Next Week Today (7/25 – 7/31)
Next Week Today is a selection of our picks from the upcoming week’s events, published every Sunday at 11 a.m. We’ll give you juuuuuust enough detail to whet your whistle, and then let you do the digging. In other words, these are the events we recommend giving a second, perhaps even third glance as you wend your way along the path to entertainment.
Happy end of July everyone! Let the dog days of August commence. Get those summer-time joyrides in while you still have time, and don’t forget to hydrate (thanks mom).
MONDAYJuly 25
Birmingham Restaurant Week (Participating restaurants, through July 30) — The 2022 edition of Birmingham Restaurant Week has been up and running since July 21, but there’s plenty of time left to sample what the local culinary scene has to offer. Given Birmingham’s reputation for producing (and harboring) some of the best chefs in the nation, this is a golden opportunity to get some good eats in your belly while supporting an important part of our community.
The Moth: 2022 Fall Birmingham StorySLAMS (Red Mountain Theatre, 7:30 p.m.) — The Moth produces some of the best live storytelling in the nation, and their community-focused StorySLAM events allow anyone to share a five-minute story as long as it fits in with the theme of the evening (this one’s theme is “nature”). Think you’ve got a whopper that might do the trick? Try the spotlight on for size and see if everyone else agrees with you. Or just come down and have a listen to what everyone else has on their minds.
TUESDAYJuly 26
STRFKR | The Undercover Dream Lovers, Das Kope (Saturn, 8 p.m.) — STRFKR’s latest album was a departure into the realm of soundscape titled (rather dryly) Ambient 1, though despite its obvious differences from their earlier work it also feels comfortably familiar. It’d be neat if they played a bunch of chill instrumental tracks at the show, though we’re far enough removed from the album’s 2020 release date that they’ll probably mix it up a bunch.
WEDNESDAYJuly 27
CHVRCHES / Cafune (Iron City, 8 p.m.) — Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches are known for their joyous anthems, which is why their 2021 album Screen Violence, a horror-movie concept piece with overtones of post-pandemic malaise, was such a surprise. But it was a really pleasant surprise, despite the morbid and depressing subject matter, and gave another intriguing facet to their gleamingly polished pop confectionary.
Tayls with Cheysflow (The Nick, 8 p.m.) — Tayls self-identifies as “friendship punk,” and their music is certainly ebullient enough to merit it, though we could probably have an argument about the inclusion of the word “punk.” Whatever it is, it’s fun, and it’ll also be fun to see them try to fit all eight members on The Nick’s stage.
THURSDAYJuly 28
Entangled Histories: Free Speech & Civil Rights from the 1960’s to Today (Birmingham Museum of Art, 6:30 p.m.) — Focusing on the relationship and intersection between the First Amendment the Civil Rights movement, this panel discussion will be moderated by DeJuana Thompson, President and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and will be preceded by a reading from Ashley M. Jones, Alabama’s Poet Laureate.
August Burns Red – Through the Thorns Tour / We Came As Romans / Hollow Front / Void of Vision (Iron City, 8 p.m.) — Pennsylvania metalcore band August Burns Red are two-time Grammy nominees (2016 and 2018), and they’re back on tour in all their growly screaming glory. Fun fact: openers Void of Vision are here all the way from Australia.
FRIDAYJuly 29
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema, Multiple showings) — If you were poking around YouTube in the early days of the platform, you might remember the original Marcel the Shell viral videos, and how irresistibly delightful they were. If not watch them here and here. Go now, it won’t take long. I’ll wait for you. Ok, back? So, now you should know that those lovely, tiny videos have, over a decade after they were released, been made into a full-length feature movie. In a world so full things to drag you down, here’s one sweet something bound to lift you up.
The Big Lebowski (Alabama Theatre, 7 p.m.) — Oh, you want me to give you a good reason to go see the Coen brother’s cult masterpiece The Big Lebowski? I think you should give me one good reason why you should ever not go see The Big Lebowski. Don’t know The Big Lebowski? All the more reason to go, my friend, all the more reason.
Anatomy of Gray (Birmingham Festival Theatre, 7:30 p.m.) — Come on down to the delayed opening night of BFT’s latest production Anatomy of Gray, a humorous but morbid dramedy about a small town in the late 1800s celebrating the surprise arrival of their first doctor amidst the outbreak of a plague.
Tragic City (Zydeco, 9 p.m.) — Birmingham instrumental quintet Tragic City are some cool cats, if I do say so myself. It’s jazz mixed with R&B, hip-hop and just a dash of rock and then shaken. Plus, gotta love how they rep the city, from their name to “BJCC,” the opening track of their 2020 album Skyline.
SATURDAYJuly 30
The Josephines (Zydeco, 9 p.m.) — I think what makes me like The Josephines is how utterly and completely destroyed lead-singer Brad Tabor’s voice is. It’s whisky and cigarettes and the long, steady passage of time, and it makes me believe he’s lived these sad/mad country tales he’s singing.
SUNDAYJuly 31
The Sound of Music (Alabama Theatre, 2 p.m.) — C’mon, you love Julie Andrews, you know you do, and the kids will love the classic movie tunes and the Wurlitzer sing-along, and everyone will enjoy being in the restored glamour of The Showplace of the South. Pile ’em up in the mini-van and get down.
