The Canopy Club is going all-out this Sunday, April 26, as they present The Inaugural Champaign-Urbana Lebowski Achievers Festival. If there is anyone left in the world that hasn’t seen The Big Lebowski (you are a horrible person, sir) in at least a late-night TNT situation (“this is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps!”), well, you might want to avoid most of the day’s festivities as you’ll likely be ridiculed by the throngs of college kids in flip-flops and robes talking about rug-pissers. Starting at 3 p.m. will be bowling at Old Orchard Lanes in Savoy. The event then moves to the Canopy Club at 6:30 p.m. where there will be a costume contest (the event will be a complete wash if someone doesn’t show up in a purple jumpsuit and hairnet) and a ringer toss (the ringer presumably being filled with the underwear of Seth Fein, bringing new meaning to “the Local Sniff”). Cash prizes will be awarded, and Manolo’s Pizza will be served. Having only ever eaten empanadas from Manolo’s, I finally got around to eating some pizza from there on Saturday and it was just as delightful as it looks in the commercial when Mike Armintrout is joyfully chowing down on it. At 8:00 p.m. the movie will hit the Canopy’s big screen — the place used to be a movie theater, dontcha know? A “making of” feature will follow at 10:00 p.m., and then the Void Room will kick off music at 11:00 p.m. with World’s First Flying Machine and Zach May and the Maps. I hope someone plays “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” after aborting an Eagles song. Tickets for the whole day are only $15, which gets you all of the festivities and a $2 special on Caucasians. A limited number of early tickets are up at http://www.etix.com, so hurry over.
Lawrence. Kansas, indie outfit the Appleseed Cast will once again make a CU stop, this time on tour supporting their new album Sagarmatha. They’re very consistent live and tend to have some of the best stickers and shirts along with their other merch, so stop by the table tonight (Thursday) at the Canopy Club and score some cool stuff. The show starts at 9 p.m. ($10) and also features Brisbane, Australia, boy-girl-guitar-drums duo An Horse, recently seen on Letterman. They play pretty solid indie-pop songs with female lead vocals, like a not-annoying Ting Tings. Another great example of female lead vocals also lands on this bill, as Chicago’s Company of Thieves occupy the second slot. Locals Tyson and the Friction are set to open.
The Shadowboxer Collective will once again bring you a stripped-down show this Friday, this time at Mike ‘n’ Molly’s. If the forecast is correct, the weather should be awesome which means a beer garden show starting at 9 p.m. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m certainly ready to start enjoying some outdoor shows. Friday’s show will feature New York singer/songwriter Audrey Ryan, whose MySpace page lists her as sounding like “baby-making music.” I was going to put her in that fun, quirky category with Clare Burson and maybe even She & Him. Find out for yourself Friday, when she’s sandwiched in between two of Shadowboxer’s founders, Casados (opening) and Ryan Groff (headlining). This one will cost you $5. Enjoy the weather.
Saturday presents some great options in downtown Champaign as Mike ‘n Molly’s offers up the Duke of Uke and His Novelty Orchestra with special guests Brother Embassy. Showtime is 9 p.m. and the cover charge is TBA (probably $3). Over at Cowboy Monkey, Cameron McGill and What Army will return with locals Snowsera in the opening position. That show starts at 10:30 p.m. and carries a $5 cover. Chicago prog band the Hue will play an early show (8 p.m) at the Highdive before the regular DJ festivities begin ($5), while Canopy Club goes a similar route with a 6:30 p.m. CD release for Gifted, followed by night two of Stepdown Weekend. Bentley’s continues to stack its weekend nights with several bands, this time presenting Shandey Wilsey, along with Me, Him and Charlie Miller; and the Third Flight (10 p.m., $3).
Sadly it’s on a Monday, but Canopy nabbed a pretty cool show featuring Canadian electro-pop group Junior Boys, who will be touring through along with London’s Max Tundra. Local and likeminded group Mordechai In The Mirror will open up this awesome show starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12. Take note, people, as this is going to be one of those shows that everyone is talking about the next day while you’re left wondering who the bands even were.
says:
wow. seth fein's dirty undies? hope there's no skid marks.