Tim’s Picks: Back in the house
Tim’s Picks: Back in the house
... with five prime ideas for your Greater Lafayette week.
Thanks today for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette, presenting a summer lineup including county artist Lee Brice at Loeb Stadium on Sept. 20. For tickets for the show and details for other events, go to longpac.org.
Here, again, after a week off, with five suggestions for your Greater Lafayette week, it’s …
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
Art Reiner Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, Rat Pak Venue, 102 N. Third St., Lafayette — The Lafayette Symphony Orchestra’s eclectic B-Side concert series allows its musicians a chance to let their collective hair down and present smaller, often jazzy music projects. LSO percussionist Art Reiner will present his quartet for the kickoff concert of the 2024-25 B-Side season. Reiner will back vocalist Teresa Giles-Kelly, guitarist Sandy Williams and bassist Jesse Whitman through a night of iconic and nostalgic jazz standards. $15. Tickets.
Destination Downtown: Boiler Up Downtown, 4-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, downtown Lafayette — You may be aware that Purdue University started its fall semester on Monday. Downtown Lafayette businesses picked up on this annual happening by organizing a Destination Downtown street event that celebrates downtown retail and service businesses while (re)introducing the wonders of the city to students and faculty across the old Wabash. With the theme “Boiler Up Downtown,” dozens of downtown businesses will stay open late and take to the streets as some of Main Street will be closed off for the bash. Downtown restaurants will serve food and drink outside, and several pop-up shops will sell their wares, too. Boilermaker Special rides will run from 7:30-9 p.m., shuttling around downtown. While more Purdue students and faculty come to downtown than they did even several years ago, there are thousands that miss out. Destination Downtown events help hype all that downtown Lafayette has to offer, which is something for every Boilermaker.
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Thunderstruck, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, Long Center for the Performing Arts, 111 N. Sixth St., Lafayette — While its mighty rock transcends geography, Australia will always claim AC/DC as its own. Led by the Young brothers with songs like “Shoot to Thrill,” “Highway to Hell” and “Back in Black,” AC/DC’s 50-plus years of blues-tinged hard rock riffs will live forever. “America’s AC/DC tribute” Thunderstruck may not know a kangaroo from a didgeridoo, but they know Hoosiers love to rock out as the tribute act — schoolboy outfits, devil horns, poor boy caps and all — will bring the volume back to downtown Lafayette. The band also packed the Hi-Fi Annex in Indianapolis recently. These dudes have the chops and are sure to win over AC/DC fans (Angus) Young and old. $34. Tickets.
Indiana Bacon Festival, 2:30-11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, downtown Delphi — While bacon is always the headliner at the Indiana Bacon Festival, opening for the pork product will be an eclectic mix of live bands at the 11th annual event. Lou Gramm, the original voice of Foreigner, will always be the “Juke Box Hero” as he will surely lead his band through his hits from the 1970s and ’80s — “Urgent,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and many more. Also between the bacon eating contest, barbecue and beer, you will hear Cleveland’s top Journey tribute band, Escape, as well as The Indigos and Young Kingdom, rock bands from Indianapolis. $10 in advance, $20 day at the gate, children under 12 free. Tickets.
Pentagram String Band with Mikey Classic, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, North End Pub, 2100 Elmwood Ave., Lafayette — If you like Satanism with your bluegrass, you are in luck. Mom and Pop Productions will present a night of evil string music courtesy of the Pentagram String Band from the depths of hell, also known as Kansas City, Missouri. Consisting of guitar, banjo, fiddle and washboard, the quartet plays with a punk rock fury and is influenced by thrash metal that slots them more at beer-soaked venues like North End Pub rather than the picking and grinning outdoor festivals. Super recommend Pentagram String Band’s 2023 album, “Blood Blood Blood.” Opening the show will be Mikey Classic, singer-songwriter and banjoist of The Goddamn Gallows. $10. Tickets.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
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