This and that … a Tim’s Picks edition
Correspondent Tim Brouk with five choice ideas for your weekend in Lafayette/West Lafayette. Plus, a guide to more candidate Q&As and early voting sites this weekend
Thanks today for the ongoing support from sponsor Barash Law, which helped make this edition of the Based in Lafayette reporting project possible.
Let’s start this Thursday with ..
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
Five choice ideas for your weekend in Lafayette/West Lafayette.
Open House and documentary premiere, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, Bob Kelly Performing Arts Center, West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School, 1105 Grant St. — Check out the recently opened Bob Kelly Performing Arts Center — a top notch live performance venue for West Lafayette Red Devil shows of all kinds — but be sure to stay for the world premiere of “Eternal Flame,” a 22-minute documentary on musical West Lafayette father and son Bob and Tom Kelly. From 1985-1989, son Tom Kelly and his lyricist Billy Steinberg wrote a string of No. 1 hits — “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper, “Alone” by Heart, “Eternal Flame” by The Bangles, “So Emotional” by Whitney Houston and the epically huge “Like a Virgin” by Madonna. The film focuses on both Kellys’ music success. First, Bob Kelly’s acclaim as a local teenage big band leader in the 1930s before the next generation — Tom Kelly — would carry the torch to international acclaim, first as a 1970s studio musician and backup vocalist before hitting songwriting gold in the 1980s. He would eventually be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. Other Kelly compositions include The Bangles’ “In Your Room,” “I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders and the infamous “I Touch Myself” by Divinyls. The film is narrated by actor Peter Coyote (“E.T.,” “Jagged Edge,” “Erin Brockovich”) and produced by Jack Klink, another award-winning local kid done good in Los Angeles. Klink is a sought-after director, editor and cinematographer. Free.
Carsie Blanton and Her Handsome Band, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, The Arts Federation, 638 North St., Lafayette — Friends of Bob is back with its first show since 2019. The live music co-op has brought in top notch music acts — usually of the independent variety — to Lafayette or West Lafayette for almost 30 years. Its first post-pandemic performance will feature New Orleans singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton and Her Handsome Band. Fans of John Prine and Nina Simone will not be disappointed by the young musician’s take on jazz, pop and American roots music. National Public Radio gushed over Blanton: “Carsie Blanton is making folk-based music that prizes wordplay and an antic sense of humor. You can hear jazz, Motown and power pop in her melodies and phrasing … . Her tone never becomes cute because she phrases with such purpose. And what she’s talking about is almost always earthy if not downright down and dirty.” $20 in advance, $25 day of show. Advance tickets available at Von’s Records, JL Records and McGuire Music.
Luke Hendrickson with Little Umbrellas, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, People’s Brewing Company, 206 N. Ninth Street Road, Lafayette — Minnesota singer-songwriter Luke Hendrickson will bring his somber country style south to Lafayette. If you feel like a cry, check out “Good with a Gun” while “The Old House” will make you want to hug your family a little tighter than usual. Opening the show will be Little Umbrellas, singer-songwriter Naomi Rae Wolsieffer’s returning project. This rootsy duo features the triumphant return of Davide Marzoli, former bassist for Traveling Broke and Out of Gas and many other projects. Wolsieffer describes the project: “We are re-imagining sounds with me on tenor ukulele and electric six-string, while Dav fills the sound with his six-string bass. Part self-help songs and love songs, some Americana, some jazzy rock, and some me trying to make people laugh in-between songs.” There will be a 100% chance of good music, so pack your Little Umbrellas. $7. Ticket information.
“Dude Bro Party Massacre III” screening, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, The Spot Tavern, 409 S. Fourth St., Lafayette — If you’re trying to cram as many horror movies as possible into October, leave room for “Dude Bro Party Massacre III.” With permission from the producers of the 2015 indie cult horror comedy, Lafayette filmmaker Jason Zink will screen this gem full of laughs, gore and bro-therhood. When a group of frat guys travel to a secluded lake house, you know the male bonding will turn to male killing faster than Busch Light down a beer bong. When he’s not screening films, Zink is making them. His short film, “TAPEHEAD,” and a new “fake trailer” for a skateboardsploitation movie called “Skate or Die” received lots of love at the 2022 Drive-In Massacre at the Skyline Drive-In Theater in Shelbyville, Indiana. “TAPEHEAD” will compete at the 2023 Boston Horror Comedy Film Festival. Free.
“Legally Blonde The Musical,” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, Elliott Hall of Music — “Ohmigod You Guys!” Effervescent Elle Woods has become an iconic character since her “Legally Blonde” film debut. Twenty-one years after Reese Witherspoon first portrayed her, Elle’s mix of smarts, style and upbeat attitude has endeared her to the public so much that a musical version was produced in 2007. The show had a strong Broadway run and continues to celebrate the young lawyer that went from heartbreak to habeas corpus via tours like the one that will make its Purdue University debut, via Purdue Convocations. $32-$72. Ticket information.
This and that …
EARLY VOTING CONTINUES, WITH SATURDAY SITES: The Tippecanoe County Election Board will take early voting sites to several locations in the community Saturday, even as voting continues weekdays during business hours at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St., in downtown Lafayette.
Available 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22:
Ivy Hall, Ivy Tech Community College, 3101 S. Creasy Lane, Lafayette
Wabash Township Fire Station No. 2, 51 S. Newman Road, West Lafayette
For a full list of early voting sites in Tippecanoe County ahead of the Nov. 8 election, here’s the schedule.
CANDIDATE Q&As AND MORE: I added a handful of candidate Q&As in Tippecanoe County and General Assembly races to the mix in the past few days (as if subscribers didn’t already know from the email dump in their inboxes). I’ve added them to this previous roundup, so you can find them all in one place:
BALLOTS, ETC.: Who will be on your ballot? Need to check your voter registration? That and more, available at Indiana’s voter portal, Indianavoters.in.gov.
COVID SHOTS FOR KIDS: The Tippecanoe County Health Department announced this week that it had received the Pfizer bivalent booster for kids ages 5 to 11. The shots will be available, starting today (Thursday, Oct. 20) at the health department, 1950 S. 18th St. The Pfizer booster requires a minimum of two months since the last dose or booster of either Pfizer or Moderna was received.
Here are the health department’s vaccine clinic hours: noon-5 p.m. Thursday; 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday.
ICYMI, FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE RESIGNS: This went out Wednesday afternoon, in case you missed it.
Thanks, again, to the continued support from Based in Lafayette sponsor Barash Law. The firm helped make this edition of the reporting project possible.
Tips or story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com. Also on Twitter and Instagram.
Tim's missing one of Lafayette's best music shows. Michael Kelsey at Walt's in West Lafayette every first and third Thursday of the month.