DULUTH — The Bayfront Blues Festival is going down on the harbor this weekend, with respected genre stars taking Duluth's biggest stage. For more on that and other upcoming weekend events, see our summer fun guide. Here are several more events to put on your radar this week.
Music, music, music at Earth Rider The outdoor and indoor stages at Earth Rider Brewery reliably book some of the best live music in the Twin Ports, but this week is especially off the hook. Shows include the Wednesday, Aug. 7, launch of a Cedar Lounge residency by Superior Siren, which has just released its first full-band recording in six years: "Rattlesnake," featuring Erin Aldridge of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra.
There are also big outdoor shows by Minnesota hip-hop legend Atmosphere (Aug. 9) and a triple bill led by Charlie Parr (Aug. 10) (earthrider.
beer). Take It With You season announcement "Take It With You" describes itself as "an hour-long, originally scripted, live radio theatre podcast complete with versatile voice actors, all original music, and old-school foley sound effects." It's developed a devoted following since its launch in 2014, when its debut episode was recorded at the Depot with special guest Don Ness and plot developments, including a character visiting that winter's extraordinary ice caves.
ADVERTISEMENT On Wednesday, Aug. 7, the podcast is holding an event in Zeitgeist's lobby to announce its eighth season at an "all ages happy hour" (facebook.com/takeitwithyouradio).
Pickup Truck Opera Formerly known as the Picnic Operetta, the Picnic Truck Opera is a mobile theatrical production. Each year, artists reimagine a classic opera to incorporate popular music and tour the resulting show across the state. This year's opera is based on Charles Gounod's "Faust" (1859) and features songs by Depeche Mode.
Bring a lawn chair, drinks and your own personal Jesus to one of this year's performances, which begin at Whiteside Park in Ely on Thursday, Aug. 8. Later this week, the Pickup Truck Opera will stop at Hovland (Aug.
9), Grand Marais (Aug. 10) and Finland (Aug. 11).
Duluth's own Caroline Kouma stars (mixedprecipitation.org). The Newest Catch Many of the biggest music stars in our region and beyond first started to make waves in their youth; if names must be named, let's start with Bob Dylan and Judy Garland.
If you missed seeing Bobby and his band onstage at Hibbing High, you might want to take the opportunity to see some of today's up-and-coming artists onstage Friday, Aug. 9, at Wussow's Concert Cafe. Anna Joy organized and is headlining the free all-ages show, which also features Rockin' Rodents, Jon Edwards, Kaitlyn and Ashton Major (wussows.
com). Drury Lane twofer Drury Lane Books, a beloved and exceedingly charming Grand Marais community institution, is doubling up Saturday, Aug. 10, with two author events.
Mark Neuzil comes first, at 11 a.m., presenting his 2016 tome "Canoes: A Natural History in North America.
" Co-authored with Norman Sims, the book is "the ultimate coffee table at the cabin book," according to Trout Magazine. ADVERTISEMENT Then, at 6 p.m.
, Teresa Peterson stops by for a talk and seed exchange. Since Peterson is the author of "Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts from a Dakota Garden," you know she takes her seeds seriously (drurylanebooks.com).
American Graffiti The title of "American Graffiti" has confused generations of moviegoers, but filmmaker George Lucas was convinced he had the right name for the 1973 coming-of-age story inspired by his own California youth. The film's spectacular success gave Lucas the clout to go big on his science fiction follow-up, "Star Wars." "American Graffiti," which helped to launch the careers of actors including Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Harrison Ford, is now regarded as a classic.
Even if your answer to the movie's tagline — "Where were you in '62?' — is, "I wasn't born yet," it's worth taking the opportunity to see the film on the big screen at Zeitgeist on Sunday, Aug.11 (zeitgeistarts.com).
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