Friday 9.5
Saving Jane
Majestic Theatre, 7 pm
Saving Jane's upbeat pop hit "SuperGirl" got a lot of exposure at the Beijing Olympics thanks to gold medal-winning gymnast Nastia Liukin, who said it was her favorite song. The current version of the 30-year-old Latin boy band Menudo opens.
Fighting Bob Fest Kickoff
Barrymore Theatre, 7:30 pm
The actual festival may be up in Baraboo, but you can celebrate the great Wisconsin Progressive Robert M. La Follette Sr. right here with TV talker Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, who are screening their documentary Body of War: The True Story of an Anti-War Hero.
Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez
Orpheum Theatre, 7:30 pm
Corvair owners, hide your cars. The man who made political history fighting the Republicrats -- or was it the Democans? -- is running for president, and he's here to ask for your vote. So too is Gonzalez, former San Francisco supervisor and Nader's running mate.
Doubt: A Parable
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Thursday (7:30 pm) & Saturday (4 & 8 pm), Sept. 4 & 6
Strollers Theatre begins its season with the story of a nun and school principal who believes a priest is molesting one of the students. In 2005 the play notched both a Tony and a Pulitzer.
The Full Monty
Bartell Theatre, 8 pm. Also Thursday & Saturday (8 pm), Sept. 4 & 6
First there was the 1997 British film about unemployed steelworkers who take off their clothes for cash. Then there was the hit Broadway musical that transplanted the action from Sheffield to Buffalo. Now comes Mercury Players Theatre's version, which opens the company's season and is set in Buffalo.
Josh Harty
Cafe Montmartre, 9:30 pm
Harty displays a full mastery of his country and folk sources on his excellent new CD A Long List of Lies. He's got the chops to do just fine in Austin and Nashville. Dietrich Gosser helps him celebrate at this intimate CD release bash.
Kidz in the Hall,br> UW Memorial Union Terrace, 9:30 pm
Catchier than the flu and an instant hip-hop hit, Kidz in the Hall's "Drivin' Down the Block" could just make them superstars. And they're playing the city's largest beer garden for free. How cool is that?
Maps & Atlases
Club 770, UW Union South, 9:30 pm
Chicago's Maps & Atlases add a little melody and shifting textures to the old brainiac math-rock formula, transforming what could have been the usual male-dominated musical masturbation sessions into something memorable. These Are Powers open. Free!
Xiu Xiu,br> High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm Bay Area experimentalists Xiu Xiu's daring, often noisy art-rock can be oblique and unsettling -- even groundbreaking. On this tour, they're inviting audience members to record audio segments that the band will use to create short percussion pieces. Prurient and Common Eider, King Eider also appear.
System & Station
The Frequency, 10 pm
These days former Madisonians and onetime Built to Spill sound-alike System & Station match high, male vocals with grandiose, prog-inspired guitar peregrinations that recall Rush, of all people. IfIHadAHiFi, Ampline and Rust Belt Sermon also appear.
Saturday 9.6
Fit Kids Fun Run
Monona Terrace, 7:30 am
Lace up your tennies, children. The summerlong Fit Kids Challenge program concludes with a mad dash around the Capitol Square. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz will be on hand to promote physical fitness, as will Eddy the Edgewood Eagle. We believe Eddy can beat the mayor in a run around the capitol.
The Figureheads
Overture Center's Rotunda Stage, 9:30 & 11 am, 1 pm Overture's Kids in the Rotunda series gets under way with local kid-friendly hip-hoppers the Figureheads, whose positive tunes are about topics like stretching and going to sleep.
Sun Prairie Blues Fest
Angell Park, Sun Prairie, noon
Sun Prairie caps the summer blues festival calendar with a lineup that includes some fine locals as well as Milwaukee great Paul Cebar. Versatile guitarist Cliff Fredricksen, Laura England & the Mud Angels, blues-star-in-the-making Bobby Bryan & His Uptown Allstars, Bobby Evans & the Alimony Blues Band and Reverend Raven & the Chain Smokin' Altar Boys are all scheduled to appear.
The Roots
Alliant Energy Center's Willow Island, 2 pm
The gratis, distiller-sponsored SoCo Music Experience returns for another year with a diverse, hip-hop-friendly lineup headlined by the Roots, the Black Keys, Wu-Tang Clan's GZA and Benevento Russo Duo. Many other touring and local acts are also on the schedule, so pace those Southern Comfort-fueled concoctions. If you're 21 or over, this freebie plainly qualifies as the freebie of the week.
Cynthia McKinney
High Noon Saloon, 5:30 pm
In July the Green Party gave its presidential nomination to McKinney, who served six terms as a Democratic congresswoman from Georgia. She'll be on hand to promote the Greens' platform, which is all about grassroots democracy, ecological responsibility, social justice. But where do they stand on the Britney Spears/Paris Hilton issue?
Grupo Candela
Majestic Theatre, 8 pm
Don't salsa? No problem. Grupo Candela provide the motivating rhythms, and the free salsa lessons included with the price of admission will help you use them to full advantage. DJ Papi Love also spins.
David Rovics
Cafe Montmartre, 9:30 pm
The modern-day protest singer whips up some righteous sociopolitical indignation for the benefit of the Madison General Defense Committee.
The Gomers and VO5
Frequency, 10 pm
Both the rockist Gomers and the discotastic V05 are known for presenting goofy, celebratory shows that double as very effective sonic stress relievers. Put the two together, and they're sure to lick your brainpan clean.
Sunday 9.7
Wisconsin Ironman Triathlon
Law Park, 7 am
In case the Olympics didn't let you look at enough people who are in better shape than you, there's this annual event, which has the Ironmen and Ironwomen swimming 2.4 miles, bicycling all the way out to Mount Horeb, then running a marathon that ends downtown.
Julie Cross and Karen Boe
Chazen Museum of Art, 12:30 pm
Mezzosoprano Cross and pianist Boe start Wisconsin Public Radio's "Sunday Afternoon Live from the Chazen" season with selections from Handel, Schumann, Berlioz, John Harbison and Libby Larsen.
