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The Big Ticket

Waylandsphere
"Rock, blues, jazz, funk" band from Raleigh. June 26, 9 p.m. Blue Cats. Free.

Bluesbox
Sounds like blues to us. June 26, 10 p.m. Manhattan's. Free.

Flesh Vehicle with The Taste
You can't see Superdrag tonight but you can see a former Superdragger's band. June 26, 9 p.m. Pilot Light. $5.

Mary Alice Wood & the Southsiders with Hayes Carll
More of the country rocker from St. Louis. June 26, 9 pm. Patrick Sullivan's. $5.

Alternative Realities Conference
Topics covered at the conference include the Bell Witch, UFOs, Bigfoot, regional "spook lights," and more. June 27-29. Roan Mountain State Park. (423) 943-6477

Mitch Rutman Group
Funk-infused jazzy rock. June 27, 5:30 -8 p.m. Knoxville Museum of Art. $6; $3 UT students with ID; $3 KMA members; 17 & under free.

Favored Nations Acoustic Tour
With Tommy Emmanuel, Peter Huttlinger & Peppino D'Agostino. June 27, 8 p.m. Pellissippi State Performing Arts Center, Hardin Valley.

Natural Fact
Featuring former Hambone Pie guitarist Chris Johnson. June 27, 9:30 p.m. Sassy Ann's. $4.

The American Plague with the El Caminos and the Rock City Dropouts
The Plague are a rock/punk/metal hybrid with all of the taste and none of the fat. June 27, 10 p.m. Pilot Light. $5.

10 Years with ShadowWax & Inspector 12
Local extreme rock. June 27, 9 p.m. Blue Cats, 9 pm. $5.

Blooms Days Festival & Marketplace
Crafts, kids' activities, gardening workshops and live music from the R.B. Morris Band, Farragut Pops, Jeff Barbra & Sarah Pirkle. June 28, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and June 29, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. UT Gardens (next to Ag campus), Neyland Drive. $8 per person/ $20 per family. 13 or under free. Proceeds benefit Friends of the Garden and the UT Gardens. 525-4555, www.bloomsdays.org

Flies By Night with Breaking Stacy
One of Knoxville's newer hard-rock indie bands. June 28, 7 p.m. Old City Java. $5. All ages.

Shades of Blue
Featuring "Big Daddy" Rick Rouse. June 28, 9:30 p.m. Manhattan's.

Hitch
Funked-up rock 'n' soul. June 28, 10 p.m. Lucille's.

A.R.E. Weapons
See music story, page 23. June 29, 9 p.m. Pilot Light. $5.

Eric Johnson w/ Chris Johnson
Grammy-winning guitarist. June 30, 7 p.m. Blue Cats. $20 adv/$23 door.

Blue Highway w/ Robinella & the CCstringband
Bluegrass band with Knoxville's own country-jazz chanteuse. July 3, 6-10 p.m. Sundown in the City in the Old City's Dogwood Courtyard. Free, but $3 donation encouraged.

John Wilkes Booze
White boys inspired by booze and gospel. July 3, 10 p.m. Pilot Light. $5.

Red House Project
"Musically polygamous." July 3, 9 p.m. Blue Cats. Free.

Fourth of July Celebration at World's Fair Park
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra with 100+ member choir on the South Lawn, R.B. Morris Band with Mike Crawley & the MacDaddies on the North Lawn. Free.

Fourth of July Parade in Gatlinburg
Lighted floats, marching bands, giant helium balloons. Starts at the stroke of midnight July 4. Free.

Saturday, July 5
Scott Miller & the Commonwealth with the RMS Band, Dave Landeo Band & the Natti Love Joys. Plus: fireworks! July 5, 2-10 p.m. Rockin' on the River, Lenoir City Park/Ft. Loudon Marina. Free.

Sundown in the City
Knoxville's favorite concert series is finally back, albeit not in our beloved Market Square. The reconstruction of the square and a loss of city funding threatened to sink the series this year. But give credit to Pilot Corp., Regal Cinemas, Budweiser, AC Entertainment, the new ThInQ Tank, the River and a few other media outlets for making it happen anyways this year—starting in the Old City Courtyard but scheduled to return to Market Square once the construction is complete. Probably more than any other event, this concert series has shown the potential for downtown Knoxville. The concert series is starting out with a boom with two previous headliners—the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Southern Culture on the Skids. The organizers are asking for donations to keep the series going. And you've been enjoying these shows for free (well, aside from your city tax dollars) long enough, so how about chipping in? Head to one of the Old City's great bars afterwards (the ThInQ Tank will show Smokey and the Bandit on the side of its building). (Joe Tarr)
SUNDOWN IN THE CITY WITH SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS AND THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND * THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 6 P.M., * OLD CITY COURTYARD * DONATIONS ENCOURAGED

Irish Music Festival
Knoxville's got plenty o' Celtic heritage. So, one might ask, how come we have an Italian Festival but no Celtic Festival? (Not to take anything away from the wonderful Rossini Festival.) Well, somebody heard the call and put together an Irish Music Festival.
Beginning at 2 p.m. this Saturday, you can get lessons in Irish fiddle, flute/whistle, bouzouki/guitar accompaniment of Irish traditional music. There will also be an Irish Language workshop for beginners. An Irish céilÍ and stepdancing called by an experienced instructor ensues at 4 p.m. At 8 p.m. the concert begins, featuring Half Nine and Glen Road. Asheville's Half Nine features Beanie Odell on fiddle, Jeff Thomas on concertina and Vincent Fogarty on bouzouki. It's "pure drop" traditional Celtic music. Glen Road hails from the Midwest and features Turlach Boylan (an all-Ireland champion) on flute, Mike Dugger on vocals, banjo, and guitar, and Greg Brown on fiddle, concertina and vocals. They play tunes from Ireland and Newfoundland as well as originals. (Scott McNutt)
ANNUAL IRISH MUSIC FESTIVAL WITH HALF NINE AND GLEN ROAD * SATURDAY, JUNE 28 * LAUREL THEATRE * WORKSHOPS 2-3:30 P.M., $10 * DANCE 4-6:30 P.M., $5 * CONCERT 8 P.M., $10 * CALL RICK HALL AT 584-0190 OR WENDY SMITH AT 805-0792 FOR MORE INFO

Kuumba Festival
Kuumba is Ki-swahili for "creative" but it could easily mean "lots and lots of choices," too. This 4-day gala is a multi-event celebration with more than 200 entertainers performing on two stages, plus demonstrations and more than 100 craftspeople and food vendors.
The festival starts today, June 26, at the Knoxville Museum of Art from 5-9 p.m. with "A Taste of Africa Buffet," featuring Senegalese and Gullah cuisine and performances by New York hip hop act Second2Last, Spades Jazz Band, Spoken Word Cafe, Kuumba Watoto Dance and Drum Company, and an art exhibit and book signing.
Festivities continue Friday at Knoxville College with the Youth Theatre Festival sponsored by Carpetbag Theatre from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., then it's on to Central Avenue for the "Junkanu in the Old City," with the Free Spirit Stilt Walkers, Kuumba Watoto Drum and Dance Company, PowerWheels Kidz, church and community groups, who will strut their stuff down to the Platinum Lounge for a live concert at 8 p.m.
On June 28, the Chilhowee Park gates open at 11 a.m., and until 10 p.m. you can enjoy the African Market Place with traditional crafts, clothing, and foods, the World Children's Village, featuring the PowerWheels Kidz Test Track, and entertainment on two stages, featuring Jive Hip Hop Recording Artist Mystikal and spoken word events. On June 29, the gates are open from noon to 9 p.m. There will be Gospel in the Park, hosted by Commissioner Diane Jordan, legendary R&B group Brick (an Atlanta band that created a successful merger of funk and jazz in the '70s they called "dazz."), and the Knoxville Zoological Garden's Petting Zoo from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. (SM)
KUUMBA FESTIVAL * THURSDAY, JUNE 26-SUNDAY, JUNE 29 * THURSDAY AT KMA, $10 * FRIDAY AT PLATINUM * SATURDAY & SUNDAY AT CHILHOWEE PARK, $5 ALL DAY, $10 AFTER 5 P.M., KIDS 6 AND UNDER FREE ALL DAY, 7-12 $5 * CALL 455-3765 OR 544-7595 FOR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF KUUMBA WEEKEND ACTIVITIES