Summer in Madison serves up one of its last big festival weekends with the Clean Lakes Festival, Africa Fest, Gandy Dancer Festival, Wisconsin Capitol Pride Festival, and Triangle Ethnic Fest. The calendar also includes: the Pride & Passion baseball history exhibit; the Hold'em with Hellmuth poker benefit; productions of Troilus and Cressida and Shakespeare's Will; Dane Dances; a Family Farm Defenders benefit concert; and, more live music from Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Fire & Love, Tyranny Is Tyranny, Eve to Adam, Biff Blumfumgagnge, Eyes Set to Kill, Bryan Eubanks, The Sweetness of Gone, The Cemetery Improvement Society, Bryan Lee, and Giant People.
Friday 8.17
NOTEWORTHY: First animated cartoon debuts in Paris, 1908.
Pride & Passion: The African American Baseball Experience
Through Aug. 31, Verona Public Library
This national traveling exhibition is based on a display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It tells the inspiring story of African Americans who overcame untold obstacles just to play our national pastime.
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
100 block of King Street, 5 pm
Swig some country-spiked rock at this free outdoor show outside the Isthmus offices. Kellogg and his brotherly band of road warriors share tunes from their nine-year career, which will come to a close -- at least temporarily -- at the end of the year. (See Tour Stop). At 10 pm, DJs Vinnie Toma and Dr. Funkenstein will lead the crowd inside the Majestic for a fantastically funky dance party. With Phox and DJ Nick Nice.
Monona Terrace Rooftop, 5:30 pm
The free fun continues with Motown and rock from the Associates, then funk and blues from Primitive Culture. When Dane County parties, it parties. Fire & Love
Red Dragon TV Studios, 7 pm
These four local musicians are models of maturity: They used Craigslist to find each other and form a band, not giggle at the "Missed Connections" page. Applaud their savoir-vivre -- and their upbeat rock tunes -- at this live broadcast.
Project Lodge, 7 pm
If Howard Zinn fronted a post-metal rock band, his music might sound something like this United Sons of Toil side project. With Things Falling Apart and the Garza.
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
This hard-rocking band from New York City will melt faces with an onslaught of catchy, adrenaline-fueled guitar riffs. With Second Soul and Cleobury.
Mickey's Tavern, 10:30
Unwind on the bar's patio as Gomers mastermind and spell-check breaker Blumfumgagnge provides live accompaniment to 1920 horror film The Golem.
Saturday 8.18
NOTEWORTHY: Astronomer Pierre Jules César Jannsen discovers helium, 1868.
Olin Park, 8 am-9 pm
Who doesn't love our lakes? Who doesn't want them to stay clean? The annual fundraiser features music, food, water skiing lessons, logrolling and an armada of boats.
Warner Park, 10 am-10 pm
Maybe you can't make it to Africa this summer, but now Africa comes to you. The annual festival features performances, kids' activities, food and an African Village.
The Promenade in Mazomanie, 11 am-8 pm
Mazomanie's festival features such homely pleasures as train exhibits, horse-drawn carriage rides, and musical performances that emphasize bluegrass. The headliner is Grammy-nominated Claire Lynch.
Alliant Energy Center-Exhibition Hall, 2 pm
Phil Hellmuth, the Madison native and World Series of Poker champ, hosts a poker tournament that allows you to try your luck against celebrities like Mayor Paul Soglin and Olympian Casey FitzRandolph. It cost $300 to play and $100 to win, but the money goes to a good cause: Agrace HospiceCare.
High Noon Saloon, 3 pm
Nine regional music acts and one star-powered Jamaican band will share their love of reggae to raise funds for drought-stricken farms. The bill includes Jamaica's Dubtronic Kru, Milwaukee's Mt. Zion Soundsystem, Minneapolis' DJ I Roach and Madison's own Vilas Park Sniper.
Loft at Goodman Community Center, 6:30 pm
Helmed by sisters Alexia and Anissa Rodriguez, this Arizona quartet explores the melodic side of screamo while saluting technically gifted metalcore groups such as Poison the Well. With My Ticket Home, Awaken the Empire, Serianna and Under Waves.
Project Lodge, 7:30 pm
The musical equivalent of a mad scientist, Eubanks designs instruments that incorporate open circuits, feedback and radio-transmission technology. Unlike Doc Brown and Professor Farnsworth, he can also wail on the soprano sax. With Wilhelm Matthies, Noxroy and Cat Lamb.
American Players Theatre in Spring Green, 8 pm. Also Tuesday, Aug. 21, 7:30 pm
This is one of Shakespeare's "problem plays," but we've got no problems with it whatsoever. It's a tragicomic story of two Trojan lovers with a deliciously disturbing modern tone.
Mother Fool's Coffeehouse, 8 pm
This local trio of singer-songwriters blends vocal harmonies with the rich timbres of stringed instruments such as the banjo, autoharp and Appalachian dulcimer.
The Cemetery Improvement Society
Frequency, 9:30 pm
Before their leader moves to sunny San Diego, these darkly comic purveyors of prog-laced electronica will unveil their latest creation, The Scarye Book. With Golden Donna, Echo Island, Czarbles and the Demix.
Harmony Bar, 9:45 pm
A skillful bluesman who happens to be blind, Lee felt the pull of the Chicago blues scene early in life. It took him many years to pique the interest of Windy City promoters, despite encouragement from Muddy Waters himself, but his love for the music never faded. Expect a packed house when he visits the Harmony with his trusty Telecaster.
Sunday 8.19
Wisconsin Capitol Pride Festival
Capitol Square, 10 am-5 pm
This celebration of the region's indomitable LGBT community features vendors at 10 am, a parade at noon, and a rally and entertainment 1-5 pm. (See cover story about Patrick Farabaugh.)
The triangle of Regent Street, South Park Street and West Washington Avenue, 11 am-6 pm
Enjoy ethnic food, cultural displays, dancing and kids' activities in the legendarily diverse Madison neighborhood. Performers include Cajun Spice, Sadira & the Riad Dance Company, and Jumptown Swing Dance.
American Players Theatre's Touchstone Theatre in Spring Green, 6 pm. Also Tuesday, Aug. 21, 7:30 pm
This one-woman show, starring Tracy Michelle Arnold, focuses on Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, and takes place on the day his will is read. Anne reflects on Shakespeare as a husband and father, not as a literary giant.
Frequency, 8:30 pm
This talented but short-lived guitar-pop project will play a final show before its members scamper off to greener pastures (see Music). With Invisible Things, An Aesthetic Anaesthetic and Control.
