WHAT: Mastodon, Between The Buried And Me, Baroness and Valient Thorr
WHEN: Wednesday, May 19 at 6 p.m.
WHERE: The Canopy Club ($23 advance)
Here we go kids — this is a biggie. Celebrate the freedom that comes from the great summer student purge by enjoying one of the world’s best live metal bands. And the supporting acts aren’t too shabby either. We’ll have a full preview tomorrow.
WHAT: The Iron Post Jazz Festival
WHEN: Wednesday, May 19; Thursday, May 20; Friday May 21
WHERE: The Iron Post (various costs)
For three days this week, the Iron Post is hosting its first annual jazz festival. Bands booked include Jazz Sextet featuring Ray Sasaki, Dan Pierson Combo, The Music of Art Blakey, Parkland Trad. Jazz, U of I Concert Jazz Band featuring Darden Purcell, Karim Yengsep Combo, U of I Jazz Faculty, Music of Django Reinhardt and finally Darden Purcell and Donnie Heitler. So if you need an excuse to finally go see some great jazz at the Post, now you’ve got it.
WHAT: Common Loon, the Dirty Feathers, Withershins
WHEN: Saturday, May 22 at 9 p.m.
WHERE: Mike ‘n Mollys ($5)
Common Loon caps off its U.S. tour with a homecoming show and Withershins provide another live blast of rock n’ roll. But the big story is that this is the debut performance by the Dirty Feathers. This is the new Harman Jordan/Vlad Brilliant band we hinted at in our BEST Music write-up. Those expecting Shipwreck 2.0 might be surprised at what they hear. Supposedly this will be a LOUD band in which members Andrew Kling, Ted Faust and James Treichler are completely integral and not just a supporting cast.
WHAT: Digging in Exile +
WHEN: Saturday May 22 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Exile on Main Street (free)
After a successful first effort, Digging in Exile returns for a second time featuring DJ Bozak and DJ Merz. The concept here is that the DJs get free reign to bust mixes of any vinyl gems they can find in the store. And at a separate event later in the day, several local bands will be covering tracks from Exile on Main Street the album in celebration of this Tuesday’s re-release of the Rolling Stones high water mark.
Digging in Exile is one of several shows by the now-San Francisco based Bozak in C-U over the coming week. Look for his diary on these events later this week on Smile Politely.
NEW THIS WEEK
6/12 – Lil’ Kim @ the Canopy Club 5/29 – There are basically two possible responses to this news. 1) Between this and the Third Eye Blind show, it’s looking a lot like 1997 at the Canopy Club. 2) Well, she was on Dancing with the Stars last year, and this area gets so few major hip hop acts that we should be grateful. Either way, count me among those hoping for a Valocchi/Kim interview
LOOKING AHEAD
This brings us to the SP Events Calendar, which you can check out here. As you can tell if you look past May, we need your input. If you are putting on or participating in a music-type event please add it to our list. Anyone who registers for a free Smile Politely user account can submit events to the calendar. Simply log in and click the “Submit an Event” button on the Events page, and fill out the straightforward form. If you have any difficulties or encounter a technical problem, please email infoATsmilepolitely.com to report the issue, or to suggest an improvement.