Photo10312208The PopCulteer
November 1, 2013

This week your PopCulteer is going to bring you a stream-of-concsiousness series of short items, most of which are going to be Weekend Stuff To Do notes. This is just another way to mix things up, and it’s also a way to allow your PopCulteer to walk away from the faulty computer monitor that’s driving him crazy at the moment. As I write this, the monitor menu is continually flashing in the middle of the screen. A new monitor will solve this problem shortly.

You may not have noticed this, but there has been at least one (and many times more) post here in PopCult every day since our eighth anniversary on August 28th. I’m going to try and maintain this pace, but that means that some days the posts will not be quite as involved as on others.

Another reason for the short PopCulteer is that your humble correspondent had a late night last night, attending the War of the Worlds event at The Clay Center’s Electric Sky Theater. It was loads of fun, but it ran past midnight and the trip home made it an even later night. With All Hallow’s Eve behind us, today is the Day of the Dead, and to be honest, I’m feeling it.

The Electric Sky Theater is one of the most-underused facilities in town, and our host last night, William Rouse, hopes to raise the profile of this cool spot with some exciting projects in the new year. A note to bands: The Electric Sky Theater is interested in renting itself out for special events, and a CD release party would be pretty awesome there.

As I mentioned, I’m going to incorporate the “Stuff To Do” for this weekend into The PopCulteer today, just so that, again, I can walk away from that damned flashing monitor menu for just a little bit.

Ryan Hardiman as General Zod in "Les Miserables"

Ryan Hardiman as General Zod in “Les Miserables”

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that Charleston’s Light Opera Guild is mounting a production of “Les Miserables” starting tonight at The Clay Center. CLOG always manages to perfectly recreate the Broadway experience with local talent and I’m sure this will be a first-rate and much-talked about production. If you loved the movie, or have been a long-time fan of the musical, you really need to see what may be a once-in-a-lifetime production of this show in Charleston.

If, like your PopCulteer, this musical falls well outside the realm of your tastes, there’s still plenty of stuff to do in town this weekend.

Free music Friday includes: Travis Vandal at Taylor Books at 7:30 PM, Spurgie Hankins and Friends at Bruno’s on Leon Sullivan Way at 9 PM, and Jim Snyder and The Castaways at Timothy’s at 9 PM.

There’s also free comedy, as 4 Brothers Coffee and Tea House, on Main Street in St. Albans, welcomes Lee Mays, along with Patrick Felton, Jacob Hall and Jaush Weeks for a night of family-friendly stand-up comedy with no cover charge, starting at 9 PM.

Post-Halloween Halloween Parties run wild both on Friday and Saturday.

The Empty Glass is where Dinosaur Burps and Whiskers in the Glass present: “The Day After Halloween Likes To Party Too” Live at The Empty Glass ft. Ray Strife, Wade Wilson, Nice Life, and Drew Carter. There will be costume and beard contests, and donations will be accepted to help the family of Chuk Fowler with his funeral expenses. Cover charge is the usual EG $5/$7 sliding cover. The show starts at 10 PM.

Five bucks gets you in the door at The Blue Parrot where Project Biscotti plays Halloween hosts to John Frail and Foz Rotten and His Dirty Scoundrels (fresh off of this week’s RFC) with additional Belly Dancing support from Gypsy Rythmn. The party starts at 10 PM.

Around the corner at The Boulevard Tavern, it’s a metal Halloween party as ten dollars admits you to see the opening band, “Electric Funeralm” pay tribute to Black Sabbath and then the headliner, “Up In Irons,” pay tribute to Iron Maiden’s double album “Live After Death.” There will be a costume contest with a $1000.00 grand prize. The contest will be judged by a secret panel. It’s all listed as starting at 8 PM.

Tomorrow morning you can start your day here at PopCult as the RFC Flashback re-presents episode 9, with music from Stephen Beckner and Mother Nang, a Pentagram Flowerbox cartoon, Hell for Turkeys and funny host segments from the pre-demolition food court at The Kanawha Mall.

In the afternoon, there is a 5K run/walk to benefit Adam Weaver. You may remember Adam from “Adamfest,” the series of concerts that helped pay for his expenses during a battle with pediatric cancer. Adam recovered quite well, grew up and got married and is expecting a child…and is playing a waiting game to see if his cancer has returned. This is to help with expenses related to this new health concern and the details are in this graphic…

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Free music Saturday Sees Leslie Brooks at Taylor Books at 7:30 PM and Blue Yonder at The Bluegrass Kitchen at 8 PM for their CD release party, starting at 8 PM.

The big show Saturday night is the fifteenth Halloween Hootenanny at The Empty Glass featuring a reunited Pistol Whippers with The Big Bad (fresh from the last two episodes of RFC) and a possible reunion of Beaver Knievel, a group that includes members of both bands. The show kicks off at 10 PM. Expect costume contests, drink specials and general mayhem. Cover is eight bucks in advance ten at the door, if you can get in. Here’s video of a previous Pistol Whippers reunion at the Glass…

At The Blue Parrot, RFC 189 and 190 guests Snaekbox take the stage with Rick Purdue opening at 10 Pm with a five-dollar cover.

Sunday we have the final bout of the year for The Chemical Valley Rollergirls, as they face the NRV Bruisn’ Burgs from Christiansburg, VA at the Charleston Civic Center at 4 PM. Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 presale. Kids from 2 to 12 get in for five bucks, and kids under two are admitted free, so if you wore a giant baby costume for Halloween, it’s worth a try.

Sunday at 5:30 PM at The Fifth Quarter you can hear Marshall Petty and the Groove with Clay Norris and Hightower (The Blockman) with no cover charge.

That’s all I got in my tank today. Look for the RFC Flashback tomorrow, something cool in Sunday Evening Video and on Monday, the RFC MINI SHOW with HarraH.