THURSDAY 6/5

Dog Days of SummerLAPPY HOUR The great ideas are the simple ones: an Internet search engine, a pop music reality show, an all-sports cable channel, and now, a happy hour where you can bring your dog. On the first Thursday of every month, Eastland Café hosts “Lappy Hour,” an ingenuous event where you can enjoy $5 cocktails and appetizers while your mutt ambles about and fetches you a companion. For your dog, there’s plenty of water and gourmet treats, which you can dole out if your little Rover proves to be a better come-on than any of your tired one-liners. Now you don’t have to feel guilty downing shots while your canine bangs up against her crate. Instead, the mutt can witness you make a fool of yourself—while it may undo years of obedience training, what kind of best friend has never seen you buzzed? 5 p.m. the first Thursday of every month —MATT PULLE

MusicNADA SURF Lucky, the latest effort from veteran indie poppers Nada Surf, opens with a song that perfectly encapsulates the band’s aesthetic—“See These Bones” is hopelessly pretty and exquisitely wistful, augmented by a cooing harmony and an oblique reference to West Side Story. Throughout this deceptively simple album, the band’s fifth, frontman Matthew Caws continues to make grand statements and then undercut them with dreary details. On the crisp “I Like What You Say,” he sings, “They say you have to have somebody, they say you have to be someone’s, they say if you’re not lonely alone, boy there is something wrong.” Nada Surf are a band that can be easy to dismiss, and not just because of “Popular.” They rarely veer toward the experimental or the uncomfortable—instead they just work really hard at what they do, and do it perfectly, like the unassuming place on the corner that just happens to make the best slice of pizza in town. 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —LEE STABERT

Stars and CarsDOUBLE FEATURE: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL/IRON MAN What?!? You read that correctly: Through tonight, the glorious Stardust Drive-In in Watertown offers the summer’s two biggest movies back to back under the stars. You know what that means: a dinner date with Tony Stark and Indy, catered by a concession stand stocked with Brown Cows, Flash Pops, egg rolls, crinkle-cut fries, Philly cheesesteaks and—what’s this? Cappuccino? Security! Take I-40E to Exit 239A, then travel 9.2 miles east on Highway 70 and turn left onto West Main Street; look for the blue-and-white marquee. Tickets are $7 for adults, $3 for kids 6 and under, kids 5 and under are free. Opening Friday: Kung Fu Panda and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. Sundown at the Stardust Drive-In (310 Purple Tiger Drive, Watertown) —JIM RIDLEY

MusicLORD OF THE YUM-YUM Chicago grade-school music teacher Paul Valet is spending his summer touring around as his weirdo alter-ego Lord of the Yum-Yum. Equipped with only a microphone, a couple of pedals, a bright-blue tuxedo and some seriously goofy dance moves, the Lord arranges all your music class favorites—from “Flight of the Bumblebee” to Bizet—to be performed a cappella. Valet scats, grunts, beat-boxes and sometimes even sings as he gyrates around his loop pedal. Think Bjork’s Medulla, but much more fun. If nothing else, Lord of the Yum-Yum stands as a testament to better teacher compensation. Not only are more teachers taking on summer jobs, but this guy is resorting to bizarre shit for some extra scratch. 9 p.m. at Springwater —MATT SULLIVAN

Cartoon NetworkingANIME NIGHT Thousands of people attended April’s Middle Tennessee Anime Convention; where were you—watching Assy McGee (snicker)? If you don’t know a ball-joint doll from a Barbie or manga from a mango, feast your wet round eyes. The Nashville Public Library’s Bordeaux branch celebrates Japanese animation and pop culture with a movie screening, snacks and comics in the stacks. It’s free and open to the public as part of the Teen Summer Reading program. 5:30 p.m. at Bordeaux Branch Library (4000 Clarksville Pike) —JIM RIDLEY

FRIDAY 6/6

MusicAND THE RELATIVES These guys work hard. From rough home recordings done in bassist Eli Beaird’s basement to drummer Patrick Rodgers’ Beastie Boys-circa-“Sabotage” facial hair, the effort is definitely there. Drawing from influences such as The Black Keys, Black Sabbath and Pavement, this trio’s raw, self-produced sound benefits from staying stripped down and simple. On most tracks, frontman Andrew Brassell flips on the distortion and vocal reverb, evoking his inner Ozzy. ‘”Kitchen Sink,” off of the upcoming album Below and Above, includes a vamped-up Dan Auerbach-style guitar intro that gives way to a kick-drum-driven first verse. And the Relatives are still working to nail down a cohesive sound—but that will come with time, or perhaps more mustaches. 9 p.m. at Springwater —VINCENT AMOROSO

MusicDIESELBOY At this point he should probably change his name to Dieselman—it’s been almost 15 years since Damian Higgins burst onto the East Coast rave scene and we’re pretty sure he’s finished puberty by now. It’s the Naughty Aughties, the rave scene has been all but squelched and drum-and-bass has been pushed further onto the fringes of the musical underground, but Dieselboy’s profile has risen to the status of international disco dump champion. While other DJs of his generation have moved onto trendier low-end rumbles like grime and dubstep that will quickly be forgotten, the Boy has been pushing his breakneck futurism into new forms that will still sound fresh when we call him DieselGrandpa. 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —SEAN L. MALONEY

Bigger Is BetterMETALS, STICKS & STONES: SCULPTURE IN LEIPER’S FORK This weekend, Leiper’s Fork will be hosting some very special visitors. Sharing the streets of the tiny town with residents and visitors will be contemporary sculptures of all shapes and sizes from as far away as Texas, New Mexico, California and New York. Hosted by Leiper’s Creek Gallery, this show will spill out of the gallery, onto the lawn and then into the town itself. Works are done in a variety of media, including concrete, metal, ceramic, wood and stone. June 6-8 in Leiper’s Fork; artists reception, 6-9 p.m. Saturday —LEE STABERT

Ass-Kickin’FIGHT CLUB David Fincher’s 1999 cyberpunk provocation plays out like an extended anti-consumerist revenge fantasy plotted by a stoned 17-year-old boy, and it’s great fun to watch a gifted cast commit to such smirkingly lurid material. Brad Pitt effortlessly steals the show from the admirably game Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter with his greasy, anarcho-fascist Tyler Durden. He’s the Travis Bickle of millennial malaise, albeit a bit long on bravado and short on pathos. The movie never decides whether to bury Tyler or praise him, hitching its wagon precariously to an evasive “Oh, I’m sorry—did I just blow your fucking mind?” ending instead. It’s shallow and uneven, but as a sophisticated delivery mechanism for cheap thrills, Fight Club is in a class of its own. There’ll be a Tyler Durden look-alike contest for the die-hards—winner takes home a swanky director-autographed DVD. If they owe their allegiance to Project Mayhem, they’ll burn it. Midnight Friday & Saturday at The Belcourt —CODY DE VOS

TheaterTHE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (ABRIDGED) Since the early 1990s, the California-based Reduced Shakespeare Company has developed half a dozen satirical revues that linger somewhere between plain old eggheadedness and improvisational wackiness. Their most popular works have probably been The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and this take on American history, written and originally performed by Austin Tichenor, Adam Long and Reed Martin. RSC continues a touring program, and, coincidentally enough, they’ll be at Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts in Murfreesboro with this very same show on June 16. Meanwhile, Boiler Room Theatre opens a monthlong engagement this weekend. The strong cast—Shane Bridges, Douglas Goodman and Mike Baum—are all multitalented BRT vets, and under the direction of Laura Skaug they should be able to fracture the U.S. sociopolitical legacy with energy and wit. June 6-July 5 at Boiler Room Theatre in The Factory at Franklin —MARTIN BRADY

SATURDAY 6/7

TheaterLAST CHANCE TEXACO/FIRST AND SECOND TIMOTHY Actor/director/playwright Peter Maloney may be best known for his roles in film (Desperately Seeking Susan, Breaking Away, Requiem for a Dream, etc.) as well as television (Saint Elsewhere, Spenser: For Hire, The Adams Chronicles, etc.), but his earliest artistic affiliation was the New York theater, including experimental groups such as The Open Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre, where his lyrically dramatic Last Chance Texaco was first produced. The setting is a Texas gas station run by a religious woman and her daughter. The arrival of a New York woman with car trouble evokes intense dialogue and the eventual uncovering of secrets among all three. After a notable hiatus, Rhubarb Theatre returns to the local theater scene, and director Julie Alexander has put together a promising triumvirate of players for this one-act, including Trish Crist, Helia Rethman and, in her Nashville return, Ree (Mitchell) Merrill, an actress with an edge. Also on the bill under Alexander’s direction is local author Carol Caldwell’s First and Second Timothy, a world-premiere performance piece featuring a (fictional) Nashville televangelist. June 5-21 at Darkhorse Theater —MARTIN BRADY

Theater

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM The first of the late August Wilson’s plays to hit Broadway (1984), this essential slice of African American life, set in a Chicago recording studio in 1927, centers around a group of sidemen awaiting the arrival of legendary blues singer Ma Rainey, scheduled to cut some new tracks. But the conversation veers from music to an explosive consideration of black rage—specifically, how attempting to fit into the white world breeds compromise and racial exploitation. Veteran actor/producer Kenneth B. Dozier, who performed in Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at Tennessee Repertory Theatre in 2005, directs a cast of 10, including Pierre Johnson, Kenetha Rogers, Lorraine Wade and the usually very interesting Darius Willis. Through June 15 at Inspiration Centre (2286 Rosa Parks Blvd.); June 7 at Lakewood Theater in Old Hickory —MARTIN BRADY

Bigger Is BetterTOP DOG AND CAT CORONATION PAWTY People in Nashville are crazy about their pets—be they dogs, cats (Hi Doug!), birds or bees. Our town is also full of wonderful organizations that serve our furry friends, either by finding them homes or helping with expensive medical care. The Brown Dog Foundation is one such group, and it is hosting this fundraiser for the Foundation’s Family Pet Fund, which offers pet owners in financial crisis an alternative to euthanasia when their pet is facing a life-threatening condition. The mane (hehe) event is the crowning of Top Dog and Top Cat. You can still vote online for your favorite fido or feline at browndogfoundation.org; each vote is worth $1 and voting closes June 6. The event will also feature live music, food, drinks, a silent auction and photo packages with or without your pet. Tickets are $10; pets get in free. 6-8 p.m. at The Farm at Natchez Trace—LEE STABERT

Fairy Tale FloraHAPPILY EVER AFTER It can be a hard sell to get rowdy kids to take a leisurely stroll through the manicured lawns and perennial displays of a horticultural showplace like Cheekwood. But if you tell them they can slide down the Big Bad Wolf’s tongue and pull Excalibur from a stone, you just might rally the troops. Cheekwood’s exhibit of fairy tale-themed installations features storybook settings of “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves,” “Three Billy Goats Gruff” and more, dotted throughout the mansion’s splendid landscape. Want to try to feel a pea under a pile of mattresses? Think you can spin straw into gold? Then trip, trop, trippity trop to Cheekwood. And remember, on Saturdays through Labor Day children under 17 get in free. Through Sept. 7 at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Museum of Art —CARRINGTON FOX

MusicBONNAROO FOREPLAY: CATCH ’EM HERE Can’t make it to Bonnaroo this year? Too poor? Case of the Dust Bowl Blues? Well get your ’Roo fix in Nashville with these artists before they ship out to Manchester. Led by female vocalist and bassist Carol Young, Grammy-nominees The Greencards use superior singing and playing ability to produce a tight, down-home sound (4 p.m. June 7 at CMA Fan Fair’s Chevy Stage). Mike Farris proves that white boys can bring the Southern soul. Either band-backed or solo-acoustic, Farris’ vocals demand attention and rattle with sermonizing potency (9 p.m. June 8 at Station Inn). Lez Zeppelin—wait, don’t you mean Led Zeppelin? No, Google, we didn’t. We’re talking about the all-female, Manhattan-based group ripping through Zeppelin covers with a feminine mystique (8 p.m. June 11 at Mercy Lounge; ’Roo ticket holders only). —VINCENT AMOROSO

ArtBROTHER MEL: 50 YEARS OF FRESH ART Celebrating the good Brother’s 80th birthday, The Arts Company presents its 10th annual show of Mel’s always eclectic work. Ranging from painted landscapes and portraits to decorative metal bowl forms to wooden sculptures that flirt with abstraction, Mel’s consistently colorful, whimsical art has long made him a gallery favorite with Arts Company regulars. Stop by during the Crawl and wish the Marianist monk a Happy Birthday—and 80 more. June 7-Aug. 15 at The Arts Company; opening reception, 6-9 p.m. —JOE NOLAN

STROKES OF GENIUS: PIERRE-AUGUSTE & ALEXANDRE RENOIR If you have been meaning to get down to the Tennessee State Museum to see the Renoir show, this is your last chance. Closing the popular show, the museum is pulling out all the stops with two workshops for young painters, an art sale/benefit for the museum featuring work selected from Genius, and a closing reception on Sunday afternoon. Alexandre Renoir himself will teach the classes at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday. The hour-long classes are free, but require reservations. The benefit reception on Saturday runs from 6-9 p.m., while the closing reception, 1-4 p.m. Sunday, will feature a talk by Renoir. For more info and class reservations call 253-0114. Through June 8 at Tennessee State Museum —JOE NOLAN

NICE TO MEET YOU This month, one of the First Saturday Art Crawl’s highlights will be Nice to Meet You, a group show featuring gallery regulars and newly represented artists at TAG. With artists coming from cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Minneapolis and San Francisco, viewers can expect work in a variety of media, such as abstract painting, graffiti-inspired illustration and mixed-media collage. With several of the pieces going on to the Affordable Art Fair in New York City later this month, this is Nashville’s chance for an exclusive sneak preview. June 7-28 at TAG Art Gallery; opening reception, 6-9 p.m. —AMANDA DILLINGHAM

THE DIN OF CULTURE In her new installation The Din of Culture, performance artist Quinn Dukes copes with the anxiety between the natural environment and the rigid, industrial one that overwhelms it. The installation includes a life-size, latex faun prostrate on the gallery floor. Through her performance, Quinn finds a place where the archetypal and mythic become personal and intimate. She will perform at 7:30 p.m. during Twist’s First Saturday reception. June 7-July 26 at Twist Art Gallery; opening reception, 6-9 p.m. —MATT CHRISTY

SUNDAY 6/8

Fang-tasticNOSFERATU: THE VAMPYRE When Werner Herzog made his contribution to the Dracula film canon in 1979, he never so much as glanced in Lugosi’s direction, opting instead to reach back to the primordial weirdness of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horrors. This film is both a touching homage and an unmistakably Herzogian enterprise, dealing not in cat scares and pipe organ horror chords, but in oppressive existential dread punctuated by unforgettable moments of fever dream imagery. Klaus Kinski, Herzog’s favorite muse and tormentor, inhabits the bald-pated, rat-fanged Dracula with such wretched loneliness that his desire for Isabelle Adjani’s porcelain-faced Lucy Harker transcends mortal lust, entering an ethereal realm of longing perhaps known only to the undead. The uninitiated may take some time to adjust to Herzog’s halting cinematic cadence, but Nosferatu’s poetic pallor elevates its subject matter from the merely terrifying to the truly haunting—a symphony of horrors, indeed. Noon Saturday & Sunday; 7 pm Monday at The Belcourt —CODY DE VOS

MusicTHE TURF In today’s hectic blogosphere, promising young bands are often tagged the next big thing while still sweating in their parents’ stuffy garages, overhyped until their heads explode and then never heard from again. After some modest local buzz last year, Nashville dance-rockers The Turf pulled a disappearing act to pursue higher learning, but thankfully they’re back in town for the summer, looking to prove that they can use their ferocious breed of mean guitars and driving beats to make even the most fickle Nashville crowd cut loose. They’ll succeed because they’re too good and too young to feel the weight of expectations—they’re just a bunch of goofy underage kids with decent record collections pulling off quirky indie rock with a dance feel, and maybe getting some girls in the process. Playing with American Bang as part of Lightning 100’s Nashville Sunday Night. 8 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —MURRAY SHARP

MONDAY 6/9

MusicHOWLIN’ RAIN Ethan Miller is proof that you can only pummel audiences with chaotic, psychedelic noise so long before melodies start to seep out of the cracks. The Bay Area’s Comets on Fire was his fortress of feedback, and Howlin’ Rain—now two albums in with a beefed-up lineup and Rick Rubin’s American Recordings on board—is going wild with the West Coast feel-good vibes. Howlin’ Rain’s newest, Magnificent Fiend, is still heavy psych-rock, but it ebbs away to quieter acoustic moments and doesn’t require any digging to find the pop melodies: Miller growls and wails them with abandon reminiscent of Terry Reid atop loose, joyous blues-rock riffing on guitars and B-3. Miller evidently concluded that if he was going to go late-’60s retro, he might as well do it unapologetically and enthusiastically. It’s less pretentious that way, and much more fun. 9 p.m. at The End; 6 p.m. in-store at Grimey’s; also playing Bonnaroo —JEWLY HIGHT

Devouring BooksFOOD FOR THOUGHT: READING AND WRITING ABOUT FOOD This six-week series of free lectures and discussions about food-related literature will feature speakers from Lipscomb University and other local schools and universities. The series kicks off June 9 with a discussion of Home Cooking: a Writer in the Kitchen, by Laurie Colwin. Other sessions include The Omnivore’s Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan (June 16); Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel (June 23); My Life in France, by Julia Child (July 7); The Measure of Her Powers: An M.F.K. Fisher Reader (July 14) and A Debt to Pleasure, by John Lanchester (July 21). All sessions will be in the Ezell Center, Room 136. 7 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays through July 21 at Lipscomb University —CARRINGTON FOX

TUESDAY 6/10

MusicMIKE ZITO Mike Zito’s latest, Today, shuttles confidently between East St. Louis and Hollywood, with Zito’s stubborn vocals and post-Chicago blues guitar powering minor-key ballads. At times the St. Louis native sounds like ’80s neo-soul singer Terence Trent D’Arby, and on “Slow It Down,” Zito makes like Otis Rush for the Dave Matthews generation. Tony Braunagel and David Z.’s production adds a touch of salsa to “No Big City,” a tale of urban alienation that is Today’s most chilling moment. “It’s no big city, not to me,” Zito sings. “Hollywood” features a stop-time guitar lick you’ll want to hear again. His voice isn’t always equal to his message of self-determination, but Zito—who these days lives in Texas—hangs tough with a fine sense of blues classicism. 8 p.m. at Bourbon St. Blues & Boogie Bar —EDD HURT

FRENCH KICKS While their N.Y.C. contemporaries pose for fashion spreads (Karen O), take several years off betwe

ComedyJIM BREUER True rock ’n’ roll comedians are few and far between. There was Sam Kinison, a larger-than-life symbol of ’80s excess. The late ’90s and early Aughts saw the rise of cult stoner hero Mitch Hedberg, while today David Cross, Patton Oswalt and Eugene Mirman regularly open for various darlings of indie music and release albums through the legendary Sub Pop label. Then there’s Jim Breuer, former Saturday Night Live star and current host of Sirius Satellite Radio’s Unleashed. Not only does the dude freely reference the likes of Metallica and AC/DC, but his stage presence is similarly aggressive, swaggering and completely over-the-top. As far as the more revealing anecdotes about his father and daughter, well, it takes some hardcore machismo to dedicate oneself to being a family man, so feel free to hoist those devil horns high. June 10 & 11 at Zanies —JULIE SEABAUGH

MusicPOI DOG PONDERING This band’s adventurous spirit and worldbeat rhythms suggest The Talking Heads with their anxious pulse slowed by a fattie of Maui Wowie. Founded in Waikiki by frontman Frank Orrall two decades ago, Poi Dog relocated to Austin, and scored a deal from Columbia for three albums that helped break them in with the then-burgeoning jam community. While grunge took off, they moved their eclectic, folk-inflected Kumbaya to Chicago, and grew inspired by electronic music and the House movement. They’re supporting only their second studio album in the last decade, but remain in fine form. From funky, R&B-lined swagger (“Lemon Drop Man”) to dreamy, gently undulating pop ballads (“Perfect Music”) and swelling anthems of love (“From This Moment On”), the appropriately titled 7—it’s their seventh full-length—moves in a stylish, crisply orchestrated strut. The choreographed sound offers keen counterpart to the sweaty, roof-raising revivalism of their live shows. 8 p.m. at 3rd & Lindsley —CHRIS PARKER

WEDNESDAY 6/11

Music SHANNON WHITWORTH Hot on the heels of her former Biscuit Burner bandmates, singer/songwriter Shannon Whitworth and her band blow into town on their way back to North Carolina from Colorado. The geographical trifecta neatly sums up the interplay of influences on her solo debut No Expectations, which frames her alto drawl mostly with acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass and pedal steel, along with a bit of Whitworth’s clawhammer banjo. Sonically, the release leans more toward the Southeast, but there’s a kind of opacity to the lyrics that nods in the direction of the mountain state’s loose, occasionally spacy take on bluegrass and folk music. It’s a winning combination—gentle and dreamy at times, but interlaced with flashes of boldness—and the band fleshes it out nicely. Special props to guitarist John Stickley, who departed the Burners at the same time as Whitworth, and who’s got a solid handle on how to move things along. 9 p.m. at Station Inn —JON WEISBERGER

MusicCORTNEY TIDWELL Sure, there’s no shortage of stunning talent taking Nashville stages night after night, but few stand head and shoulders above the fray like local lush songstress Cortney Tidwell, whose folky, astrally influenced electro-tinged ballads sound not just out of this city, but out of this world. It’s been nearly two years since her debut Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up slayed national and international critics, and Tidwell’s two-date stint this month at The Basement will give fans a taste of her second full-length, Son and Moon. What keeps Tidwell and her spectral pipes grounded in Music City is her backing band, and for this show, expect members of quiet-core country pop stalwarts Lambchop, pinball rockers The Privates, white-boy soul purveryors Altered Statesman and pastoral rockers Lone Official on hand. And all for a cover of only $5. It’s a crime indie-rock royalty comes this cheap. 9 p.m. June 11 & 18 at The Basement —TRACY MOORE

MusicTHE SECRET HANDSHAKE Few one-person bands have what it takes to shed the novelty stigma and hold their own in a world dominated by multi-member ensembles, but Dallas’ Luis Dubuc (a.k.a. The Secret Handshake) is well on his way. Infusing high-energy, up-tempo club beats à la Justice into the sugary sweet emo rock of bands such as Hellogoodbye, Dubuc mixes up radio pop and indie rock until you can no longer tell the difference between the two. His new single “Summer of ’98” is destined to become the dance party anthem for summer ’08. Handshake will be joined by fellow R&B alternarockers Cobra Starship, We the Kings, and Delux. 7 p.m. at Rcktwn —SETH GRAVES

Jazz

APRIL BARROWS/DUFFY JACKSON Do the names Ella, Sinatra, Dizzy and Duke ring a bell? If so, so should Jackson’s. This son of Woody Herman’s famed bassist Chubby Jackson has amassed a performing résumé on vibes, keyboards and drums that resembles the history of jazz: stints with all of the above plus Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, the Count Basie Orchestra, Artie Shaw, Ray Brown, Sammy Davis Jr. and many more. Tonight he’s the guest of longtime Nashville jazz vocalist April Barrows, joining her steady partner David Hungate on guitar, Bob Patin on piano and Jim Ferguson on bass. And while they’re cooking onstage, see what chef Will Uhlhorn’s fixing in the kitchen. Believe it or not, there’s no cover. 7-10 p.m. at F. Scott’s —JIM RIDLEY