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The Big Ticket

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones w/ Spookie Daly Pride
Lightning fast picking for the inaugural show of Sundown in the City, 2004. Thursday, April 8, 6-10 p.m. Market Square. Free.

Evita
Final shows this weekend. Thursday, April 8 and Friday, April 9, 7:30 p.m. Bijou Theatre. Call 522-0832 for tickets.

Nug Jug w/ The Ghosts and The Vipers
Twang-rock and the debut of a new collective. Friday, April 9, 10 p.m. Patrick Sullivan’s. $5.

Run for Clean Air
Inhale. Try not to choke. Saturday, April 10, 9 a.m. Cherokee Blvd. in Sequoyah Hills. $12 before race, $15 day of race.

Finnegan’s aWake
Jovial Irish tunes. Saturday, April 10, 8 p.m. Laurel Theater. $10-$12.

Chick Graning w/ Leslie Woods
Acoustic rock. Saturday, April 10, 10 p.m. Urban Bar. Free.

Brandy Robinson
She used to be local. Now she’s just visiting. Tuesday, April 13, 10 p.m. Downtown Grill & Brewery. $3-$5.

Sound Tribe Sector 9 w/ DJ Slink
Jam rock with a techno edge. Wednesday, April 14, 8 p.m. Blue Cats. $13 adv., $15 door.

Ska Weekend 2004
A 16-band music festival is rare in these parts, probably because the organization of such an event must be a nightmare. But ska bands are an eager bunch, willing to travel from across the country to help conduct the biggest ska event on the East Coast.
Organized by our local defenders of the genre, Perfect Orange, Ska Weekend 2004 threatens to surpass its 2003 predecessor with a line-up weighty with some of ska’s heaviest hitters. Suburban Legends (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Big D & the Kids Table (Boston), and The Know How (Gainesville, Fla.) cover three corners of the States with their hyperactive onslaught of horn-enhanced rock. Other bands on the bill include The Taj Motel Trio and I Voted for Kodos—Perfect Orange comrades who have known the appreciation of Knox crowds—plus Arrogant Sons of Bitches from NYC, Bum Ruckus of Miami, and Southern ska reps in the form of AKA Rudie, Las Cabriolas, Rudy and 69 Fingers.
Scads of young ska fans who are frequently confounded by 18-and-over shows will thrill at the thought of so much ska in one all-ages day. If Knoxville isn’t crowned the Southeastern capital of ska after this show, we’ll be taking the issue up with authorities. In the meantime, pray for sunshine. (Paige M. Travis)
Ska Weekend 2004 • Saturday, April 10, 12-9 p.m. • Market Square • $5 and five cans of food for Second Harvest Food Bank

Parade of Bird Homes Silent Auction
Even birds like pretty living quarters. And given the option of these brightly decorated birdhouses, the feathered friends in your yard will abandon that twiggy nest like last year’s fashion faux pas.
The second annual Birdhouse Benefit presents 50 different chipper structures, the sale of which earns funds for the Joy of Music Youth Music School, a non-profit organization that offers free music lessons to financially disadvantaged youth. This year’s selection of avian abodes—designed and decorated by local artists, organizations, celebrities and public officials—reflects a variety of inspirations, from depictions of regional landmarks like the Sunsphere and the First Baptist Church of Vonore, to lovely renderings of zebras, butterflies, blue cows, and thematically appropriate musical instruments. In the case of this live auction, the highest bidder—not the early bird—will snag the loveliest home of his or her choosing. As a special bonus, the night’s musical entertainment will be provided by those young people nurtured under the wings of Joy of Music instructors. (P.M.T.)
Birdhouse Benefit for Joy of Music School • Silent Auction & Reception • Saturday, April 10, 5 p.m. • Crescent Bend • $25 adults, $10 students/youth • Make reservations by calling 525-6806.

Naked & Shameless
Buck Naked and Dave Shameless bill themselves as “the undisputed acoustic punk kings of kitsch rock.” They present a strong argument on 13 Drinking Songs: “We like to drink and drive/ Moving targets, it doesn’t matter/ Swerve after children and watch them scatter,” croon the Chicago-based duo on “Drinking Song #13 (D.U.I.).” References to beer, whiskey, cocaine and hookers dominate their novelty act. But if hearing the gospel of Pabst Blue Ribbon preached by a duo once called Simon & Pumpernickel is wrong, then our country’s priorities are in the wrong place. (Clint Casey)
Naked & Shameless • Friday, April 9, 10 p.m. • Manhattan’s • $5