Friday 10.17
Wisconsin Book Festival Madison Food & Wine Show Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and its Diasporas The Love of the Nightingale Madison Symphony Orchestra Waiting for Godot Jin-Wen Yu Dance Company The Voodoo Organist Yonder Mountain String Band Orpheum Theatre, 9 pm Saturday 10.18 Paul Rowe & Christina Lalog DJ Rekha Vibe Syndicate Lucas Cates Band Sunday 10.19 Jennifer O'Connor Eric & Matthias
Through Oct. 19. See
Alliant Energy Center's Exhibition Hall, 5 pm. Also Saturday & Sunday, Oct. 18 & 19, noon
Follow your gastronomic bliss at this culinary expo, featuring cooking demonstrations, displays by local and national food vendors and, of course, the annual nail-biter that is the Dueling Chef Competition. Hungry yet?
Chazen Museum of Art
This exhibit explores the culture surrounding the African water deity Mami Wata, including masks, sculpture, paintings and other items gathered from west and central Africa, as well as the U.S., Brazil and the Caribbean. The shebang kicks off tonight with a 6 pm talk by Henry Drewal, UW-Madison professor of art history and Afro-American studies.
UW Vilas Hall's Hemsley Theatre, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday, Oct. 18, 7:30 pm
University Theatre stages Timberlake Wertenbaker's 1989 play, a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of the rape of Philomela.
Overture Center's Overture Hall, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday (8 pm) & Sunday (2:30 pm), Oct. 18 & 19
The German cellist Alban Gerhardt is featured in a program that includes Elgar's "Cello Concerto," Copland's "Outdoor Overture" and Holst's "The Planets."
MATC-Truax's Studio Theatre 206, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday (7:30 pm) & Sunday (2 pm), Oct. 18 & 19
Samuel Beckett's 1953 play more or less captures the modern condition -- despair, ennui, all that. It's also very funny, right down to the hat gag.
UW Lathrop Hall's H'Doubler Performance Space, 8 pm. Also Thursday & Saturday, Oct. 16 & 18, 8 pm
The director of the UW's dance program presents Refiguring A/musing, which includes pieces that explore Chinese and Indian dance traditions, as well as work that incorporates tai chi, an abiding research interest of Yu's.
Annex, 9 pm
A perfect prelude to the demons and debauchery of Halloween, Scott Wexton's vintage Hammond organ and Moog Taurus bass pedals sound like a road trip through Hades with Parliament, Suicide, the Cramps and the cast of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Also playing: Sanjula Vamana, Kill Junior, Roboman.
This Colorado neo-bluegrass four-piece -- composed of a guitarist, a bassist, a mandolin player, a banjo player and their human voices -- has gained a sizable following thanks to live shows heavy on band improvisation and audience participation.
UW Humanities Building's Mills Hall, 8 pm
Baritone Rowe and pianist Lalog perform the music of Ernst Friedrich Kauffmann, Robert Franz and others in this faculty concert.
Majestic Theatre, 10 pm
DJ Rekha uses her turntables to blend hip-hop, dancehall and bhangra, a miasma of danceable drumbeats and social-justice messages from India and Pakistan. Null Device opens.
Frequency, 10 pm
Vibe Syndicate, Isthmus readers' favorite new band of 2007, melts jazz, funk, soul and R&B into a concoction that goes down real easy. The six-piece's energetic stage presence, plus their excellent covers of songs by Curtis Mayfield and Breakestra, should make for a top-notch live show. Also: Roots Collective.
Brink Lounge, 9 & 11 pm
There are two big shows at the CD release party of the local rocker, who is trying to break on through.
Café Montmartre, 8 pm
Fresh off of a tour opening for Damien Jurado, Jennifer O'Connor and her wry postmodern love songs get the spotlight tonight as the artist promotes her new Matador release, Here With Me. Jeremiah Nelson opens.
Project Lodge, noon
Singer-songwriter team Eric Cannizzaro and Matthias Sirch, known to fans simply as Eric & Matthias, craft dreamy acoustic gems out of guitars, violins and wistful lyrics that recall both Paul Simon and Elliott Smith. The Vermont duo stop at the Project Lodge for Sunday brunch and an informal concert before embarking on a tour of West Coast coffeehouses.
