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THURSDAY
Simon Joyner w Miracles of God and Brooks Strause | $10 | 8 pm
Simon Joyner is calling this his “Living Rooms and Discrete Spaces” tour and I think they are trying to keep it low-profile, but this show is too cool to not get any sort of mention at all, and hell, it has a facebook event page… $10 bucks to get in, free keg beer, and a rare opportunity to catch Iowa City legends Miracles of God. Then of course there is the super famous Simon Joyner, whose current lineup is “really good” (or so I hear). Show up on time because Brooks Strause is also not to be missed. In the spirit of the Living Rooms Tour, I’ll keep the instructions “discrete”: it’s at the Mission Creek house, you figure out the rest!
FRIDAY
File under strange experiences/bring your earplugs: Alex Body + LWA | The Java House | 8 pm | FREE
File under cancel everything else: Tallest Man on Earth w. Nathaniel Rateliff | 9 pm | Mill | $10 advance, $12 door
The 4th Annual Rainbow Run | 8 am | City Park
The Rainbow Run (5k fun run and walk) is a fundraiser for Iowa City Pride Festival. This year’s run will start in Lower City Park, at shelter #7, this Saturday, May 22. Race day registration and packet pick-up start at 7am, race begins at 9am.
From the Facebook event:
Everyone is welcome! Walkers, runners, joggers, baby strollers, kids, grandparents, and well-behaved dogs 🙂 There will be prizes for race winners, most festive runner, and best dog! Along with lots and lots of door prizes!
SUNDAY
Spend the day with Dan Bern! | 3 pm & 7 pm | CSPS (1103 Third St SE, Cedar Rapids) | $5-21
Sunday afternoon, the incredibly entertaining Dan Bern will perform a special family concert, featuring songs from his new children’s album, Two Feet Tall. The show will start at 3, advance tickets are $5 for kids and $9 for adults (all tickets $12 at the door). The 7 pm show might have some raunchy humor but I’m sure it’ll still pass as PG. Tickets for the later show are $17 advance, $21 at the door.
From CSPS:
Born in Mount Vernon, Dan Bern is a prolific songwriter and electric live performer who has released a dozen albums and spent well over a decade performing everywhere from coffee shops to Carnegie Hall.
“Dan Bern strums drop-dead gorgeous melodies like a demon with his tail on fire,” raved the Washington Post. “He expresses his love for humankind through scabrous, literary, skeptical rhymes full of hyperarticulation and the tormented self-knowledge of the really, really smart.”
Since releasing his first album back in 1997, Dan has amassed a strong underground following built on his endless touring and his prodigious output of songs of all shapes and sizes. His albums include 1997’s Dan Bern, 2001’s New American Language and 2006’s Breathe, each produced all or in part by Chuck Plotkin; and 1998’s 50 Eggs, produced by Ani DiFranco.
Dan’s latest release, Two Feet Tall, features 38 children’s songs tackling issues from kangaroos to hiccups. (A special 3 pm family show at CSPS, featuring songs from the new album, will precede Dan Bern’s more provocative evening concert starting at 7.)
In 2007, Dan focused his energies on motion pictures, using his sharp wit to compose over a dozen songs for the Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow music biopic spoof Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He also wrote the title song for Jonathan Demme’s documentary, Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains.
A true Renaissance man, Bern comes with an eclectic blend of talents and accomplishments. In addition to countless songs, he has written several books of short stories, plus a full-length novel, Quitting Science. His paintings have been displayed in hotels, art galleries and purchased en masse through his online art gallery.
He is an award-winning sports columnist in the state of New Mexico as well as a tennis pro who taught tennis to the late Wilt Chamberlain. In the spirit of Cool Hand Luke, he even won an egg-eating contest at the 2008 Truth or Consequences Fiesta, scarfing 17 eggs in 10 minutes.
What’s next for Dan Bern? Whatever it is it will surely include profound and insightful social commentary, a generous dose of humor, a little tennis and lots and lots of songs.
Have a Great Weekend!
~LV
Did we miss your sweet event? Sorry! Send Weekender suggestions to Matt@LittleVillageMag.com
Don't forget Brooklyn's Shondes with Adobanga at the Blue Moose. Opening is Katie Roche and The Horse Will Drive Us Home.
Oh, that show is on Friday too. Forgot to mention that.