Tim’s Picks: Damn right, Buddy Guy’s in town
Plus, Gary Allan at Loeb Stadium, Downtown Blues and Jazz Fest, Tippecanoe County 4-H Fair, Gallery Walk in downtown Lafayette, Randy Houser at Neon Cactus and more.
Thanks today for ongoing support from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette, presenting this summer’s season of shows at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette’s Columbian Park, including Gary Allan Thursday and blues legend Buddy Guy Friday. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
Programming note: Based in Lafayette will be on some scheduled downtime for the next week. If you don’t see the usual volume of BiL in your inbox in that time, that’s the reason. (We’ll have a few editions still coming, including standing features, ready for you.) Thanks for reading. And thanks for the chance to step away for a bit.
And now, here’s …
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
Gary Allan, 7 p.m. Thursday, July 17, Loeb Stadium, Lafayette’s Columbian Park — Almost 30 years in, Gary Allan’s career in country music has been hot from the start. His 1996 debut “Used Heart for Sale” rose to gold quickly and he has sold millions of albums since. In 2025, Allan is touring in support of his 10th album, “Ruthless,” which includes a stop at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette. The special outdoor concert will be Allan’s first in Greater Lafayette since he headlined Purdue University’s Elliott Hall of Music in 2009. $50-$113. Tickets.
Gallery Walk, 6-9 p.m. Friday, July 18, downtown Lafayette — Numerous traditional and not-so-traditional art venues will have later hours — and delicious wine — for the July edition of the downtown Gallery Walk. Most of these spaces are downtown and easy walks from each other. There will be hundreds of paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures to see while exploring downtown on a hopefully gorgeous summer evening. Of the many stops, be sure to check out these:
“Work in Clay and Paper,” by Linda LeMar and LuAnn Lamie, Artists’ Own, 518 Main St. — Two of Artists’ Own’s finest team up together for a fascinating sculptural exhibit. “Work in Clay and Paper” will feature LaMar’s unique clay and paper pulp creations that were inspired by summer gardens and pop with color. Lamie’s signature fiber pieces will also feature clay and Greater Lafayette’s own Twinrocker Handmade Paper, which will have interesting textured embellishments from stones and fossils.
“Red Hot Ingot” by Ian Lewandowski, The Weather Station, 658 Main St., Suite 212 — A New York artist but native Hoosier, Ian Lewandowski will display new and old photography works that focus on queer subjects living in Indiana. The name of the show was inspired by a vintage postcard from the fine folks at Gary Steel Works, which read “Red hot ingots are rolled into various sizes and shapes on rolling mills of U.S. Steel Corporation's Gary Steel Works.” The phrase also pays tribute to Lewandowski’s generations of family members that lived in Northwest Indiana — some of which worked in the steel mills.
“For the Image of Your Life” by Ed Lausch, Bindery Artist Studios, 511 Ferry St. — Lafayette photographer Ed Lausch will show a retrospective of portraits he’s documented for more than 40 years. The title is a personal slogan for the longtime photographer.
New works by Beth Zimmerman, Dimension 7, 323 Columbia St. — This opening will feature live music from One Frame Cartoon.
Pottery by Cheyanne Connelly, Essentially Aqua, 525 Main St.
New works by Jennifer Ledman, McCord Candies, 536 Main St.
“Forgotten Buildings” photo exhibit by Alphie Alvarez, Generation NA, 504 Main St.
New works by Eliza Gellis, The Vegan Cheese Lady Café, 605 Main St.
Buddy Guy with Taj Farrant, 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 18, Loeb Stadium — At 88 years young, living Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy will grace Greater Lafayette one more time. Guy has popped into Greater Lafayette from time to time over his astounding eight decades of performance. His last appearance was at the 1,000-seat Loeb Playhouse at Purdue in 2012. This weekend, Guy and his signature brand of guitar-driven blues will shine under the stars at the other Loeb — Loeb Stadium. It’s fitting that what could possibly be Guy’s final curtain call in Lafayette will be an epic baseball stadium show. Guy has influenced just about every notable guitar player known to man — Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards, just to name a few. They all owe their sound to Guy’s work from the 1950s and ’60s, even when Guy was working with the one and only Muddy Waters. While his countless accolades like eight Grammys, a National Medal of Arts and a Kennedy Center honor speak for themselves, you only need to see and hear Guy onstage to realize how lucky Greater Lafayette has been to be on Guy’s tour schedule. $50-$134. Tickets.
Downtown Blues and Jazz Festival, 5 p.m. Saturday, July 19, North Fifth Street, downtown Lafayette — If you still have the blues after seeing Buddy Guy Friday night, Saturday is your second chance to celebrate one of America’s finest musical artforms. The annual Downtown Lafayette Blues and Jazz Festival will occupy the Lafayette Farmers Market block of North Fifth Street between Main and Columbia streets, and it will showcase four acts with decades of experience performing jazz and/or blues. Headlining will be the supergroup Uncle Buck’s Mojo Bledsoe (9:30 p.m.), which will feature Lafayette blues guitarist extraordinaire Kyle Bledsoe joining the veteran power trio Uncle Buck’s Mojo Box. Also performing will be Speakeasy Boys (5 p.m.), Blue Sky (6:30 p.m.) and Star City Rhythm Revival (8 p.m.), a newer New Orleans-inspired jazz ensemble led by guitarist Stuart Carlton. The band has a rotating cast of all-star players, including a horn section featuring members of The Velocity District and longtime local keyboardist Hunt Wiley. $15. $5 for ages 13-18.
Randy Houser with Nate Venturelli, 7 p.m. Saturday, July 19, Neon Cactus, 360 Brown St., West Lafayette — If you want more country music after jamming out to Gary Allan Thursday night, do check out Nashville star Randy Houser, who will headline at the Neon Cactus this weekend. Gary Allan’s stadium show will be great, and Houser’s more intimate club engagement should be equally thrilling. Houser racked up numerous awards in the late ’00s and throughout the ’10s with such hits as “Boots On,” “How Country Feels” and “Like a Cowboy.” In the ’20s, however, Houser took a chance and became a film actor, scoring roles in the Dennis Quaid vehicle “The Hill,” and he even landed a role in Martin Scorsese’s epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” with Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Some Houser Trivia: He is credited as one of the three writers of “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.” The success of that Trace Adkins tune helped push Houser to the stage, eventually earning him his first record deal in 2008. $35. Tickets.
And be sure to check out the Tippecanoe County 4-H Fair, which opens at 9 a.m. Friday, July 18, and will run through July 26 at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds. It’s our county’s tradition of animals, rides, funnel cake, elephant ears and memories. For a daily schedule of shows, events and, yes, carnival rides, check here: tippe4hfair.org/2025/schedule/
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
Thanks, again, for ongoing support from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.