All right, advocates and lovers of all things green and sustainable: Take notice! Philly’s own Grid magazine, the bible of Philly sustainable living and environmental issues, is throwing a party for the release of its September issue. While you enjoy pizza and beer, pick up a free copy of the magazine and check out stories on green initiatives on local college campuses, Greensgrow Farm and lunchbox recipes, or hang out for a while and talk with the Grid founders and other lovers of sustainability and the green movement. So grab some friends and ride your bikes, take your scooter, or hop aboard SEPTA and get over to West Philly and educate yourself on the world of environmental issues and a better, cleaner way of living. Sydney Scott 6pm. Dock Street Brewing Company, 701 S. 50th St. 215.726.2337. gridphilly.com
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Dam-Funk
Dam-Funk, who in real life goes by the name of Damon Riddick, makes excess work for him. His debut recording, Toeachizown, spanned five LPs or two CDs, 139 minutes of blissed out vamps and killer grooves that seemed, if not exactly concise, exactly the right amount to launch a phenomenon. Live, the Ambassador of Boogie Funk travels with full 1970s spacefunk regalia, wielding a Roland midi-keytar from behind heavy shades with Computer Jay on vintage Moog, J1 making beats on live drums and samples and negligee-clad back-up singers in tow. The sound is pure synth-washed decadence, unfolding in endless body-bumping grooves, a la late-1970s Prince or early 1980s Zapp. Jennifer Kelly 9pm. $10. With Master Blazter. Johnny Brenda’s. 1201 N.Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684. johnnybrendas.com
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Perseid Meteor Shower P H I L A D E L P H I A W E E K LY
The Perseid meteor shower—that annual bit of celestial razzle-dazzle that’s nature’s glittery apology for August weather—peaks tonight with estimates of more than a hundred meteors sweeping across the sky per hour. Philly’s lights are enough to curtain the whole show, however, so you have to be enterprising to catch these shooting stars. The Franklin Institute’s Observatory has all the equipment you need for some serious astronomical moonlighting, including star
6pm. $5. Joel n. Bloom observatory at the Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St. 215.448.1200. fi.edu
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Grid Release Party
maps and five high-tech telescopes. And their knowledgeable staff can tell Mars from the nearest phone tower, even if you can’t. The evening includes a planetarium show and an educational presentation, but the biggest attraction is space’s own. Don’t miss it straining the wrong direction on your roof with binoculars. lAUren SMitH
MuSIC
Public Enemy
Between 1987 and 1991 Public Enemy released a string of four albums that are as potent, brilliant and influential as any artist—hip-hop or otherwise—has ever issued. Perhaps they fell off a bit creatively after that, but they’ll always have that window of greatness to call their own, and now PE appears happy to revisit that era. Last year they tore through It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back with the Roots at the Roots Picnic. Tonight, still-commanding rapper Chuck D and still-hilarious hype man Flavor Flav
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Drag
Liberty City Kings Calendar Release
c o u r t e sy o f g u e r r i l l a f u n k
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celebrate the 20th anniversary of Fear of a Black Planet by unleashing that album in its entirety. Welcome (back) to the terrordome! MicHAel AlAn goldberg
9pm. $25-$27. trocadero, 1003 Arch St. 215.922.LIVE. thetroc.com
MuSIC
Classical Revolution
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Trade your elbow-length gloves for cutoffs and put those opera glasses away: Classical Revolution is bringing the music to your favorite hangouts. Just bring yourself (and a bottle or two). This collective of amateur and professional musicians leaves symphony halls behind in favor of more accessible venues like bars and cafes—or in this case, a BYOB art space and bookstore. The evening’s selections seem designed to honor woodwinds: The organization’s Philadelphia chapter will perform Mozart’s lilting Quintet for Clarinet and Strings (K. 581) and Jacques Ibert’s flamenco-flavored “Entr’acte” on flute and guitar. To round out the program, multi-instrumentalist and composer Daniel Peterson works his chilled-out jazz stylings on
rag is not just for the boys—er, ladies—and neither are dirty calendars. The aptly acronymed LiCK’s drag kings and burlesque queens reclaim titillation from the testosterone set, donning their sailor garb and boas for an evening of bawdy song and dance and gender-bending vamping to celebrate the release of the troupe’s 2011 calendar. Self-described as “uncomfortably moist,” their raunchy variety show doesn’t leave much to the imagination: Cabaret vixens perform the old shimmy and shake in Louise Brooks wigs and lacy lingerie while tuxedoed lads scandalize with their ribald jokes. Remember to pick up their calendar so you can relive Liberty City Kings’ tawdry brand of camp in your kitchen all year long. lAUren SMitH Sun., Aug. 15, 8pm. $13. World Cafe live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. myspace.com/libertycitykings
three kinds of saxophones with an ensemble of vibraphone, bass and drums. AleXAndrA JoneS 9pm. $8-$10. Moonstone arts Center, 110A S. 13th St. 215.735.9598. moonstoneartscenter.org
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Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
PuppeTyranny! brings its trademark sock and marionette whimsy to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan prelude, transposing the adventures of Peter from Edwardian London’s posh Kensington Gardens to Philly’s own urban Kensington. The troupe’s ragtag band of actors, musicians, puppeteers and Lost Boys patch together shadows, animation, live music and dance to bring to life the story’s various fantastical characters, including fairy queens and invisible flying goats. Peter is as strange a creature as any: Not yet the boy crocodile hunter of Disney fame, he’s
a downy newborn, escaped from his crib and convinced he’s a bird. Baby Peter’s dreamy after-hours adventures in the park are enough to push the old nostalgia button—even if our own childhood idylls involved more tube slides than immortal birds. The show repeats on Saturday. lAUren SMitH 8pm. $5-$10. emerald Street urban Farm, 2312 Emerald St. 267.909.2633. puppetuprising.org
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Creature from the Black Lagoon
The Atomic Age was a great time for monster movies. Amid the mutant ants of Them! and