Friday 8.15
Goodguys 19th Great Lakes Nationals car show
Willow Island at Alliant Energy Center, 8 am-5 pm. Also Saturday (8 am-8 pm) & Sunday (8 am-3 pm), Aug. 16 & 17
Fuel prices being what they are these days, '71 Hemi Barracudas and other ferocious gas-guzzlers aren't so good for the daily commute to the office park. But they sure are nice to drool over at shows like this one, which also features vendors and a swap meet.
Rob Dz
UW Memorial Union Terrace, 5:30 pm
Madison has seen too little of Dz lately, but the jubilant local hip-hop great aims to change that as he declaims material from a new CD at this Dane Dances event. Unity the Band, Felicia Alima, Duce Duce and DJ Laurie add their own flavors to Dz's alfresco release party.
Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival
Angell Park, Sun Prairie, 6 pm. Also Thursday (6 pm), Saturday (11 am) & Sunday (11 am), Aug. 14, 16 & 17
The eastern burb again throws its annual ag fest with music, a petting zoo and carnival rides. But the main attraction is that glorious corn, such a luscious sign of late summer.
Thoroughly Modern Mille
Wisconsin Union Theater, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday (7:30 pm) & Sunday (2 pm), Aug. 16 & 17
Madison native Abby Stevens stars in a touring production of the 2002 stage musical based on the 1967 Julie Andrews film. A 1920s small-town gal moves to New York, gets a flapper haircut and busts a white slavery ring, singing all the while.
The Duck Variations
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Thursday (8 pm) & Saturday (4 & 8 pm), Aug. 14 & 16
Madison Theatre Guild reprises its production of David Mamet's early comedy, in which two old men sit on a park bench and talk about ducks.
Tapes 'n Tapes
Majestic Theatre, 8 pm
The hard-touring Tapes 'n Tapes jangle and lurch about like good indie rockers should. And if the Talking Heads had never existed, these brainy lefske munchers might even be compelling. Fever Marlene and Tulsa open.
Droids Attack
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
It's a good week for metal whenever android-loving guitar jockeys Droids Attack are crunching your cochleas. Imperial Battle Snake, Helliphant, Tonnage, 20 Dollar Love and Foxy Veronica's Peach Pies fill out the evening.
NOMO
Annex, 9:30 pm
The big, horn-powered Ann Arbor collective NOMO has managed to update Afrobeat with burbling electronics, jazz colors and other aural filigree without losing sight of the music's essential rhythmic pulse. That's a project worth celebrating -- and dancing to. Grampall and Jookabox also appear.
Patchwork
The Frequency, 10 pm
Jeremiah Nelson's folk-rock act Patchwork celebrates the release of a lulling new CD that should snag the ears of mellower indie types. Jentri Collelo and Elden Calder open.
Saturday 8.16
Africa Fest
Warner Park, 11 am
Celebrate wondrous Africa at this north-side bash thrown by the African Association of Madison, the UW's African Studies Program and the Urban League. There'll be food, fashion, demonstrations (wood carving, hair braiding) and entertainment including West African Dance of Madison and Jam-Ak-Jam Troupe Afro Dance Theatre.
Madison Symphony Orchestra
Overture Hall at Overture Center, 11 am
The MSO performs another of its free Farmers' Market concerts, this one featuring Baltimore Symphony principal trumpeter -- and West High grad -- Andrew Balio. So grab your weekly arugula, and then grab a seat.
Dane 101 Fundraiser
The Frequency, 5 pm
Half of the local music scene is showing up tonight to put some bucks in the popular Madison-oriented collaborative blog's pockets. The long list of performers slated to appear includes Digibot, El Valiente, Pale Young Gentlemen, the Shabelles, Schinker Family Soul Revival, The Takebacks and Aaron Scholz.
Madison's Favorite Block Party
Capitol Square, corner of King & Main streets, 7 pm
You voted, Isthmus counted, and now you can see a sneak preview of the Madison's Favorites polling at our summer shindig, days before they're published in our Annual Manual. Dine on the food of Main Street restaurants the Local Tavern, Maduro, Casbah and Argus, and get down to the tunes of groovily eclectic Reptile Palace Orchestra and stunning Talking Heads tribute band Houses in Motion.
Sharon Van Etten
Project Lodge, 7 pm
Indie folkie Sharon Van Etten does some impressive trilling, though no one ever would accuse her of swallowing the mike. Sometimes the rising Brooklyn-based strummer's moody original material is so restrained that it threatens to evaporate before leaving the P.A. The livelier, folk-inclined sister act Festival opens.
The Belle's Stratagem
American Players Theatre in Spring Green, 8 pm. Also Tuesday, Aug. 19, 7:30 pm
Hannah Cowley was an eminent 18th-century English playwright, but these days her work is too often overlooked. The sexes battle in her signature 1780 comedy.
Tim Whalen's Tribute to Art Blakey & the Jazz
Messengers Restaurant Magnus, 9:30 pm
Whalen's talented crew use the late drummer's energizing jazz workshop as a stepping-off point for some invigorating ensemble work and soloing of their own. With Whalen soon departing for his teaching gig out of state, this could be the last Blakey show you'll be able to catch for some time.
Califone
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
A couple years ago, time apart spent working on film soundtracks and other projects rubbed much of the down- home country and Stones influence out of Califone. Now they drift and thrum through more atmospheric sounds. Califone spinoff the Judy Green and Sleeping in the Aviary open.
Cash Box Kings
Harmony Bar, 9:45 pm
Tonight the Kings wrap themselves around some gritty Chicago-style blues with help from swinging vocalist Oscar Wilson, bassist Jimmy Sutton and guitarist Billy Flynn.
Sunday 8.17
Triangle Ethnic Fest
Triangle of South Park and Regent streets & West Washingon Avenue, 11 am-6 pm
Enjoy the food and culture of various of the city's ethnic communities at this annual party. Performing: Hmong Sisters Dance, Dando Mambo Dance, Salaam Shalom, Mesoghios Greek Dance, All Around the World Hip Hop, many others.
Sevendust
Orpheum Theatre, 6 pm
Reformed rap-rockers Sevendust bring the noise at the top of the bill, and thanks to appearances by Nonpoint, Drowning Pool and Opiate for the Masses, metal fans will have the chance to spend the entire evening feasting within the house of pain.
