Your weekly dose of Tim’s Picks
Your weekly dose of Tim’s Picks
Five choice ideas for long weekend and beyond
It’s Thursday, so here, again, with five suggestions for your Greater Lafayette week …
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
Idol Throne with Bloodletter, Ice Howl and Obscuridad Eterna, 8 p.m. Friday, May 31, North End Pub, 2100 Elmwood Ave., Lafayette — Northwest Indiana power metal kings Idol Throne will make its long-awaited return to Lafayette to share its new album, “A Clarion Call.” The band’s second record drops Friday and Lafayette metal fans will be among the first to snatch a copy. Idol Throne’s sound borders on thrash, so it’s suitable for headbanger and wizard alike. Opening will be Chicago thrashers Bloodletter, fellow power metal troops Ice Howl (Bloomington) and Obscuridad Eterna, a Spanish-speaking/singing power metal trio from Chicago. $10.
OUTfest 2024 Theme Reveal, 7 p.m. Saturday, June 1, Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette, 313 N. Fifth St., Lafayette — While OUTfest, Lafayette’s Pride bash, is marked for Aug. 17, Pride Month kicks off with a sexy and wild appetizer as drag performers take over Civic Theatre to raise money for the big downtown summer event, and they will reveal the anticipated OUTfest theme. Greater Lafayette queens Jessika Savage, Alexis DuCraix, Veronica Fox, Anitta Schwanz and others will perform family-friendly routines at this fundraiser, so have those dollars out and your calendars marked for OUTfest. Free but donations requested.
Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour, 2 p.m. Sunday, June 2, Long Center for the Performing Arts, 111 N. Sixth St., Lafayette — YouTube kids’ star Blippi has rubbed elbows with Elmo, has his own musical on Netflix and Roblox game — all in preparation to make his Lafayette live debut. “Blippi” began as a self-produced show aimed at preschoolers by Stevin John, a young performer from Ellensburgh, Washington. Over the years, the show where Blippi — matching orange glasses, suspenders, cap and all — and his friend Meekah (played by Kaitlin Becker and Cashae Monya) explore colorful sites around North America with energetic curiosity, wonder and loud excitement has gained international fame, toy deals and almost 20 million YouTube subscribers. There are animated spin-offs and a treasure trove of content short and long for any kid’s attention span. The live Blippi show will have plenty of music, dancing and appearances from Blippi, Meekah and various other residents of the Blippi-verse. $33.50-$76.56. Tickets.
Poetry Night with John Leo, Kristine Esser Slentz and The Volta Slam Team, 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, The Spot Tavern, 409 S. Fourth St., Lafayette — Purdue University alumna Kristine Esser Slentz returns to Indiana to share new work from her new poetry collection, “woman, depose.” Currently earning her Master of Fine Arts degree in New York City, Slentz is a northwest Indiana native whose blue-collar upbringing informs her work. Slentz turned some tough hands into written art, which she further cultivated in West Lafayette. The young writer will be joined by John Leo, a native Hoosier living in Minneapolis. Leo has two books under his belt and is featured in the 2023 Indiana poetry anthology “A Flame Called Indiana: New Writing from the Crossroads.” Leo is also a tabletop game designer. His credits include “Star Wars: Unlimited” and “Wolves of Mercia.” Leo and Slentz will be joined by Indianapolis’ The Volta Slam Team, a quintet of Hoosier writers that perform their words rather than just reading them. $5 or pay what you can.
Junk Trio, 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, Knickerbocker Saloon, 113 N. Fifth St., Lafayette — Players of jazz, rock and anything else you put in front of them, the all-star grouping of bassist Will Orchard, drummer Blake Watts and guitarist Scott Pazera can get quite funky as the Junk Trio. The “funk fusion” fellows perform originals and covers, and the power trio was recently granted a residency at the historic Knickerbocker for the first Wednesday of the month. You’ve seen these musicians sitting in with numerous bands over the years, but Junk Trio gives Watts, Pazera and Orchard plenty of space to stretch out and give up the funk.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes here (almost) weekly, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
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.