With FestivAll, there’s way too much cool crap going on this week.  I’m going to try and list a bunch of examples of  the overflowing cornucopia of coolness cascading down upon our carcasses concurrently, but I can’t claim to be complete.  It’s not all FestivAlliciuos, either, but let’s dive in!

First of all, there’s the ART WALKtonight.  Galleries all over town will be open, some with musicians performing, so that art aficionados can wander all over the city and soak in all the creativity.  It’ll be like getting hooked up to an IV full of art.  Coolness abounds, and is compounded by the second anniversary of The Purple Moon, West Virginia’s only Atomic Age Emporium.  I was just in earlier today and they have an amazing assortment of new retro coolness, including some vintage movie posters and the wonderful artwork of Felix Krysak. 

The Purple Moon’s “Open House Party” will be held at the gallery at 716 Lee Street East from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 21 as part of the Downtown Charleston ArtWalk with refreshments, door prizes and special, one-night-only discounts.

Another cool thing art-wise is the interview in the new Graffiti magazine with Amanda Miller, one of my favorite local photographers (and an occasional Gazz contributor).  She talks a little bit about the process and how she creates her wonderful photos. You can pick up the new Graffiti (local intergalactic superhero The Silver Surfer is on the cover) all over town.

I can’t make it tonight, but current Radio Free Charleston headliners Voices Of Anatole, and future RFC guests A Place Of Solace (I wore their shirt on episode 16) are playing tonight at Paradox Rift in Huntington. The show starts at 9 PM and the first 40 people through the door get a sampler CD of local metal music.   If you’re in the area, Embrace The Madness and go.

Friday night at 10 PM we’re going to head out to the Sound Factory to hear future Radio Free Charleston guests, Seven Minutes To Midnight.  I’m sure we’ll be milling around town before that, too.

Saturday and Sunday there are so many cool events going on all over town that PopCult will be hard-pressed to attend them all, but here’s what we’re going to try and hit:

At some point we’re going to make it out to Appalachian Power Park to see the amazing chalk art of Julian Beever.  We’re also going to hit Brawley walkway to check out the fishies (crafted by master fish-crafter, Dale Morton).  Those get so much press that we don’t really need to plug them.

Saturday at noon we plan to catch Drew The Dramatic Fool at the Thomas Memorial Hospital Stage in front of the Library on Capitol Street.  Drew was the star attraction at FestivAll last year, and we can’t wait to see him again.  Drew is performing in several other locations around town, and elsewhere at thegazz.com you should be able to find a complete schedule.

We’re going to see The No Pants Players at 2 PM, at the Coca Cola Stage, which is vaguely noted as being “Between Lee And Washington streets.”  I’m sure we’ll find it.  The NPP will be performing several times all over town with their family-friendly improv comedy.

We’re also going to see The No Pants Players at 11PM at The Clay Center on the cabaret stage, where they will depart from their usual family-friendly fare, and perform a filthy, raunchy show, appropriate to the late hour.  We’ve gotten to know the NPP over the last couple of years, and they’re filthy, raunchy people, so this should be really good. We’re going to stick around for Ted Brightwell’s “Guys Are Dolls,” also at the cabaret stage.

Before we hike over to the Clay Center for the No Pants Players Uncensored Saturday night, we’re going to catch RFC faves, Whistlepunk 2.0 at the Vandalia Lounge.  Their show kicks off at 9 PM, so we should get to hear most of it before we head off for the filthy, raunchy antics of the NPP. 

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Before Whistlepunking we’ll probably check out the open mic acoustic solo guitar contest at The Cultural Center State Theater, where among the performers will be Aurora, fresh from their appearance on Radio Free Charleston episode 22. 

Sunday we’re probably just going to linger around Davis Park to hear The Bark-O-Loungers (actually, they’re playing on Saturday afternoon, we’ll still try and catch them), Spurgie Hankins, and Comparsa, while we try to figure out the studio schedule to get them all to come on RFC.  Eduardo Canelon, from Comparsa, has already been on as a solo act, back in episode three. 

Last night we sat in and listened during a passionate discussion about the place of the arts in this city.  Over the next few days, I’ll be dropping my two cents in on some of the topics that were brought up. 

Sleep time will be next week.