Tim’s Picks: A return of happy hour edition
38 Special at Loeb Stadium. Civic’s Short Play Festival. Downtown merchants go back to back Friday/Saturday. Five choice suggestions as you ease toward the first Indiana happy hour in ages
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It’s Thursday, so here, again, with five suggestions for your Greater Lafayette week …
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
38 Special, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27, Loeb Stadium — One thing people should know about me is that my favorite rock songs contain lyrics about rock itself — the benefits of listening to rock ‘n’ roll, using rock as a pillar in your life, and, best yet, the act of rocking and all its versatility in rock song lyric writing. One of the all-timers will be heard live in Lafayette for the first time when 38 Special takes the Loeb Stadium stage Thursday. The classic rock band’s 1980 single “Rockin’ into the Night” even starts with the words “Oh rockin’!” “Oh,” indeed! The tune was originally written by members of Survivor but given to the 38 Special camp, where it became the title track of the band’s third album. The tune would be a sort of precursor to the band’s biggest hit, 1981’s “Hold on Loosely,” coincidentally a karaoke favorite of mine. $39-$74. Tickets.
Short Play Festival, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 28-30, Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette, 313 N. Fifth St., Lafayette — An all-star cast of local performers, directors and playwrights will converge upon Civic Theatre for the 12th annual Short Play Festival. Fourteen new, original plays no longer than 10 minutes will debut this weekend performed and penned by the local likes of Kate Martin, Kyle Brown, Steve Martin, Neil Radtke, Laurie Russell and many more. Arrive early for live music by Sheeza and Camryn Boutelle. Admission is $12 OR a roll of the dice: Attendees roll the dice to see their admission price, which will be $2-$12. I love this. Civic was the first local arts organization to do the “pay what you can option” more than a decade ago for some of its events. Civic’s creativity and passion for its audience always earns a standing ovation.
Summer on the Square, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 29, downtown Lafayette — Celebrating local downtown businesses all at once is the fuel behind the annual Summer on the Square, an event where shops display their finest in an outdoor setting around the Tippecanoe County Courthouse. Featuring food trucks, live acoustic music, games and an artisan market, the event also serves as an extension to the beloved downtown Farmer’s Market. Coordinated by Nolan Willhite, an owner of Flora Candle Company, Summer on the Square amps up downtown and gives businesses a boost, especially those experiencing any summer blues. While downtown has much to offer, businesses like these are the life’s blood of the historic district. They must be celebrated and supported.
If Saturday is no good for you, a prelude to the event will occur from 4-9 p.m. Friday, June 28, around downtown. The Downtown Lafayette Business Owners Association will host a 1990s themed Destination Downtown event aimed to bring people downtown in support of small businesses. Main Street will be closed from Fourth to Ninth streets so folks can take advantage of outdoor dining and activities including Twister in the streets at Flora Candle Company, a Kid’s Night Out craft and skating with Lafayette Roller Derby at Flourish Studio and Classroom, ’90s covers being performed by musicians at both Beyond Gallery and McCord Candies, and new shop Something Sweet will have ’90s candy and free jelly bracelets at a booth within the footprint. Main Street Books is hosting a Totally ’90s book fair and will be giving away mood rings with a $10 purchase; McCord Candies will have a retro candy station outside and ’90s-themed sodas on special; Beyond Gallery will have free goodie bags, and Rose Market will have a Central Perk from “Friends”-themed backdrop.
Happy Hour Celebration, 2-5 p.m. Monday, July 1, Ritual, 211 N. Second St., Lafayette — There are many, many state laws that could or should be passed yesterday in Indiana, but the return of happy hour to Indiana for the first time since the 1980s should not be overlooked. Starting Monday, Hoosiers born in the 1980s and later can understand movie and television references to this so-called happy hour, where alcoholic drinks are on special for an hour or a few during operations. It’s usually in the late afternoon or early evening for folks just getting off work. Downtown Lafayette’s own Ritual will embrace the new law with an afternoon launch with drink specials and the bar’s usual delicious eats.
Roots and Roll BBQ with Davey and the Midnights, The Deltaz, DeeOhGee and The Hooten Hallers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, The Hollow, outside of People’s Brewing Company, 2006 N. Ninth St., Lafayette — American roots music and eats will be celebrated as a proper preview to July 4 festivities. Four familiar acts driven by blues, folk, country and rock ‘n’ roll will populate the Hollow while meats grill with vigor, courtesy of People’s and Bonz BBQ. Nashville acts DeeOHGee, with its groovy rock sound, and The Deltaz, the heavy blues brothers duo of John and Ted Siegel, will be back along with the much-anticipated return of the Hooten Hallers, a longtime St. Louis act that played Lafayette Brewing Company way back in 2011 and 2012. The Hallers were People’s regulars too, but this will be the “loud blues” trio’s first visit back to Lafayette since the pandemic. Expect new music as The Hallers will release the album, “The Devil’s Egg,” on Aug. 9. Greater Lafayette/Indianapolis’ Davey and the Midnights will provide the local support. $25. Tickets.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
OTHER READS …
Remember when there were questions about whether Purdue’s Zach Edey would even get drafted in the NBA? (Admit it, it wasn’t all that long ago.) Wednesday night, the two-time National Player of the Year went with the No. 9 pick to the Memphis Grizzlies. J&C reporter Sam King had the news: “Memphis takes Zach Edey in 2024 NBA draft.” The Purdue crowd, of course, went nuts.
Gov. Eric Holcomb put out word Wednesday that the state had the drug necessary to carry out the death penalty and was prepared to set an execution date for Joseph Corcoran, a Fort Wayn man convicted of murdering four people in 1997. If it happens, the execution would be the first since 2009 in Indiana. Indiana Capital Chronicle’s Whitney Downard and Niki Kelly had this report: “State seeks execution date for convicted Fort Wayne murderer.”
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The hell with lethal drugs. Go back to the wish of Indiana boy Gary Gilmore who asked for execution by firing squad and got it. He didn’t want to spend his possibly long life in prison.
Execution only prevents the prisoner from killing again in prison. It happens to GUARDS, AND OTHER PRISONERS.