Happy Monday, all. We’ve got a cluttered week in culture here in Charlottesville. But first, looking backward:
- On Saturday I traveled to Harrisonburg for MACRoCk, or the Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference, a sort of consolation prize after my plans to visit South by Southwest fell through. Downtown Harrisonburg was hardly slammed, and there were no corporate sponsors—which spelled a grievous lack of free energy drinks. But it was great to see Central Virginians come out in droves to celebrate regional r&r. The local highlights? The Invisible Hand dressed in suits and played an all-Kinks cover set Friday night, local thrashers A Cosmonaut’s Ruin killed it on Saturday, and headliners Here We Go Magic played an excellent set and will do so again at the Jefferson Theater tonight.
- Check out the story on Paul Curreri and Devon Sproule from NPR yesterday. Curreri’s California comes out this month, as does Sproule’s Don’t Hurry For Heaven.
And moving forward:
- This week I’ve got my eye on the UVA Art Museum, where an Alexander Calder symposium will celebrate UVA’s acquisition of Calder’s first hanging mobile, "Small Sphere and Heavy Sphere." ("Tripes" and "Untitled" 1976, "Five Black Polygons on Red and Yellow" from 1960 are at UVA now.) On Thursday at 5pm, you can watch Alexander S.C. Rower, Calder’s grandson and president of the Calder Foundation, activate it. Register here if you want to check it out.
- Haven’t been to the Haven at First and Market just yet, but let’s hope they’ve got high ceilings for this one: Local juggler Mark Nizer performs as part of the Shoebox Tour tomorrow at 7pm. The tour was "born out of a reaction against modern day corporate show business, where the focus is more on the business of making money than on the content of the show." Like Fugazi before them, these punk jugglers are charging $5 for the show. How’s that for juggling concerns?
- Also, don’t forget to check out the Gordon Avenue Library Book Sale this week. Collectors have already come in and bought all the really valuable stuff. And if you’re looking to buy the soundtracks to "Twin Peaks" or Ghostbusters on cassette, those have already been claimed. Ditto for the library’s entire Jimmy Buffett, Pavarotti and Burt Bacharach collections.
