Weekend Roundup
Take advantage of the week's bonus weekend with our Austin event picks
Since most of us received the day off on Wednesday for Independence Day, it sort of feels like we're getting a second weekend this week, doesn't it?
If you got all the beer and brats and sun out of your system, we've got a relaxing, indoor series of summer fun for you to make your second weekend feel like a culture-filled relaxation vacation.
On Friday night, you absolutely have to check out the Summerland Tour 2012 at ACL Live if you were even conscious of radio music in the mid to late 90s. Organized by the members of Everclear and Sugar Ray (yeah, those guys), the full lineup also includes Gin Blossoms, Lit and Marcy Playground. All of those incredible high school dance memories and angsty college soundtracks will spring to vivid, slightly-older life on a single glorious stage. Who could ask for anything more?
All weekend, the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series will feature some of the best James Bond movies from the collection. Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me and The Living Daylights will all be involved in various double-feature combinations for your air-conditioned, popcorn-slamming consumption throughout the weekend. The hardest part is picking your favorite Bond: Connery or Dalton.
On Saturday, join the CultureMap Austin team at BookPeople for the World of Dorkness Role Playing Book Club. We're getting our secret inner nerds all excited about showing up to learn the rules to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons so that we can play a quest or two as a dwarf fighter, an elf mage or a halfling theif. (Are we showing too much knowledge already?) Newbies are welcome to make their 20-sided dice-rolling dreams come true at this book club focused more on the action than most of BookPeople's other book clubs.
The beautiful waterside Whitewater Ampitheatre in nearby New Braunfels will play host to the legendary Willie Nelson this Saturday evening as well. Acclaimed country singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson will join The Red Headed Stranger on stage for what is sure to be another amazing, true country show. There are two tiers of tickets — one seated and one stand-room only — but you'll want to make sure to be as close to the stage as possible.
Late Saturday evening, ColdTowne Theater hosts Solid Gold Hustle, a best-of collection from the popular sketch comedy variety show. Funniest Person in Austin finalist Mac Blake and his Mascot Wedding co-host David Jara lead a team of Austin's finest sketch artists through the best material they've produced during their run of sold-out shows from this year. If you like to laugh, this is one of the places in town that will likely accomplish that a few times over.
Playing both Saturday and Sunday night, Ballet Afrique Austin presents their latest show at the Long Center for the Performing Arts. A Frique of Nature is the cutting-edge depiction of African and African-American women's lives throughout history told through a wide collection of dance pieces. Every time period is characterized by a new dance style and an intentionally selected musical number by singers like Billie Holliday and Jill Scott.
Finally, the Austin Poetry Slam hosts their 3rd Annual Battle of the Slams Sunday evening at TenOak. Austin is home to two of the top-ranked teams in the country, APS and Austin Neo Soul, and this annual tradition is a way to prepare the two for the upcoming National Poetry Slam in North Carolina in August. This is a special opportunity to see the best material from both of the qualifying teams in a fresh new venue. The audience will ultimately get to decide who will be Austin's Cross-City Champion.
So there you have it, folks. More to do on this magical second Independence Day weekend of the week. Remember, though, that double weekends don't come along often, so you have to make this one count.
Be safe, play hard and get it all in before dumb ol' Monday comes around again.