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The Big Ticket

UT Dance Company’s Spring 2004 Concert
Modern and classical dance unite in this popular showcase. Thursday, Feb. 26, Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m. Clarence Brown Theatre. $5 UT students, $12 general.

Malcolm Holcombe
Riveting songwriter from Asheville way. Friday, Feb. 27, 10 p.m. Barley’s. Free.

Michelle Malone w/ Kevin Wilder
Cooler than Sheryl Crow by far. Friday, Feb. 27, 9 p.m. $3.

Randy McAllister
Blues harp player from Texas. Saturday, Feb. 28, 9 p.m. Brackins. $5.

Art Market Annual Juried Exhibition
Your last chance to view this wide array of local art. Sunday, Feb. 29, open 1-5 p.m. Free.

Sarah Pirkle & Jeff Barbra
Get your Behind the Barn fix. Request Hank Williams. Tuesday, March 2, 8 p.m. Brackins. Free.

Carbon Leaf
Celtic-flavored groove band. Wednesday, March 3, 10 p.m. Preservation Pub. Free.

The Road to Mecca
Athol Fugard has spent a lifetime trying to understand the complex nature of South Africa. His inconclusive observations are revealed in thoughtful, humanistic and emotionally complex plays. Road To Mecca is about an old woman living in Apartheid-era South Africa. Widowed and isolated, she turns her home into a work of art, creating a landscape of candles, mirrors and cement sculptures that the neighbors don’t like much. Her independence is threatened when the local minister endeavors to move her into an old folks’ home. A young woman from her past arrives in her defense.
“The play poses questions about the nature and consequences of freedom, the path of the genius, the conflict between spirituality and religion, and the role of the aged in society,” says director Elizabeth Craven. Starring longtime CBT favorites Carol Mayo Jenkins and John Forrest Ferguson, plus MFA candidate Rebecca Eddy, the play promises to be an intense and intimate portrait of tension that speaks to a broader truth. (Paige M. Travis)
THE ROAD TO MECCA • FRIDAY, FEB. 26 THRU MARCH 13 • ULA LOVE DOUGHTY CAROUSEL THEATRE • CALL 974-5161 FOR TICKETS PRICES, TIMES AND DATES.

A Kinder, Gentler Vampire
The haunted, melancholic creatures of the night rendered romantic in Anne Rice novels never did grip me. Instead, my love for vampires was instigated by the quirky humor and adolescent angst of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. I’m particularly attached to Angel, which the WB network just announced it’s canceling after this season. Angel himself could be the very vampire described by the title of the Tennessee Stage Company’s upcoming A Kinder, Gentler Vampire, making its world premiere during the New Play Festival.
Mike Farley’s play is the story of Dorian Prong, a 291-year-old vamp who makes his place in the 21st century as a crime fighter. In exchange for protection and a good supply of blood, he hires himself out to towns to “take care of” their criminals. But when Dorian comes to Cloverdale, the mayor sics him on her political opposition. To make matters more complicated, the mayor’s sweet younger sister is attracted to Dorian like, well, like virgins to vampires. A well-meaning vampire caught between the desires of humans and his own demonic ways? Sounds like something to sink your teeth into, and an enjoyable distraction from the loss of Angel. (P.M.T.)
A KINDER, GENTLER VAMPIRE • TENNESSEE STAGE COMPANY • THURSDAY THRU SATURDAY, 8 P.M. AND SUNDAY, 3 P.M. • THE YELLOW BUILDING AT 27 MARKET SQUARE • $12 GENERAL ADMISSION, $10 STUDENTS AND SENIORS. • SEATING IS LIMITED. CALL 546-4280 FOR RESERVATIONS.

Chris Knight
From a secluded doublewide trailer in rural Kentucky, Chris Knight writes “hard folk” tunes honest enough to wring your guts and resurrect memories you’d prefer to overlook. Straddling the line between Nashville power pop and the burgeoning Americana singer-songwriter scene, Knight chronicles the people, places and pain associated with small-town living. His gruff Southern drawl adds credibility and complements each song with focused intensity that begs for comparisons; Steve Earle comes to mind. Each performance is a raw, passionate demonstration of traditional twang to convert the most skeptical Americana aficionado. Slip out of comfortable country and into Knight’s uneasy tales of familiar hometown folk. (Clint Casey)
CHRIS KNIGHT • MARCH 1, 9 P.M. • BARLEY’S • FREE.

The Sleepytime Gorilla Museum w/ Faun Fables
The Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is both oddly caustic and melodic, blending elements of thrash metal, Gothic prog rock and folk music. The group uses an extensive number of instruments—violin, Autoharp, organ, six- and 12-string guitars, bass, drums and plain old food containers—often changing from song to song. The group’s shows are as much Dadaist theater as they are rock concerts, with elaborate costumes and a populist goal to entertain. It’s pretension that somehow manages to simply rock. Opening is Faun Fables, the project of Dawn McCarthy, who frequently collaborates with Sleepytime frontman Nils Frykdahl. It should make for a fantastically weird and surreal evening; the kind of show you won’t see in many places, and is one reason why the Pilot Light is a great club. (Joe Tarr)
SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM W/ FAUN FABLES AND THE JUAN PROPHET ORGANIZATION • THURSDAY, FEB. 26, 9 P.M. • THE PILOT LIGHT • $7