Lama Ole
Woman’s Club of Minneapolis

Is there anybody out there who wouldn’t benefit from developing a greater sense of compassion, joy and fearlessness? Meditation is one way to quiet the mind, and in so doing, strengthen your capacity for happiness. Sure it’s new-agey, but it works. Lama Ole Nydahl is one of a handful of Westerners fully qualified as a Lama and meditation teacher. He’ll be in Minneapolis this week to present “Meditation: Science of Mind,” a lecture about how applying Buddhist principles to your life can provide great stability in these most uncertain times. Lama Ole is himself a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures and spirituality. His parents were academics and members of the Danish resistance. He studied philosophy and was a member of the ’60s counterculture when he met a Tibetan Yogi and began his own journey into Buddhism. An inspiring teacher, Lama Ole has lectured throughout the world and has written seven books. A question and answer session and short meditation follow his lecture. The event is hosted by Diamond Way Buddhist Center in Minneapolis. Namaste. 8 p.m. $10. 407 W. 15th St., Mpls. 612-825-5055. NANCY SARTOR

New Primitives
Cabooze

You have to reach way back—to bands like War and Mandrill—to find the kind of power you get when New Primitives cut loose. They fire up a set of Afro-Cuban rock like nobody’s business. At the helm is front man and singer-percussionist Stanley Kipper. He started the band in 1999, after two decades of touring and recording with a whole bunch of big shots (Minnie Ripperton, Bill Withers, Joe Walsh, you name it) and, in short order, had tongues wagging on the street and behinds shaking at the club. You can hear why just by checking out the reggae-drenched “Bring Me Down” (off their self-titled CD), with the group locked tight in a rolling rhythm behind his urgent, soul-deep vocal. For good measure, the three-time Minnesota Music Award winners also have Javier Trejo on guitar and vocals, and there is nothing like catching Trejo break out on one of his blistering, Santana-like solos. He sings pretty good, too. Can’t go wrong with New Primitives who, by the by, will be at this year’s 10,000 Lakes Festival, along with opener Gypsy Foot. 9:30 p.m. $5. 21+. 917 Cedar Ave., Mpls. DWIGHT HOBBES

HOT PICK
Art-a-Whirl Musicfest
331 Club

All weekend long during the fabulous annual Northeast arts extravaganza Art-a-Whirl, the 331 Club is hosting a live music explosion inside and out! Beginning Friday, Chris Koza, Ol’ Yeller and Jon Rodine kick things off with raucous heartbreakin’ tunes. Saturday, Glen Hanson, JoAnna James, Lonesome Dan Kase and the Crush Collision Trio, the Roe Family Singers and Le Cirque Rouge de Gus perform on the outside stage in the 331 parking lot. Music starts at 1 p.m. and goes until 10 p.m. outside. Meanwhile, there’ll be some fine live spinnin’ inside from 4 to 9 p.m. by DJs Danny Sigelman (from the Current), Amy Buchanan (from Le Cirque Rouge) and house DJ James Leonardo. After the music is done outside and the spinnin’ is done inside, the evening will be topped off by the Vestals at 10 p.m. and the up-to-10-members-at-any-given-time Pogue Brady Rockstravaganza (featuring Martin Devaney on sax alongside Mike Brady, Amy Pogue and friends). And in case you haven’t gotten enough art in your Art-a-Whirl, there is a mini-craft fair in the 331 parking lot with artists and crafters hawking their wares. Check 331club.com for full schedule. Free. 331 N.E. 13th Ave., Mpls. 612-331-1746. CYN COLLINS


Arab Coffeehouse
California Bldg. Gallery

More than just places to get a cup of java, “coffeehouse culture” is a global experience where one can partake in exchanges that span the artistic, political and personal spectrum—whether you’re on the West Bank of Minneapolis or in Palestine. Mizna, the journal of Arab-American literary arts, is hosting “Killing Time,” a multimedia installation by Aissa Deebi. Using photography, sound and text, we experience how Arab coffeehouse culture has come to America. Community events include the particular elements of the water pipe, backgammon tournaments and storytelling evenings. Saturday’s panel discussion includes music and artists Fouzi Slisli and Abdellah Ouchagour. Runs through June 2. Reception Fri. May 19. Gallery talks Sat. May 20 & 27. Gallery hours Thu. – Fri. 5 – 9 p.m.; Sat. 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. 2205 California St. NE, Mpls., 612-788-6920 or mizna.org. LYDIA HOWELL

David’s Redhaired Death
Acadia Café

Despite the efforts of a once-strong women’s movement, members of the female persuasion still earn only about three-quarters of what men do in our post-modern world. It’s no surprise, then, that gender inequity extends to the arts. A three-year study by the New York State Council on Arts indicates that roughly 20 percent of professional theater artists are women, and although they submit nearly half of all the works to artistic directors, only 16 percent of produced plays are by women, and only 17 percent have female directors. 20% Theater Company began as a small project in New York City in 2002. It spread to Chicago and has landed in Minneapolis under the able artistic direction of Claire Avitabile. Sticking with company tradition, it will present Shelly Kramer’s play “David’s Redhaired Death” as its inaugural production starring Kate Kennedy and Colleen Somerville. The show is an intense two-woman play that examines how death affects our ability to love at the risk of another loss. The show runs one weekend only and redheads get in for a buck! Reservations highly recommended. May 19 – 21. Fri. – Sat. 7 p.m.; Sun. 2 & 7 p.m. $12 general/$10 students & seniors/$1 redheads. 1931 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls., 612-227-1188. SARTOR

Dance Band
The Nomad

Dance Band debuts at the Nomad tonight, and the Minneapolis City Council has just repealed the 1960 ordinance 427.240, which stated that dancers in the streets were breaking the law. Coincidence? You decide. Dance Band, who claim to be “one of the greatest bands in the world,” (you just don’t know it yet), will be hitting the streets near you with heavy beats this summer. Be the first to dance to them at the Nomad World Pub around 11 p.m. “The Philanderer” (bass, vox) a seasoned young rocker around town, MC’s Captain Octagon and Double Delicious, The Chop (guitar), The Perfect Beat (drums) and the Boston Lazer (DJ) will perform crazy beats in costume. This indie funk-inspired dance majesty was spawned by dissatisfaction with the lack of motion at local shows, “even at a show with great beats.” Their goal is simple: “To be so ridiculously fun, that no matter how well you dance, you’ll still look cool next to us.” Having been one of an elite few to hear them prior to their club debut, I know they’ll make you dance. And laugh, and cry. Go! Performing with The Salt Shakers, Mike Gunther and His Restless Souls and Fort Wilson Riot. 501 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-338-6424. COLLINS

When Reason Sleeps
Bryant Lake Bowl

Art often faces things that other social or political institutions fail to confront. Ben Kreilkamp’s play “When Reason Sleeps” shook up last year’s Fringe Fest with strong responses about what the playwright calls his “nightmare comedy.” An unemployed artist takes an unusual temp job: hearing confessions as a priest in a shopping mall. What he hears takes him into the deeply personal implications of U.S. foreign policy. Kreilkamp does double duty as the artist with his original Fringe cast: a “mostly holy nun,” a “distractress,” a guard and “the Protector of Our Freedom.” Fringe audience members called the play “disturbingly funny,” “a satirical gas” and “kick-ass political theater” (more at fringefestival.org). As The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert’s recent White House Press Dinner shtick show, the only way some truths can be told is when they are accompanied by laughter. Saturday’s performance is a benefit for the Twin Cities chapter of Veterans for Peace. Reservations are recommended. Through May 22. 7 p.m. $5 - $15 sliding scale. 810 W. Lake St., Mpls. 612-825-8949. HOWELL

LeNor Barry
Acadia Café

Chris Shillock, he of the grizzled visage and anarchist prose-poetry, did so well a while back putting together both “An Evening of Poetry and Song” and “An Evening of Poetry and Song II,” that he’s back at it. For the third time he’s included singer-songsmith extraordinaire LeNor Barry on the bill with poet-storyteller Hardy Coleman. Shillock knows how to come up with a dyed-in-the-wool ringer, as he has with Desdamona, Emily Carter and, now, Barry. Can’t wait to see who’s next. Coming out of a troubadour bag with some of the strongest such fare since ’70s underground icon Ellen McElwaine, Barry hints at Sade and Patti Austin, but is distinctly flavored with originality. Among a bunch of highlights from her Healer With A Twist CD is “From Lorain to Joann.” Minor chords and major-sevenths are never so sweetly dramatic as when played on a 12-string guitar. She stakes out artistic territory, eerie lyrics and haunting melodies over textured chords. And then there’s the wizardry of “Grandmother Clock,” a laid-back existential jaunt that brings the legendary Fairport Convention to mind. Long story short, don’t miss this lady. Colleen Kruse, Hardy Coleman, Duck Kicking Vultures. 9:30 p.m. $6. 1931 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls. 612-339-5002. HOBBES

Casanatra CD Release Show
Triple Rock Social Club

Casanatra’s latest release, Primo Impacto, lumbers out of the gate on opener “Could’ve Been a Stuntman” with the kind of densely frenetic and claustrophobic swagger that would make Ultramega OK-era Soundgarden question the depth of their sound. It’s all the more impressive that it’s being delivered by Dennis Asher and Jer Fink’s two-guitar attack, Lance Reed’s percussive assault and—nothing else. The lack of bass frees up the guitars to be as heavy as they wanna be, and the vocals’ lips-on-the-windscreen sound re-doubles the heft of the impact. You won’t find any razorblade-tipped pop hooks here; Casanatra are more interested coming at you with a belt-sander, and even when they back off to deliver moody fare like “Depreciated,” the feeling of paranoia is only lightened by contrast. You can put Primo Impacto up next to darkly beautiful work by the aforementioned Soundgarden and their doomed Seattle brethren, Alice in Chains. Formed in 2002 with a mission to create songs with “big guitars and monstrous drumming,” Casanatra have certainly earned the right to stand on an aircraft carrier and unfurl a big old “Mission Accomplished” banner, even if our C-in-C hasn’t. With headliners Self-Evident and openers Darkmoor. 10 p.m. $6. 21+. 629 Cedar Ave., Mpls. 612-333-7499. STEVE MCPHERSON

MN Aids Walk
Minnehaha Park

So you think you can’t do a 10K? Maybe you can if you walk it, since it’s only a 6.2 mile course through lush greenery, and for a really good cause. The MN AIDS Walk raises about $600,000 each year for the Minnesota AIDS Project to fight HIV through advocacy, education and service. In 2005, Minnesota had a 21.5 percent increase in new HIV infections among gay men, and 22 percent of new HIV cases were in the African American community. According to the group’s communication director, Amy Weiss, it lost $131,000 in funding from the Department of Health due to federal cuts. You can register online through Friday, and there is no registration fee. Or come on down to walk and make a donation yourself—it might spark the beginning of your new adventure as a marathoner. Park opens at 9 a.m.; ceremonies at 11:30 a.m., walk at noon. Donations. 46th St. between Hiawatha & River Rd. 612-373-9164 or mnAidsProject.org. ADA SCHOCK

Down by the Riverside CD Release
Children’s Theatre company

Let’s face it: a lot of what passes for kids’ music these days is downright atrocious. I’m not going to name any names, but as someone who one day hopes to raise whippersnappers of his own, there is no way I’m letting them listen to “Baby Beluga.” Sure, I harbor dreams of children who love John Coltrane, but I’m also a realist: kidlings want stuff they can sing along to, and parents want stuff that won’t drive them crazy. So thank goodness for Down by the Riverside, a fantastic local compilation featuring artists like Dan and Matt Wilson, John Munson, Adam Levy and many others. The tracks are public domain favorites like “Oh Susannah,” performed by Mason Jennings, and the title track, performed by Semisonic with John Munson on lead vocals. In a society that’s increasingly focused on flash and fad to catch the attention of the littlest among us, Down by the Riverside provides a refreshing injection of tradition and simple joy that does more than just distract: it enriches and broadens the connection between the generations. Even childless hipsters will find songs to sing along with, and proceeds will benefit the music therapy program at Reuben Lindh Family Services, a multicultural provider of pre-schools, daycare, parenting programs and therapies for some of Minneapolis’ most challenged families. Bring the whole flock down to this family-friendly event. Performances by Dan Wilson, Matt Wilson, John Munson, Mason and Amy Jennings, Adam Levy, The New Standards, Dana Thompson and Chan Poling. 5:30 p.m. $35. All Ages. 2400 3rd Ave. S., Mpls. 612-721-1098 ext. 231 or tickets@reubenlindh.org. MCPHERSON