Weekend Updates
All-nite radio, all-right audio, and all the entertainment options you could desire
Elliston Place will reverberate with the sounds of modern psychedelia Saturday night. At The End, Comets on Fire fire up the super-size bong with their heavy synthesis of early Pink Floyd, Blue Oyster Cult, Quicksilver Messenger Service and MC5; openers Growing, Dave Cloud and Arizona Drains all take a hit off the pipe before passing it on to the headliners. For people who want some pop melody with their big-sounding guitars, there's Swedish group The Soundtrack of Our Lives at Exit/In. Featuring former members of Union Carbide Productions, whose third-generation Stooges riffs earned them a cult following in the U.S., TSOOL have outgrown their punk roots, their '60s influences subsumed by slick production and more modern sensibilities. That doesn't mean they're not catchy as hell, though, and their latest album, Origins Vol. 1, features a cameo by French chanteuse Jane Birkin—the woman who made all those orgasmic moans on Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'Aime."
♦ Nashville's original Li'l Kim—Kim Webber—is back on the air with her radio show "Blue Plate Revolution." The showcase for all things Americana has joined the Radio Free Nashville schedule Friday nights at 7 p.m. Stick around for Billy Block's Western Beat Revival at 9, and if you're really wired, stay up 'til 2 a.m. for Drinkin' All Nite with Daniel Lonow and Ernie Smithson. This message has been brought to you by really cheap beer.
♦ The music of the Golden Sounds is serene and seductive, exuding a childlike innocence—that is, if the children in question are growing up on Jupiter. And that's why the Sounds are so appealing. They balance their appetite for sugary pop indulgence with an equally strong penchant for orbiting the upper atmosphere, as if they'd traveled back in time, intercepted transmissions between Major Tom and Ground Control and brought them back to the 21st century. Think Radiohead on Zoloft, or Syd Barrett after years of therapy. Golden Sounds cellist/vocalist Xavia will be opening Friday night's set at Family Wash with a few solo numbers, which should be a treat. Rumor has it this may be the Sounds' last local show for a few months.
♦ Looks like Nashville Public Television no longer has to raise $100 million at this weekend's yard sale. But check it out anyway, now that the pressure's off. On Saturday, the station clears its closets of all those uncollected pledge-drive goodies—tapes, DVDs, music, accessories—and passes along the value to you, the consumer. No more Bee Gees greatest-hits CDs for $90. For NPT members, the sale starts at 8 a.m.; at 10 a.m. the general public is allowed. The studios are located at 161 Rains Ave. by the Tennessee State Fairground; stop by on your way back from the flea market. Tell 'em Lawrence Welk sent you.
♦ There's not a more tireless champion of deep funk than Doyle "D-Funk" Davis, the longtime host of 91 Rock's "D-Funk" dance party on Friday nights. This Saturday night, he puts some stank on the Exit/In stage with D-Funk's Soul Party, featuring him and his partner Geezus playing mix 'n' match with classic tracks and the samples that inspired them. Special guests are DJs T-1 & Agent 45, the soul brigade behind Atlanta's popular "Rhythm & Booze" club nights. The show is $5, 18 and over.
♦ NEWS FLASH! Hot off the AP wire service—Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann has made a hostile takeover of the Miller Lite Cannery Row Revival series. How else to explain this week's lineup Saturday night in the Mercy Lounge parking lot: Denny Diamond, MINIKISS and Panty Raid. Diamond is a spot-on Neil Diamond impersonator from Chicago who's built a sizable (and rabid) following here over the last few years. He's so fully committed to his muse it appears he's been hypnotized into believing he's the real thing. Then you'll see his face...now you're a believer...not a trace...of doubt in your mind. As their name suggests, MINIKISS are a KISS tribute band comprised exclusively of little people. And if it seems...um...a little exploitative, just remember they're the ones who get to dress up in full KISS regalia, prance about stage, drink for free and hang out with groupies—something you've always dreamed about doing, but didn't have the marbles. Throw in the decadent burlesque of Panty Raid—who will walk onstage in the 90-degree heat and raise the "feels-like temperature" to 112 in the shade—and you've got all the fixings for high crimes against decency. Will this be the day Nashville's highly touted moral fiber starts to unravel? We'll definitely be there, just in case.
♦ Somewhere in Middle Tennessee, there's a little girl who dreams of putting away childish things and becoming Joan Jett. Help make her dream a reality by supporting the Southern Girls Rock 'n' Roll Camp with Saturday night's benefit show at The 5 Spot. If the buzz is to be believed, newcomers Harper may soon be joining the ranks of The Features and The Pink Spiders as Music City's rock 'n' roll ambassadors. Death Comes to Matteson and lunar lunatics A Flock of Werewolves help justify that steep $2 cover. Check 'em out, cheapskates.
♦ Highly touted Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards headlines the Opry Plaza Party 5:30 p.m. Saturday on the plaza at Opry Mills outside the Grand Ole Opry House. She's also slated to appear that night on the Opry with Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith and many others. Here's hoping for a duet with Little Jimmy Dickens.
♦ The kind folks at Baja Burrito across from 100 Oaks on Thompson Lane are throwing a benefit lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday for Sara Patterson to raise funds for her school tuition. All proceeds will go directly to her admissions fees for cosmetology school. Call 383-2252 for more information.
