Winter break in Madison hits its home stretch this week. The calendar includes: the True Self exhibit at MMoCA and the Bandolier Bags of the Western Great Lakes exhibit at the Wisconsin Historical Museum; a production of Guys and Does; a new Wednesday Nite at the Lab and Madison History Round Table Meeting; live music from Bears Climb Mountains with Ryan Mauer & the Angry Fix, Silverstein with Miss May I, So So Radio with The Lisps; and at the Rock to Rebuild benefit; and, a Tribute to Bill Hicks by the Isthmians of Comedy.
Monday 1.10
BIRTHDAYS: '80s pop star Pat Benatar, 1953.
NOTEWORTHY: Time Inc. buys Warner Communications for more than $14 billion, 1990.
Bears Climb Mountains, Ryan Mauer & the Angry Fix
High Noon Saloon, 7 pm
Rock and hip-hop are the bread and butter of Madison's Bears Climb Mountains, which is hard at work recording some new tracks for your listening pleasure. Rootsy folk-rocker Mauer will share original material from his 2009 debut Rise and some new tunes as well. With Goodbye Home and Jason Horowitz & the Farm.
Tuesday 1.11
BIRTHDAYS: Singer Mary J. Blige, 1971; actress Amanda Peet, 1972.
NOTEWORTHY: Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California, 1935.
True Self: The Search for Identity in Modern and Contemporary Art
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, through June 19
MMoCA draws from its permanent collection to explore modern artists' obsession with the self. The exhibition includes such major figures as Thomas Hart Benton, Chuck Close, Käthe Kollwitz, Diego Rivera and Cindy Sherman.
Overture Center Playhouse, 7:30 pm. Also Wednesday & Thursday, Jan. 12 & 13, 7:30 pm; through Jan. 23
Door County's American Folklore Theatre specializes in original plays and musicals with a Wisconsin theme, including the beloved Guys on Ice. Its latest creation is a comic deer-hunting musical about a Nekoosa paper-mill worker and a hunting buddy who stalk their prey up north.
Wednesday 1.12
BIRTHDAYS: Former heavyweight boxing champion Smokin' Joe Frazier, 1944; actress Kirstie Alley, 1951.
NOTEWORTHY: Mystery author Agatha Christie dies, 1976.
Majestic Theatre, 6:30 pm
Silverstein, the Canadian hardcore band named after the author of The Giving Tree, will share the stage with Ohio metalcore lords Miss May I, whose 2010 album, Monument, reached a respectable No. 76 on Billboard's U.S. mainstream chart. With Pierce the Veil, the Chariot and A Bullet for Pretty Boy.
UW Biotechnology Auditorium, 425 Henry Mall, 7 pm
The free weekly event explores scientific topics at the UW. In this installment, biologist Stephen Paddock offers "A Brief History of Timelapse."
High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm
Fresh off a Milwaukee New Year's Eve show with the Hold Steady and Jaill, this indie-pop trio of far-flung Wisconsin dudes will release a new CD here in Madison to open the show. Then headliners the Lisps will combine New York City's vaudeville tradition with a dash of down-south country twang and some of the most polished lyrics west of the Mississippi. Learn more about this band and their metaphysical musical Futirity in this week's Tour Stop. With Wake Up Sleepy Giant.
Thursday 1.13
BIRTHDAYS: Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 1961; actor Orlando Bloom, 1977.
Bandolier Bags of the Western Great Lakes
Wisconsin Historical Museum, through Feb. 26
The bandolier bags on display were created by 19th- and 20th-century Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee Indians, and worn primarily as part of formal dress. The bags combine Euro-American and Native American traditions.
West Side Club, 7:30 pm. Optional dinner: 6:30 pm
Mike Martin, a member of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, discusses the role of the Wisconsin Cavalry in the Civil War. RSVP by Jan. 11 if you're interested in the dinner before his talk.
High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm
Zany local rock band Awesome Car Funmaker is reuniting for one night to aid the victims of a recent Sun Prairie home explosion. Win prizes from a giant raffle and enjoy additional rock and yuks from local cabaret punks Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons and comedian Alan Talaga, with all proceeds benefiting the Coral Drive Relief Fund at Associated Bank.
Argus Bar Grille, 10 pm
In this Isthmians of Comedy event, eight local comedians perform dark satirical bits by Bill Hicks, the much-admired standup comic who died young in the mid-'90s. With musical guest the Media.
