Thursday, Aug. 2
Art for the Animals
The Shamrock Foundation’s Art for the Animals fundraiser is back, now in its 11th year. There’s something for everybody, with art up for auction, jazz by Sara Stivers and an array of appetizers from some of Louisville’s tastiest eateries. The live and silent auctions feature artwork by Richard Francis, Paul Burns and Stephen Rolfe Powell, to name a few. Powell, the Centre College art professor, is world renowned for his colorful glass art, some of which sells for five figures. Keep your eyes peeled for artists who donated work mingling with the crowd, too. The Shamrock Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce the number of animals destroyed in shelters, end pet overpopulation and help animals in need in the community. Dogs such as Emma, who was found stranded on Dixie Highway after having been hit by a car. Today she lives in a “forever home” thanks to the Foundation. Animals available for adoption through the organization can be found at Feeders Supply and Pet Supermarket. —Mary Q. Burton
Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center
1860 Mellwood Ave.
473-7287
www.artfortheanimals.info
$75; 6-9 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 3
Tina Vogel Benefit
August’s First Friday Gallery Hop will host a special event designed to help someone in need. Tina Vogel, a speech pathologist who just received her master’s degree, was in an accident on April 30 that has left her paralyzed from the waist down. Her friends and family have organized a benefit with donated food, drinks and live entertainment.
The main fundraiser is the silent auction full of restaurant gift certificates, performing arts tickets and wine. Being that First Friday is an art event, you can also bid on objects from local artists such as glassblower Jonathan Swanz, one of the benefit organizers. All proceeds go to help assist Tina during rehabilitation. She should be out of the hospital by the benefit date and hopes to attend. —Jo Anne Triplett
Glassworks
815 W. Market St.
417-3696
www.tinavogel.com
Free; 6-11 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 3
‘Goldfinger’ at Fort Knox
In a bizarre and inspired instance of life imitating art, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema company, as part of its Rolling Roadshow movie tour, plans to show the classic Bond film “Goldfinger” at Fort Knox.
As you may recall, the movie features Bond preventing a finance mogul from exploding a nuclear weapon in Fort Knox, thereby destroying America’s gold reserves and increasing his personal wealth. Kentucky, hardly a place of international intrigue, is featured prominently in the film.
The screening will be on the military base and is free and open to the public, but there are a few caveats: Because of the whole War on Terror thing, a no photography/video policy is in place. And everyone over 16 needs to bring a government-issued ID.
Other stops on the 28-day, 11-film-screening tour include “A Christmas Story” in Cleveland (Aug. 5), “Deliverance” on the Chattooga River in Georgia (Aug. 12) and “Smokey and the Bandit” in Texarkana, Ark. (Aug. 15). —Alan Abbott
Fort Knox
(512) 912-0529
www.rollingroadshow.com
Free; 9 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 3
Counting Crows, Live, Collective Soul
Twenty-three years on, Ed Kowalczyk’s sense of perspective about his band, Live, is looking more like sensory overload. “The last time we were in Spokane (Wash.) was on the MTV ‘120 Minutes’ tour with Blind Melon — that seems like a different era entirely,” Kowalczyk says. “My disk drive in terms of shows is finally full.”
Having toured for eons, Live’s communication is near flawless, but Kowalczyk doesn’t rest on that. “There’s this incredible sort of intuition. The danger of it, though, is that it gets to easy, and you want to shake it up.”
Live’s popularity arguably peaked in 1994 with Throwing Copper, which spawned a string of hits including “I Alone,” “Selling the Drama” and the power-alt-ballad “Lightning Crashes,” which should still resonate with fans not shocked by the word “placenta.” The latest release, Songs from Black Mountain, which came out last year, symbolizes not necessarily a revival of that, but a continuation into the depths of the creative process.
Meanwhile, guitarist Dan Vickrey and the rest of Counting Crows are using this 23-date tour of minor league ballparks to preview songs from their first studio album since 2003’s This Desert Life. Gil Norton, who produced 1996’s Recovering the Satellites, and Brian Deck are behind the boards. Vickrey described the record as thick with instruments and dark in mood. Though not a baseball fan, the visit here gives Vickrey a chance to shop for gear. “I always know Louisville, because you guys have a great guitar shop there.” Why yes we do: Guitar Emporium. The bill also includes Collective Soul. —Mat Herron
Louisville Slugger Field
401 E. Main St.
212-2287
$49.50; 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, AUG. 4
Consume Consumer
Jared Hammond and the rest of Consume Consumer spared no expense when working on its newest album, Who Watches the Watchmen? The band incorporated, acquired a big business loan and built its own studio. No clock meant no restrictions.
“We wanted (this record) to be a little more technical, and try to incorporate pop mechanics,” says Hammond, who recorded and mixed Watchmen over the last year. Consumer plans to release it on its own Capitalist Arts label and shop the record for distribution. “Now that it’s done, we definitely wanna go out and show it to the world a little bit.”
Your Highness Electric and Grinstead join the celebration at Headliners on Saturday. —Mat Herron
Headliners Music Hall
1386 Lexington Road
584-8088
www.headlinerslouisville.com
$6; 7 p.m.
All ages
Monday, Aug. 6
O’Shea’s fundraiser for Katie Lasitter
If you go out this weekend, try not to overdo it. Instead, save your money and sinful binging for Monday. O’Shea’s Irish Pub is having a benefit for Katie Lasitter, the 13-year-old Louisvillian who had her feet severed while riding the Superman Tower of Power ride at Kentucky Kingdom in June. Her parents, Randall and Monique Lasitter, have not returned to work since the accident, and their lawsuit against the amusement park will surely be a lengthy process.
Tom O’Shea and the staff of O’Shea’s have decided to help out the family by donating 100 percent of Monday’s sales — food, liquor, beer, merchandise — to the Lasitters, who they consider friends (Monique worked at O’Shea’s a few years back). General Manager Sarah Egbert confirmed that from 11 a.m.-4 a.m. on Monday, proceeds from everything the Irish pub sells will go directly to the family. “Monday is going to be a fun day,” she says. “Staff from all our restaurants (O’Shea’s, Flanagan’s Ale House and Brendan’s Irish Pub) will be helping out — it’s going to be for a great cause.” (We hear they’re even going to bust out the Guitar Hero around 10 p.m.)
You heard it: Run up your tabs, order another round of cheese balls, try the wings, have a Guinness, do some shots, treat your favorite LEO writer to dinner … —Sara Havens
O’Shea’s Irish Pub
956 Baxter Ave.
589-7373
11 a.m.-4 a.m.
Monday, Aug 6
Three Funny Guys
The name tells it all, except for the fact that this show has four guys. Derby Dinner Playhouse is welcoming back the antics of Three Funny Guys, who are: Mark Klein, aka the “Corp Jester,” who specializes in corporate humor and often performs for Fortune 500 companies; Tim Stivers, a retired foot doctor who portrays humorous views of small-town America in his monologues; and Bob Farmer, a spokesperson for the Farmers’ Almanac who mixes farmer knowledge with humor. And what of Funny Guy No. 4? He’s Dr. Stan Frager, who’ll act as a sort of emcee during the show.
The show is one “you can and should bring anyone to,” says Klein, who boldly claims he is “the funniest and hottest guy on the show,” a claim LEO could not confirm nor deny. But they do promise clean family humor filled with storytelling, standup and good old-fashioned country jokes. So there’s that. —Meghan Wiggs
Derby Dinner Playhouse
525 Marriott Drive, Clarksville
(812) 288-2632
www.threefunnyguys.com
$32; 6 p.m. (1 p.m. matinee)
Aug. 6-10
Breast Fest 2007
UzoMa Gallery and the Squallis Puppeteers have put together a boobylicious festival celebrating all things breast and what they call “lactivism” — aka a support system for breastfeeding.
The festival is a collaboration between artists, both visual and performance, and activists all promoting a culture to better support women, children and breastfeeding. The event falls not coincidentally during World Breastfeeding Week and will feature free art workshops available to anyone who would like to participate.
“I hope this project generates some real change that will result in breastfeeding moms feeling more comfortable nursing their babies or young children wherever they need to. I hope that this might break the ice, open up dialogue and maybe make it a little easier,” says Angela Ramsey Robinson of UzoMa Gallery.
Robinson created several pieces of art specifically for this show, including “Rainbow Breasts and Butterflies,” not only to capture the essence of the event but also to convey her personal experiences with breastfeeding. She says that she has had in mind an event like Breast Fest for a long time, based on personal challenges and experiences during the time she was breastfeeding her own son.
Workshops will be available all week in which artists may create things like paper maché breasts and possible scenery for a performance by Squallis Puppeteers, the gallery and workshop participants on Aug. 11. Also included in the activities that day will be a show of all the art created during the workshops for all the world, or at least all of breastfeeding Louisville, to see. Anyone interested in taking part should e-mail [email protected] to reserve a spot. —Erin Clephas
UzoMa Gallery
1813 Frankfort Ave.
895-9805
www.uzoma.org
Free; 6-9 p.m.
Through Oct. 28
‘Video Lounge I: Promise and Loss’
The Speed Art Museum recently announced a number of blockbuster exhibitions planned over the next 18 months. Under the radar are several smaller contemporary shows the museum will also present through next summer.
Video installations by four international artists comprise the first exhibit in the series. “Rebuilding Dreams,” by Brazilian artist Beth Moyses, features brides sewing lifelines on the palms of their sheer gloves. Colombian Oscar Munoz’s “Linea del Destino” reveals the artist holding water in his hands, only to see it constantly drain away. Robin Rhode from South Africa mixes animation with live action in “New Kids on the Bike.” British artist Mark Wallinger mixes a family’s 1938 home movies with contemporary images to create “Third Generation (Manhattan).”
Future exhibitions feature Marcel Duchamp, Flavia Da Rin, Werner Reiterer and “Video Lounge II: Mexico.” —Jo Anne Triplett
Speed Art Museum
2035 S. Third St.
634-2700
www.speedmuseum.org
