FRIDAY, June 9th
Friday Night Live, 6-8 p.m., Downtown Champaign, Free
If you’re like me, then the beginning of summer really snuck up on you. This is marked, of course, by the return of free live music to Downtown Champaign’s street corners courtesy of Friday Night Live. If you missed it last weekend, when it kicked off, now is your chance to catch a band with dinner or drinks. It’s summertime Champaign at its finest, folks. (BH)
48-Hour Jam Session, Community Center for the Arts, starts at 6 p.m., free
C4A’s annual 48-Hour Jam is a unique event unlike any other in the area. For two straight days, they’ll be hosting a non-stop jam session of old-time music. Anyone who plays an instrument associated with old-time music – guitar, banjo, mandolin, et cetera – is welcome to participate. You don’t have to stay the entire time, and musicians will come and go. Non-musicians are also welcome, whether to spectate or to help out. Check out the site for more info. (JTM)
Full Moon Night Ride, Meadowbrook Park, 6-8 p.m., free
This Friday night will be a full moon… a strawberry moon to be exact. Why not enjoy it with a bike ride and ice cream? It’s actually a 22 mile round trip bike ride to Sidney Dairy Barn (you have to earn that ice cream). Interested riders should meet in the parking lot of Meadowbrook Park. According to the Urbana Parks event page, the ride itself will depart at 7:40, so riders can see the sunset and moon rise over the prairie. They way home will be in the dark, so please follow state law and have a light, and helmets are recommended. (JEM)
Morgan Orion & The Afterburners , The Iron Post, 8 pm, $8, 18+
After what I heard was a fantastic set at The Hogchute Opry this past weekend, local globetrotting favorite Morgan Orion makes his illustrious return to Champaign-Urbana, this time for an intimate Friday night show at Urbana’s Iron Post. They’ll also be joined by Ticketless Traveller, rounding out a distinctly folky night at The Post, and a nice way to ease into your weekend. (BH)
Pet Symmetry, Jarring, Puzzle Quest, Cowboy Monkey, 10 p.m., $10
Polyvinyl’s Pet Symmetry is the project of Into It. Over It.’s Evan Weiss and a couple of others (Dowsing, in particular) — and they just released their new album Vision a short while back. They’ll take over Cowboy Monkey on Friday night with a couple of others. Show starts at 10 p.m. (PS)
SATURDAY, June 10th
Parking lot party, Loose Cobra, 2 p.m., $12 in advance
Every now and then, this little gem of a bar in Tolono throws a banger. This is Loose Cobra’s summer kickoff mini-festival, headlined by Bobby Bare Jr. of Guided By Voices, who is a C-U area fan. The mere $12 in advance (possibly a couple bucks more at the door) also gets you performances by Doug Strahan and the Good Neighbors, Chachi and the Bandidos, and even more. Loose Cobra shows never disappoint, and this will definitely be a good one. (JTM)
Eat some crawfish at a Crawfish Boil Cajun Night, Harvest Market, 5 p.m., $13
The folks at Harvest Market have appeared to take note of what the C-U community enjoys in its food and drink culture, and offer their own iteration. Why reinvent the wheel? This copy and paste event is a crawfish boil — you’ll need to RSVP by calling the store at 217-355-7878. The menu includes boiled crawfish with potatoes and corn ($13/pound); gumbo ($8); dirty rice and sausage ($7); and a variety of drink specials. For more info, check out the event’s Facebook page. (JH)
PechaKucha Night 24, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana, 8:20 p.m., FREE
20 slides, 20 seconds, 8 locals, William Anthony Sebastian Rose II, DJ Mertz, adults only. With CUDO wrapping up its 8th year of hosting four PK nights each, we should know the drill by now. Thing about PK is that it is always exposing something new about our community and the people in it. So even if you’re familiar with the format, the content constantly changes and makes this a great night out. (RK)
Get some ice cream or ice milk, El Oasis, Jarling’s, or your place of preference, allweekend, about $4 per person
It’s hot — treat yourself to a frozen dessert! I’m partial to El Oasis, but those of you who prefer ice milk with cold fudge may visit Jarling’s instead. There is no wrong choice here. Photo by Jessica Hammie. (JH)
SUNDAY, June 11th
Animation Show of Shows, Art Theatre, Champaign, noon, $8-10
These 17 short films are hand-picked by Ron Diamond, an animator who has scouted an unbelievable number of Academy Award-winning films. Speaking of, if you like the Oscars Nom Animation reel that comes through in late winter, I’d suggest giving this a shot. This traveling show doesn’t kowtow to the Academy, though, and features films taking on tough issues for all (and sometimes mature) audiences. (RK)
Wrapped up in Ancient Egypt, Spurlock Museum, 1-3:30 p.m., free
The Spurlock Museum is working to draw the community in this summer with its Summer Sundays series. This week, ancient history buffs of all ages can explore life in ancient Egypt and learn more about the mummification process. You can make your own jewelry, catch a whiff of oils used to mummify bodies, and create your own tomb…a little creepy, but certainly educational. Now is a great time to check out what campus has to offer, and Sunday is supposed to be obnoxiously hot. Seems like a good today for some air-conditioned culture. (JEM)
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All event information is accurate to the best of our abilities, but sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes event information, times, prices, etc., change after we look them up. Whenever possible, we’ve provided a link to the original event page; you should always double-check the source before you make any firm plans. Thanks for your understanding.