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.

Let the games begin! If you haven’t already, check out our comprehensive World Games calendar, and stay tuned to Next Week Today for info on which Medal Rounds are happening on any given day. And don’t worry, if the games aren’t your bag, we still have all our normal recommendations for you.

MONDAYJuly 4

Joyboy / Apprehend / Griff / Breuin (Ghost Train Brewing Co. – 3rd Ave, 5 p.m.) — Start your week off (or finish off your long weekend) with a little adrenaline in your veins, courtesy of a locals punk/hardcore night at the O.G. Ghost Train location, with a little electronica in the form of Breuin to cap things off.

Thunder on the Mountain (Vulcan Park & Museum, 9 p.m.) — Bang! Boom!! It’s that time folks. Stake out your viewing positions, tune in your radios and let the explosions begin. As is the usual, this annual fireworks show celebrating Independence Day will have an accompanying soundtrack broadcast on a bevy of local radio stations, though this year there will be an additional tribute to The World Games included. According to the organizers, this will be “the biggest show Vulcan has put on to date.”

WEDNESDAYJuly 6

Rainbow Kitten Surprise w/ Briston Maroney (Avondale Brewing Company, 7 p.m.) — If you can still find a ticket to see North Carolina-based indie-folk-rock group Rainbow Kitten Surprise (only resale tickets were available as I’m writing this), you really ought to take advantage. This is the second of two nights they are playing at Avondale Brewing Co, so your chances are a little better since you have twice the opportunity.

The Mountain Grass Unit (The Nick, 9 p.m.) — The Mountain Grass Unit may be some young-lookin’ fellas, but if the facility with which they play their bluegrass is any indication, they’ve been playing since they were born. Don’t let their baby-faces fool you, this is some seriously good pickin’ and hollerin’.

THURSDAYJuly 7

Parachute Show: Janet Simpson / Birdie Edge / Cash Langdon / Secular Pets / John Bellows (Saturn, 7:30 p.m.) — Janet Simpson is a Birmingham institution, one of best singers The Magic City has produced in recent memory, and she’s just the first in a long and talented lineup for this free show at Saturn. Come get some goodness, and support your locals.

The World Games: Opening Ceremony (Protective Stadium, 8 p.m.) — It’s happening! It’s really happening!! Tonight’s opening ceremony marks the start of the long-awaited and highly anticipated World Games 2022, and features a star-studded lineup of entertainers, including Nelly, Sara Evans, Sheila E., Tony! Toni! Toné!, Yolanda Adams, Bootsy Collins, Alabama, Worth the Wait and all of your favorite American Idol contestants (Bo Bice, Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks).

Tuckahoe Travelers (The Fennec, 8 p.m.) — Tuckahoe Travelers is some good ol’ country-fried throw-down tunes, with real heart and soul and none of that retread radio nonsense. They’re still singing about country staples (trucks, beers and livin’ low), but they mean it, dang it. They really mean it.

FRIDAYJuly 8

World Games Medal Events

Speed Skating Track (Powell Steam Plant, 8 a.m.)
Powerlifting (BJCC, 11 a.m.)
Underwater Finswimming (Birmingham Crossplex, 3:15 p.m.)
Karate (Birmingham Southern College, 5 p.m.)
Speed Skating Track (Powell Steam Plant, 5 p.m.)

Kyle Kimbrell with GEMS and Dustin Price (The Nick, 10 p.m.) — Birmingham singer-songwriter Kyle Kimbrell recent 2020 album “From Rust to Real” was a standout, and had the fingerprints of some other greats of the Birmingham music scene all over it (it was partially recorded at Communicating Vessels and was mastered by Jason Hamrick of Cornelius Chapel Records). He’s partially backed up here by Galactic Engineers of Magnetic Sounds (G.E.M.S.) a Michael and Lauren Shackelford project, they of The Grenadines.

SATURDAYJuly 9

World Games Medal Events

Archery Compound Target (Avondale Park, 9 a.m.)
Speed Skating Track (Powell Steam Plant, 9 a.m.)
Powerlifting (BJCC, 10 a.m.)
Underwater Finswimming (Birmingham Crossplex, 3:15 p.m.)
Karate (Birmingham Southern College, 4:30 p.m.)
Speed Skating Track (Powell Steam Plant, 4:30 p.m.)

Chris Davis: Seriously, I’m Not Gay (Birmingham Festival Theatre, 7:30 p.m.) — Chris Davis is one of the funniest people in Birmingham. Period. Now he’s adding solo theatre performances to the list of ways in which he’s delivering that funny to your face (when he’s not doing stand-up, he performs with both Ugly Baby and ETC improv troupes and hosts virtual walks with the city on his weekly stream Walkin’ Around With Chris).

Parachute Punk Show: B.R.A.T., Day Job, and B.O.R.N. (Saturn, 8 p.m.) — New Orleans hardcore punk band B.R.A.T. invade Saturn. They’re backed up by local hardcore punks Day Job and B.O.R.N., because…acronyms for the win!

SUNDAYJuly 10

World Games Medal Events

Drone Racing (Protective Stadium, 10 a.m.)
Powerlifting (BJCC, 11 a.m.)
Gymnastics: Parkour (Sloss Furnaces, 3 p.m.)
Life Saving (Birmingham Crossplex, 5 p.m.)
DanceSport: Breaking (Sloss Furnaces, 7:45 p.m.)

The Wizard of Oz (Alabama Theatre, 2 p.m.) — There’s no place like the Alabama Theatre for watching classic flicks, and “The Wizard of Oz” is about as classic as it gets. Come get your ruby slippers on, and make sure to show up early if you want to participate in a sing-along accompanied by the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ.

Lyla DiPaul with B. Snipes (The Nick, 10 p.m.) — NOLA songstress Lyla DiPaul is clear-voiced and heart-full, and though her songs are fairly straightforward tales of of love and loss, they’re delivered with real depth and feel. She’s joined by B. Snipes, a Birmingham-based indie-folk artist.