Usher in the final month of summer this weekend with a medley of parties and live performances. The calendar includes: the Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival; Art in the Park and Africa Alive; a t-shirt release party for Shane Shane and the 48-Hour Film Project screening; the latest Madtown Throwdown; a book reading by Jessica Max Stein; and more live music by Doomtree, Alessio Bax, Flatbear with The Record Low, Sherwood, and The Cajun Strangers.
Friday 7.31
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR APPRECIATION DAY
NOTEWORTHY: Thomas Eagleton withdraws as Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern's running mate after it comes to light that Eagleton was once treated for depression, 1972.
BIRTHDAYS: Actor Wesley Snipes, 1962; best-selling Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, 1965.
Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival
Lake Farm County Park, 5 pm. Also Saturday, Aug. 1, noon
Bring your camping gear and settle in for this two-day fest, which features bluegrass legends JD Crowe & the New South, the Cajun sounds of the Marc Savoy Family, alt-country stalwarts Robbie Fulks and Nora O'Connor, and much more. You might want to have your own stringed instrument handy, for late-night jam session purposes (see Music).
Revolution Cycles, 8 pm
The love affair between music and graphic design heats up as Koo Koo Kanga Roo, Lake Delton and Chen Cheng play a show to celebrate a new lineup of T-shirts designed by local electro performer Shane Shane, who will also perform a set of over-the-top booty shakers.
High Noon Saloon, 10 pm
Members of the prolific Minneapolis hip-hop collective, including Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter and DJs Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger, share the stage for an evening of beats, rhymes and messages that will get you thinking. F. Stokes and RamBunxious open.
Saturday 8.1
SWISS CONFEDERATION DAY
NOTEWORTHY: I-35 bridge collapses in Minneapolis during rush hour, 2007.
BIRTHDAYS: Public Enemy rapper Chuck D, 1960.
Brittingham Park, 10 am-10 pm
This celebration of hip-hop culture features a 320-foot graffiti wall, which will be painted all day by local artists. Look also for breakdancing and performances by local musical luminaries including DJ Pain 1, Flowbandits, 9 Deledates and many more.
Capital Brewery, Middleton, 2 pm
The outdoor family festival features performances by Atimevu and West African Dance of Madison, as well as crafts, eats and the positive vibes you'll pick up knowing that proceeds benefit the work of Kidslink World, which is helping AIDS orphans in South Africa.
Troy Gardens, 3-7 pm
Troy Gardens, the unique urban development near Warner Park, offers a day of free entertainment, featuring hay rides, a community gardens vegetable feast and music of Erin O'Brien, West African drummers, Black Star Drum Line and more. Remember, vegetables are best when they're picked fresh.
High Noon Saloon, 5:30 pm
Two weeks ago, Madison filmmaking teams submitted works in this contest, which requires that the films in question contain certain elements and be made in no more than, you guessed it, 48 hours. Tonight's awards ceremony and screenings celebrate the best of the lot.
Alliant Energy Center's Exhibition Hall, 6:30 pm
When the economy is tanking, many of us walk around fearful, anxious, even enraged. But don't do something rash! Instead, get your aggression out by watching the men of Madtown Throwdown beat each other.
Farley's House of Pianos, 8 pm
Fresh off winning the 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the young Italian pianist stops at Farley's for an intimate performance of music by Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and more. While you're there, maybe you'll buy a piano.
Frequency, 8:30 pm
Folk-rock songbird Jentri Colello's got a new name for her band and a new album to tout. Chicago rock duo the Record Low will stop by to show support and play a set of their own. Brighton MA and Robby Schiller open.
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
You may recognize the sound of these melody-crazed indie-poppers from the Vans Warped Tour or the MTV show College Life, which features the band's single "The Best in Me" as its theme song. Apparently Nothing and the Cloth Sea open.
Sunday 8.2
NOTEWORTHY: Iraq invades Kuwait, 1990.
BIRTHDAYS: Irrepressible singer-songwriter-guitarist-satirist Mojo Nixon, 1957; filmmaker Kevin Smith, 1970.
A Room of One's Own, 2 pm
The Brooklynite has made her name with a growing body of work in the zine format. At A Room of One's Own she shares from her latest, The Rainbow Connection: Gay Muppeteer Richard Hunt, about the openly gay member of Jim Henson's team who performed as, among other felt favorites, Scooter. Didn't you always figure Scooter was gay?
East Side Club, 6 pm
The local Cajun band performs by way of celebrating the release of a new CD, Cajun Country Ramble. The disc is on Ville Platte, La.-based Swallow Records, which is a big deal, which means the Cajun Strangers are a big deal, but then you knew that.
