Events

14 things to do this week

Some fun events to attend this week.

Dearest reader,

I know we pestered you with membership pitches for a couple of weeks, so I want to take time to say THANK YOU.

Our challenge to you was simple: when we made it to 200 supporting members, we'd release our new events calendar for all to enjoy.

Thanks to you, we met our goal weeks earlier than expected. So it's live now!!

What we need help with next: If your business or organization hosts events, would you reply to this email and tell me where we can find more information about them? It doesn't matter if you host them twice a week or twice a year... we want to know about them!

- Sam

P.S. Don't forget about the Blooming Butterflies exhibit at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. It's open through August 7.

Lakeside Cinema: Moana (2016)
Monday | 9 p.m. | Memorial Union | Free
From IMDb: "In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the Demigod Maui reaches Moana's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out the Demigod to set things right."

NOBULL CrossFit Games
Wednesday through Sunday | Alliant Energy Center
Thousands of travelers will be in town for this annual CrossFit competition. Keep in mind that surrounding restaurants and venues might be more busy than usual. There are also opportunities to join as a spectator.

Drunken Master (1978) and Police Story 2 (1988)

Thursday | Screening at 7 p.m. | UW Cinematheque | Free

Excerpt from Ian Adcock's review: "Emerging from a mid-1970s sea of Bruce Lee imitators, Chan quickly established himself as a singular talent, directing his own films and leading a highly disciplined stunt team. Infusing the martial arts genre with his Chinese opera training and a willingness to put himself in physical danger, Chan stood out as an innovator.

Loosely based on a Chinese folk hero, Drunken Master is one of the first films that let Chan's goofy underdog persona shine. Creating new fighting styles for each of his films, director Yuen Siu-Tin opted for entertainment value over realism, creating the perfect showcase for Chan's agility and comic mugging.

Police Story 2 shows a refinement of Jackie Chan’s personal style, creating a vehicle perfectly tailored to his physical skills and underdog persona. Though he wisely didn’t try to top the first film’s death-defying finale, Police Story 2 has plenty of incredibly dangerous stunts and intricate fight choreography."

— Tone Madison

Jeremiah Watkins
Thursday-Saturday | Comedy on State | Prices vary
Watkins is known for his Amazon Prime special "Family Reunion" and for being the voice of the Joker in DC's "Super Hero Girls," among other things.

Movies on the Water: Mighty Ducks (1992) & Miracle (2004)
Thursday | 5:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. | The Edgewater | Free
Edgewater is showing movies every Thursday night through August 25. From Mighty Ducks IMDb: "A self-centered Minnesota lawyer is sentenced to community service coaching a rag tag youth hockey team." From Miracle IMDb: "The true story of Herb Brooks, the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Soviet squad."

Rooftop Cinema: The American Sector

Thursday | Screening at 8 p.m. | Madison Museum of Contemporary Art | $7

Rooftop Cinema returns to the sculpture garden atop MMoCA on State Street for a 17th season, now on Thursday nights in August. The outdoor series, which has showcased everything from experimental animation to concert films to offbeat narratives, now shifts its thematic lens towards a four-film slate of personal documentaries. Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez's American Sector (2020) kicks off Rooftop's 2022 programming here. The succinct 70-minute film is a fusion of travelogue, political documentary, and art appreciation, as the co-directors capture sections of the Berlin Wall that have been reappropriated and displayed in over 75 locations across the United States, from Fort Benning to Vegas. Based on Velez's prior work with slow cinema ethnographic fiction Manakamana (a 2014 Wisconsin Film Festival selection), expect a distinctive eye for detail and resonant commentary on American values.

—Grant Phipps, Tone Madison

Shakey (A Tribute to Neil Young)
Friday | Show at 5 p.m. | High Noon Saloon | $10
Local Neil Young cover band performing music from his solo career and collaborations.

Dane Dances: Latin Pride Orquesta and Eddie Butts Band
Friday | 5:30-8 p.m. | Monona Terrace | Free
Dane Dances! is a family-friendly music event held on the Monona Terrace rooftop every Friday evening in August. The season of free concerts kicks off with Latin Pride Orquesta and Eddie Butts Band.

Purple Veins
Friday | Show at 8:30 p.m. | The Majestic | $15 advance, $20 doors
The Veins aim to re-create the magical power and energy of a classic Prince show circa 1985: an all-out dance party with relentless funk, all the hits, tasty lesser-known classics, theatrical elements and dance choreography woven into it.

Sugar Maple Music Festival
Friday and Saturday | W.G. Lunney Lake Farm County Park | Ticket prices vary
A "traditional music" festival featuring heavy doses of bluegrass and folk music.

Good Corners, Jonathan Millionaire

Friday | 10 p.m. | Dark Horse ArtBar | Free

Lawrence Gann played drums for the sparkling, dry-witted Madison band Labrador, but lately he's shifted his attention to a solo project called Jonathon Millionaire. Gann's husky voice (somewhere in the neighborhood of Jawbreaker's Blake Schwarzenbach, but less grizzled) gives his songs a downtrodden heft on the album Unlimited Growth Potential, forming a sharp contrast with the bright layers of guitar and driving, almost playful drums and bass. Gann refines that approach further on a recent single, "Chrysalis," a song that captures the feeling of being stuck in place but still offers hope for what's ahead. For this show, the live version of Jonathon Millionaire will be Gann on guitar and vocals, Ben Strohbeen on bass, and Craig Hoffman on drums. Opening things up is Good Corners, the duo of John Hitchcock and Ryan Lansing, which uses pedal steel, synths, and eerie samples to create entrancing landscapes of spacey twang. This show also celebrates the opening of Pushed To Abstraction, a group art show of work from Hitchcock, Samie Laine Scott, Jason Levy, and Evan Bradbury.

— Scott Gordon, Tone Madison

North Star Fest
Saturday | 11 a.m.-7 p.m. | Pocket Park (6010 Sharpsburg Drive) | Free
The North Star fest features is returning for its second year. Music acts: David Landau (aka “The King of Kids Music!”), Travis Agnew Band, Tani Diakite and the Afrofunkstars, and The Whiskey Farm.

Steve Earle and the Dukes
Saturday | 8 p.m. | The Barrymore | $45+

Hot Summer Gays booty pageant
Saturday | 10 p.m. | Robinia Courtyard | $10
Music by DJ Sarah Akawa, Maggie Cousin, and Goldiloxx.

🧡 Thanks, Tone Madison! We've included several contributions from Tone Madison's team of writers and editors. Check out more arts and culture coverage here.