Darwin Day
Friday 2.8
Sundance Art
Sundance Cinemas, through April 10
Among its other amenities, Sundance now features local art exhibitions. The current show includes work by Brenda Baker, Jamie Young, David Wells and Michael Velliquette.
Garden Expo
Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall, 4-9 pm. Also Saturday (8 am-6 pm) & Sunday (10 am-4 pm), Feb. 9 & 10
Spring is reportedly around the corner. The Expo offers demonstrations, workshops and 400 exhibitors that will help you plan for the season's unlikely arrival.
Basia Bulat
High Noon Saloon, 7 pm
This rising Canadian folk-popper's throaty voice and charming self-penned songs have made her the indie singer-songwriter of the moment. Local heroes Pale Young Gentlemen open.
Bob & Tom Comedy All-Stars
Orpheum Theatre, 7:30 pm
Standups associated with radio's "Bob & Tom Show" -- Paul Mercurio, Donnie Baker, Patti Vasquez, Bob Zany, Nick Griffin and Drew Hastings -- offer a crash course in contemporary comedy.
Looking for Normal
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Saturday (8 pm) & Thursday (7:30 pm), Feb. 9 & 14
In Jane Anderson's play, a churchgoing Midwestern man tells his wife of 25 years that he thinks he was born in the wrong sex. It's StageQ's first production addressing the issue of transsexuality.
Evita
Overture Center's Overture Hall, 8 pm. Also Saturday (2 & 8 pm) & Sunday (2 & 7 pm), Feb. 9 & 10
A touring company presents the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera about Eva Perón, Argentina's political goddess. Expect a version of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" that rattles the rafters.
Academy of Ancient Music with Richard Egarr
Wisconsin Union Theater, 8 pm
The British chamber ensemble are tops in period-instrument performance. They'll perform sonatas and concertos in the way that Handel, Bach and Telemann would have wanted them played.
Greg Brown
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
One of the country's great songwriters, Brown puts over his political tunes and carefully observed sketches of ordinary life in a low, timeworn voice that conveys both warmth and wisdom. He's joined by roots legend Dave Alvin, whose recent blues-rock cover of "Highway 61" is a lowdown revelation.
Midwest Gypsy Swing Festival
Brink Lounge, 8:30 pm. Also Saturday, Feb. 9, 8:30 pm
Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli fans will be in ecstasy throughout this talent-rich celebration of the Gypsy jazz tradition. On Friday, Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble, Harmonious Wail and a guitar duo featuring Amsterdam-based Robin Nolan and Chicago's Alfonso Ponticelli hold forth. On Saturday, Nolan's regular trio, Ponticelli's band Swing Gitan, and Hot Club of Detroit are featured.
Saboroso
Restaurant Magnus, 9 pm
The local group brings Brazil to the frozen tundra, with lilting sambas and bossa novas that will make the February night seem practically tropical.
Joe Scalissi & the Dry Martinis
Maduro, 9:30 pm. Also Wednesday, Feb. 13, Monona Terrace, 5:30 pm; and Thursday, Feb. 14, Concourse Hotel Bar, 7:30 pm
Scalissi offers a suave Dean Martin impersonation and Rat Pack banter. A must for those who miss Dino, not to mention his hair.
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Harmony Bar, 9:45 pm
To his credit, Big Sandy's old-school approach to rockabilly and classic country favors swinging and sweating above clownish posing. No doubt Eddie Cochran smiles a little wider up in heaven each time the Fly-Rite Boys punch up another finger-snapping beat.
Saturday 2.9
Darwin Day
When even your presidential candidates don't believe in evolution, you need a Darwin Day. Evolutionary scientists Don Waller, John Yin and Neil Shubin speak from 9 to noon at the Microbial Sciences Ebling Symposium Center. From 1 to 4 pm, the UW Geology Museum hosts interactive displays.
Oakwood Chamber Players
Oakwood Village West Auditorium, 7:30 pm. Also Sunday, Feb. 10, 2 pm
In a concert called "Spring Thaw," the local chamber ensemble performs Dvorák's "Terzetto" for two violins and viola, Corigliano's "Snapshot" for string quartet and other vernal delights.
Jah Boogie's Natty Nation
High Noon Saloon, 7 pm
A decade on, Natty Nation keep perfecting a rock- and jam-friendly roots sound that's all about positive vibrations. They're joined at this salute to Bob Marley's birthday by dub and dancehall specialists the Drastics, Urban Empress & the Urbanites, and the Tropical Riddims Sound System. We're feeling nice and irie already.
Number One Fan
Loft in the Lussier Teen Center, 7 pm
Appleton's Number One Fan say an emotional acoustic farewell to their fans on this final swing through town. Ivory and Fighting Aurora open.
Midwest Blues All-Stars
Harmony Bar, 9:45 pm
Some of Milwaukee's finest players (including blues-harp dynamo Jimmy Davis) work up a rough-and-tumble sound that pays homage to Chicago greats like Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf.
Sunday 2.10
Truly Remarkable Loon
Waisman Center, 1 & 3 pm
The Madison juggler is truly remarkable, not to mention hilariously eccentric.
SpareTime Bluegrass Band
Barrymore Theatre, 1 pm
Impressive country-folk songbird Sara Pace joins SpareTime Bluegrass Band at this fund-raiser for the United Way. With Oak Street Ramblers, Cork 'n Bottle String Band and David Landau filling out the bill, the family-friendly pickin' summit should last well into the dinner hour.
A Grand Night for Singing
First United Methodist Church, 7:30 pm
Four Seasons Theatre presents a Rodgers & Hammerstein revue with unconventional arrangements and a live orchestra. It benefits the First United Methodist Church's food pantry.
U.S. Bombs
Annex, 9 pm
If U.S. Bombs' buzzsaw guitars and pogo beats sound familiar, it's because the veteran California punks can't get enough of the music's glory years. They get nostalgic for '77 with help from Far From Finished, Warhawks and Dead End Rejects.
