small
sets, creating a genuine sense of claustrophobia and goosing the ordeal
along with frequent and well-timed pop-out scares. You’ll see the
requisite guts and torture implements, but what really distinguishes
the Devil’s Dungeon is the dedication of its performers, who have made
an art form out of lurking, lingering and generally staying too close
for comfort. Beware the obligatory blackout maze—you could find
yourself becoming accidentally intimate with a fellow thrill-seeker as
you feel your way along. For information, visit
devilsdungeon.net. Friday, Saturday & Sunday, through Oct. 31 at 510 Davidson St., East Nashville —CODY DE VOS
SATURDAY 10/20
“work on paper” by Lisa Ann Bachman
Art
FALL RECEPTION AT CLOUD 12
Cloud 12 Gallery, the East Side’s latest addition to Nashville’s art
scene, hosts this autumn art happening featuring wine, women and song.
The exhibit includes new work by Lisa Ann Bachman, Beth Seiters and
Julie Lee. Bachman’s near-abstract works on paper stand in stark
contrast to Seiter’s more graphic multimedia creations. Lee’s “Signal
Mountain Series” consists of found-object assemblages making use of
antique photographs, combined with humorous captions. Lee will also be
playing music at the gallery. Her songs “Jacob’s Dream” and “Away Down
the River” can both be found on Alison Krauss’ latest, A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection. 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Cloud 12 Gallery —JOE NOLAN
Say Your Prayers, Varmint!
JAMES GANG FESTIVAL AND SHOOTOUT On the weekend the Brad Pitt Western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
finally shows up in Nashville theaters, take a step back into living
history—to Earthman’s General Store in Whites Creek, where one day in
1881 a drunken galoot named Bill Ryan shot off his mouth about being an
outlaw, pulled a gun, and got himself tossed in the hoosegow. It was
bad news for Ryan’s comrades in the James Gang, who’d just relieved an
Army paymaster of $5,000 (and his dead father’s pocket watch) in Muscle
Shoals. This time you can watch as playwright Jay Eklond leads a
dramatized reenactment of the capture and shootout, featuring actors
Dave Tiller, John Richards, Tom Dolan, Jeff George and Beth Whetzel.
There’ll also be craftsmen displaying iron, honey, quilting and leather
goods along with music indoors and out all day long. Watch for an
appearance by Deadwood regular W. Earl Brown and his band. Take I-24 west to the Old Hickory exit; turn left off Old Hickory onto Whites Creek Pike. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Earthman’s General Store, 4409 Whites Creek Pike —JIM RIDLEY
Art Auction
TICKLED PINK FOR PEACE
“They will beat their swords into ploughshares” (Isaiah 2:4)—these
remain some of the most comforting words for peace activists of every
era. In the midst of the current quagmire, Farms Not Arms is taking
this bit of poetry literally by giving veterans returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan opportunities to find employment and training on farms and
in small communities. The Nashville Peace and Justice Center and
several other Nashville peace groups are hosting an art auction (with
contributions from Erika Johnson, Ben Vitualla, Robert Vore and others)
to benefit Farms Not Arms and its programs in our area. There is also a
preview party on Friday, with an admission price of $30. 6-10 p.m. at the Nashville Peace and Justice Center —DAVID MADDOX
Music
MALCOLM HOLCOMBE
I don’t care if one too many writers’ nights has made you want to run
every acoustic guitar in Davidson County through a woodchipper—you need
to check out Malcolm Holcombe, who’ll show you what all those other
hacks are trying (and failing) to do. What makes Holcombe great is that
he’s not really trying to do anything—he’s just picking up a
guitar and opening the floodgates of his battered soul. Because if he
doesn’t, he’ll explode. When that gruff rattle of a voice spews forth
over his barely contained fingerpicking, there’s no hesitation or
self-consciousness—it’s like he’s in a trance, channeling all the
untold thoughts and unrealized dreams dangling in the mist of some
backwoods hollow. Holcombe’s got a strong new five-song EP, the Ray
Kennedy-produced Wager, to hold fans over until January, when he releases the full-length Gamblin’ House. 9 p.m. at Douglas Corner —JACK SILVERMAN
Music
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY Perhaps best known for her appearance on The White Stripes’ 2003 album Elephant—she
sings with Jack and Meg on “It’s True That We Love One Another”—Holly
Golightly has been playing her brand of garage-rock since the early
’90s. From London, Golightly got her start in Thee Headcoatees, the
all-female counterpart to Billy Childish’s Thee Headcoats. She sings in
a winningly snide voice, as if she were Nancy Sinatra backed by The
Kinks. On 2003’s Truly She Is None Other, she covered the British Invasion band’s “Time Will Tell” in fine fashion. In a prolific career, Truly stands as one of her most accomplished collections, but 1998’s Serial Girlfriend and her most recent effort, You Can’t Buy a Gun When You’re Crying, reveal her as a charming, unclassifiable performer. Cut with longtime collaborator Lawyer Dave, Gun creaks along like the blues, or maybe you could just call it folk music. 8 p.m. at The End —EDD HURT
Horror Convention
OCTOBER COMIC & HORROR FESTIVAL He fought at Bruce Lee’s side in Enter the Dragon, he fought Freddy Krueger in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street and he starred in such cult movies as Dario Argento’s Tenebre, the original Black Christmas and Blood Beach. Now the mighty John Saxon appears in person at this Music City horror fest, alongside John Dugan (Grandpa from the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Chris Durand from Halloween H20, Sharon Ceccatti from Dawn of the Dead, and many others. Admission is $5 per day; for a full lineup, visit comiccitytn.com. 10 a.m. Oct. 20-21 at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Ag Building —JIM RIDLEY
Kids‚ Stuff with Teeth
DRACULA
Richard Stein and his merry pranksters at the Olde Worlde Theatre
Company mount this seasonal favorite as only they can—with a wickedly
funny edge designed to appeal to both the regular kiddie audience and
their grown-up companions. Bram Stoker’s legendary bloodsucker, played
by Chris Armstrong, rises from a graveyard and then, alongside the
Wolfman (Stein), makes his way to a Waffle House, where both get a
hankering for the waitress (Gerri Findley). Things move from there to a
yoga studio, and later to a karaoke party, as the iconic horror figures
passionately (and mirthfully) pursue their prey. The Nov. 3 performance
is a midnight show pitched to the older Halloween crowd. Saturdays, Oct. 20-Nov. 10 at the Belcourt Theatre —MARTIN BRADY
Now You See It, Now You Don’t
MAGICPALOOZA Who
knew there was a Nashville Magic Club? Well, there is, and the group of
locally based prestidigitators is gathering for a gala evening of
sleight of hand, illusions and comedy—and audience members can expect
to be called upon to participate in the wizardry. The performers
include Scott Cantrell, Lonny Divine, Gary Flegal and Jason Michaels,
with a special appearance by award-winning magician Arthur Trace. There
are approximately 15 acts on the bill, including preshow entertainers. 7 p.m. at the Belcourt Theatre —MARTIN BRADY
Music
JEFF COFFIN MU’TET
Saxophonist Jeff Coffin has been circling the globe with Béla Fleck’s
Flecktones for a decade now, so local appearances by Coffin’s Mu’tet
(so named for the constantly mutating lineup) have been few and far
between. But with the Flecktones on a yearlong hiatus, one of
Nashville’s jazz giants will be appearing more frequently (we hope),
indulging Nashville in some of the most fearless and inspired
improvisatory explorations you’re likely to hear round these parts.
Like Miles Davis in his heyday, Coffin’s a great musical alchemist,
bringing together disparate personalities to keep things exciting and
unpredictable. Saturday’s lineup includes drummer Derrek Phillips,
bassist Alana Rocklin and guitarist Pat Bergeson, along with a few
surprise guests. Coffin, one of Nashville’s preeminent instrumental
soloists, should be particularly pumped, coming off his previous
night’s performance with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra and guest Horacio
“El Negro” Hernández, considered one of the greatest Latin drummers
alive. (See the story on Hernández on p. 37.) 10 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —JACK SILVERMAN
SUNDAY 10/21
Walking With Dinosaurs
Photo: Courtesy of Walking with Dinosaurs - The Live Experience
Prehistoric Mayhem
WALKING WITH DINOSAURS Well, that’s just great. As soon as you convince your toddlers that there are no dinosaurs anywhere on the planet, 15 life-size prehistoric monsters storm the Sommet Center. As if you hadn’t already lost all credibility when you promised the doctor isn’t going to hurt you,
now you have to explain why a 43-foot-tall, 75-foot-long Brachiosaurus
is lumbering in from stage right, just behind the T-Rex with 8-foot
teeth. Blame it on the BBC and its predictably well-researched
television series Walking With Dinosaurs, which explores the
200 million-year history of the “terrible lizards.” Thanks to a $20
million budget and high-tech film, animatronics and puppetry, the
dinosaurs come to life in Nashville—at full scale. Good luck getting
the kids to sleep after this one. Oct. 17-21 at the Sommet Center —CARRINGTON FOX
Sista Style
GOSSIP, LIES & SECRETS Angela Dunlap could be called a female Tyler Perry. Like her previous musical plays If These Hips Could Talk and Why Good Girls Like Bad Boyz,
her latest dives into the world of contemporary African American social
relations, with focus on “sister girl sessions.” These intimate
opportunities to share experiences and feelings lead to bonding, but,
in this case, they also lead struggling writer Sydney St. Croix to
consider breaking faith with her female friends to snag a book deal.
Dunlap’s works, like Perry’s early successes, have found an audience on
the regional urban circuit, and after this Nashville gig, her play
heads to Tampa, Raleigh, Atlanta, Houston and elsewhere. The cast
features a mix of actors and singers, including LisaRaye McCoy-Misick,
Clifton Powell, Blu Cantrell, former Miss USA Kenya Moore, Malik Yoba
and Christopher Williams. Oct. 20-21 at TPAC’s Jackson Hall —MARTIN BRADY
Screwball Nirvana
THE LADY EVE
“I need him like the ax needs the turkey,” con woman Barbara Stanwyck
says of her latest mark, ale heir/herpetologist Henry Fonda, setting
the tone for Preston Sturges’ side-splitting 1941 farce. Stanwyck, the
most underrated of ’40s leading ladies, was never sexier than she is
here, literally tripping up Fonda’s bashful snake-handler on an ocean
voyage until falling helplessly for the lucky sap. Sturges surrounds
them with a rogues’ gallery of marvelous stock-company mugs—Charles
Coburn, Eric Blore, the immortal William Demarest as a splenetic
valet—then outfits the cast with some of the sharpest dialogue ever
written for the movies, a madcap spew of slang, invective, double-talk
and double entendres (almost all of them snake-related). Sturges’
whizzing comedy is this week’s selection in the Belcourt’s “Family
Weekend Classics” series, designed to get kids interested in old
movies: sharp-eyed tots will recognize supporting player Eugene
Pallette as Friar Tuck from The Adventures of Robin Hood, which appeared earlier in the lineup. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Noon Oct. 20-21 at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY
MONDAY 10/22
Music
BENEFIT CONCERT FOR BUTCH BALDASSARI
Few have mastered all the dialects of mandolin playing with as much
finesse as Blair School of Music adjunct associate professor Butch
Baldassari, who is now battling cancer. Arriving in Nashville almost 20
years ago with the now legendary Weary Hearts bluegrass band,
Baldassari has covered the musical landscape, as the title of one album
by the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble has it, from “Bach to the Beatles to
Bluegrass.” In a town full of fine mandolin players, Baldassari stood
out not only for the range of his interests, but for his elegant tone
and deliciously economical approach—and his generosity. So it’s not
surprising that among those saluting his talent and helping to raise
money for medical expenses are some of Nashville’s finest, drawn from
almost every quarter of the city’s roots music community. Look for a
performance by the NME to be among the most passionate, but a powerful
sense of community is bound to animate the entire evening, eliciting
not just good music, but good feelings too. The show will also feature
Dierks Bentley, Shawn Camp, Kathy Chiavola, John Cowan, Béla Fleck, The
Grascals, Tony McManus, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Maura O’Connell
with John Mock, Mark O’Connor, Ricky Skaggs and Three Ring Circle. 7 p.m. at the Martha Rivers Ingram Performing Arts Center at Blair School of Music —JON WEISBERGER
TUESDAY 10/23
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Sea Wolf
Music
SEA WOLF
If you’ve heard anything from Sea Wolf by now, it’s likely the
much-blogged about “You’re a Wolf,” with its infectious chime of a riff
and simple refrain, “You’re a wolf, boy / get out of this town.” It’s a
perfect primer for the band’s debut, The Leaves in the River,
whose songs are far more substantive—and lusciously eerie—than your
typical mid-tempo indie rock. Aided by the literary strokes and gypsy
pluck employed by main Wolf Alex Church for autumnal scene-setting, the
record is full of rainswept, baroque folk-rock that perches the
listener on a rocky outcropping overlooking the Irish Sea, or inside
one of Hawthorne’s dismal forests. Take “The Cold, The Dark and The
Silence,” a plangent song whose blend of intimacy and grandiosity, set
among ice-laden trees swaying like skeletons, wouldn’t be out of place
on Death Cab’s Plans—if Ben Gibbard had earned a degree in lit
instead of environmental chemistry. The record hums with the kind of
vivid concrete imagery that has MFA written all over it: steady rain,
pallid faces and dirt-stained feet on “Black Dirt;” sprouting bulbs of
love and perfumed breath on the lovelorn and lilting “Rose Captain.”
Must be all that sweeping cello, but this is a record for overcast days
and star-crossed lovers. Opening for Nada Surf. 9 p.m. at Exit/In —TRACY MOORE
Music
...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
Despite their ham-fisted, aggressively pretentious outlook and an
obnoxiously hollow preoccupation with violence, Trail of Dead
nonetheless manage to whip you into a more-than-worthwhile frenzy.
Never mind that bandleader Conrad Keely likes to keep himself occupied
by churning out ridiculously high-brow treatises on the academic
significance of rock music, or that he and creative foil Jason Reece
offer little (if any) insight into the killing and war they address so
casually—their work turns foreboding into art and inadvertently hits a
bull’s-eye on the apocalyptic East-West tensions currently threatening
the well-being of the world. In that respect, Trail of Dead actually
provide the perfect vehicle for listeners to get absorbed in their own
anxieties about doom and destruction, which is a hell of an authentic
chord to hit, considering the band’s tired, let’s-break-our-gear pose. 10 p.m. at Cannery Ballroom —SABY REYES-KULKARNI
Rock, Around the Clock
REEL ROCK FILM TOUR
Here’s proof that movies can make you feel weak in the knees. The
exhilaration and terror of heights and the threat of free fall course
through this touring package of films dedicated to the sport of rock
climbing. The centerpiece is King Lines, which follows
25-year-old free-climbing sensation Chris Sharma from a free-standing
arch in the Mediterranean to boulders atop South America’s Tepuy
Mountains as he laughs in the face of gravity. Watch also for
“Committed,” a film about death-defying British climbers who probably
should be. 7 p.m. at the Belcourt —JIM RIDLEY
Music
ISSA
There’ve been all sorts of twists and turns in the career of Canadian
singer-songwriter Jane Siberry, but the latest is perhaps the oddest—in
2006 Siberry changed her name to Issa. Siberry/Issa is a long way from
the mid-’80s, when she was a minor New Wave sensation picked up by
Warner Bros., hoping she could crack the American market. That never
happened, but her sweet, high voice has kept her cult-sized fan base
enthralled as she’s followed her muse from rock to coffeehouse folk to
jazz to writing songs for a Care Bear movie. Her offbeat sense
of humor also serves her well—“Everything Reminds Me of My Dog” is one
of the all-time funniest songs about dogs. 9 p.m. at Bluebird Café —WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Jennifer O’Connor
Photo: Dennis Kleiman
Music
JENNIFER O’CONNOR W/HOTEL
LIGHTS Both her dry, unaffected vocals and brash, cut-to-the-bone lyricism suggest Liz Phair circa Exile in Guyville,
and Jennifer O’Connor has a similarly dour resilience—she regards the
world with a knowing sigh, and dissects it concisely. Her third album, Over the Mountain,
pares back the guitar rumble that sometimes shields her confessions,
resulting in a starker, more intimate release. This year, O’Connor
started a subscription 7-inch club featuring collaborations with five
bands, including The Hotel Lights. The Hotel Lights are the project of
onetime Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jesse. Jesse’s proved a gifted
songwriter in his own right, and last year’s self-titled debut was an
overlooked work of brilliance, blending baroque pop shimmer with
folk-rock shuffle. His bright, airy tenor and talent for vocal melodies
might even rival his former employer. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot —CHRIS PARKER
WEDNESDAY 10/24
Music
NEBULA W/BONK
Kin to Kyuss and Monster Magnet, Nebula have kept aloft the Bic flame
of riff-driven, distortion-drenched garage-psych freak-outs for a
decade now. The plan is simple: thundering Sabbath-style bottom-end
plus chunky, amp-shaking guitar pyrotechnics. While ex-Fu Manchu
guitarist Eddie Glass doesn’t mind an extended solo, he’s more to the
point than many of his peers, finishing in three minutes what would
take another stoner rocker four. Though they’ve gone from Sub Pop to
smaller indie Liquor and Poker for their last two albums, there’s no
slackening in power or crunch on last year’s Apollo. Norwegian
openers Bonk have much in common with Swedish neighbors The Soundtrack
of Our Lives. Though the Oslo quartet’s expansive neo-psych is
decidedly more garage, they demonstrate a similar gift for broad,
inventive arrangements and textures. Their latest, Bonk Against Nothing,
was recorded and mixed by members of Turbonegro, bringing plenty of
crisp, hefty punch to accompany the surprising melodicism. 8 p.m. at Exit/In —CHRIS PARKER
Loverly
MY FAIR LADY
In that unique era of theater that existed between Rodgers &
Hammerstein’s first groundbreaking works in the 1940s and the Andrew
Lloyd Webber revolution, there are only a handful of truly excellent
musicals. Guys and Dolls, West Side Story and maybe The Music Man are in the mix, as is My Fair Lady, with its witty and literate book, based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion,
and richly tuneful Lerner & Loewe score. Big-shot producer Cameron
Mackintosh and the National Theatre of Great Britain mounted a hugely
successful, long-running London revival in 2001, and this new U.S.
touring version both invokes that spirit and reunites the original U.K.
artistic team, including director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Matthew
Bourne. The cast, including Christopher Cazenove as Henry Higgins and
Lisa O’Hare as Eliza Doolittle, will be belting out such amazingly
durable songs as “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,”
“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” Plus
word has it that Anthony Ward’s set is a marvel of big-boned, complex
technical achievement. Oct. 23-28 at TPAC’s Jackson Hall
—MARTIN BRADY