Weekend Culture Compass - Basilica Block Party and Green Day

FRIDAY

Music – Black Francis

What can be said of Frank Black? The legendary frontman of the legendary Pixies has been at it since the mid-'80s and every successful indie band today owes him royalties. Even though Black’s last few solo records haven’t received the critical adoration his Pixies work did, it’s still Frank frickin’ Black.

Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave. S.
9 p.m.
$20

Music – The Guystorm, Military Special

While rockers The Guystorm and Military Special are two of Minneapolis’ finer acts, the real draw of this show will be snooping around Sauce to see what this new venue is all about. It has lined up a pretty impressive list of local artists and has a prime center-Uptown locale, so things appear promising. And for a first show, the raucous gents in the Guystorm should only help make it a memorable one.

Sauce Spirits & Soundbar, 3001 Lyndale Ave. S.
9:30 p.m.
$5

Film – Monty Python and the Holy Grail

You’ve seen. You quoted it endlessly when you were 13. And yes, it still rules. “Holy Grail” may be everyone’s Dad’s favorite flick of all-time, but it stands up well to the ages. A good, clean night of fun can’t get much better than viewing the 1975 British goofball classic on the big screen.

Riverview Theater, 3800 42nd Ave. S.
11:30 p.m.
$5

Festivals – Basilica Block Party

For the fifteenth year, the drunken collection plate known at the Basilica Block Party invades downtown Minneapolis. Ticket prices are almost painfully high and beer prices are sure to follow suit, but still, Twin Cities residents seem to love this damn block party. As for music acts, Friday has The Jayhawks playing the same time as Black Crowes (opt for the ‘Hawks), but the real draw is The Hold Steady (somewhat inexplicably) playing Saturday.

Basilica of St. Mary, 88 17th St. N.
5 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
$35 - $40

SATURDAY

Music – Green Day

Many of us saw Green Day come through town in 2002 with Blink-182. We were all freshly out of 8th grade and had a blast. Then, Green Day had to go see a Michael Moore documentary, take themselves too seriously and invest too heavily in eyeliner. Yes, post-“American Idiot” Green Day has been somewhat of a drag, but it’s still the band that made “Dookie” (they could do themselves a service and remember that) and they probably still kill live.
Target Center, 600 1st Ave. N. N
7 p.m.
$25 - $49.50

Music – A Night in the Box

Don’t feel like dropping $50 and enduring the Target Center’s atrocious sound quality for Green Day? Perhaps seeing an awesome local band in a tiny (but dually awesome) local bar is more your thing. A Night in the Box plays old-timey music even though they’re young pups with a frontman who’s a dead ringer for Jack White, vocally. Downtime is a bar with good food, cheap drinks and a lower ratio of frat brahs than most Dinkytown establishments.

Downtime Bar, 1501 University Ave. SE
9 p.m.
$6
History - Public Enemies: A Retrospective: Exhibit & Memorabilia Evaluation

Kudos to the Landmark Center for striking while the iron’s hot. The film “Public Enemies” is a massive success and the Landmark center is doing a host of gangster-centric events from the 10th through the 28th to channel that hype into something more substantive. Most of the events seem pretty cool, but Saturday’s features of a parade of 1930’s gangster memorabilia (including Dillinger’s hit-list) and local historians and appraisers will be on hand for an “Antiques Roadshow”-ish affair.

Landmark Center, 75 5th St. W., St. Paul
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Free

Food – 75th Annual Raspberry Festival

You like Raspberries? Get your ass in line; they’re fantastic! Like folksy festivals that have been around for as long as your grandmas? Err, probably. Saturday features an arts & crafts fair, but things get more thrilling as the week goes on. We’re talking sports tourneys, karaoke, blood drives AND dancing/fireworks .Don’t get too excited, but the week long event also includes a city-wide search for the “Golden Raspberry.” Only in America/Hopkins!

Between 5th and 17th Aves., Hopkins, Minnesota
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Free

Sunday

Drinking – Bastille Day Annual Celebration

By most standards, Bastille Day (France’s Independence Day) falls on July 14. Never mind the details, though, as Brit’s Pub has lined up quite a little party. Bar rocker Graham Parker will be on hand for a free show and a troupe will be performing 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in a gimmicky 97 minutes. As a show of solidarity to our highly invade-able French counterparts, be sure to get wicked sloshed on wine. They’d want it that way.

Brit’s Pub, 1110 Nicollet Mall
1:30 p.m.
Free

Biking – Minneapolis Bike Film Festival: Co-ed Bike Polo Tourney

This entire festival, which started with a free No Age show on Wednesday, seems pretty cool. The week’s biking, bike-centric film watching and boozy after parties concludes Sunday with the big bike polo tourney. Not to get into predictions, but considering bikers fancy the drink (Stupor Bowl, anyone?), this particular polo tournament might be booze-fueled as well. And if it’s not, more power to our car-less friends and their seemingly dangerous variation on a sport.

McRae Park, 906 47th St. E.
11:30 a.m.
$15 per team

Festivals – Norway Day

Being that we’re the whitest state in the world, why shouldn’t we have the whitest sounding festival in the world? Half-accurate race jokes aside, this event seems like a pleaser for the Garrison Keillor lovers among us. The day beings with church service (of course), features a parade, various booths, food and even live music. After a weekend of debauchery, taking ma and pa to Norway Day seems like an appropriate thing to do. Unless, of course, you’re the rest of Minnesota – then you can just wait for Ireland or Germany Day.

Minnehaha Park & Falls, 4801 Minnehaha Ave. S.
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Free

Music – Chuck Berry; Little Richard

Yes, this show is too expensive, too far away and – considering the venue and start time – will be comprised almost exclusively of retirees who just bought their first motorhomes. That’s sucky. What’s not, on the other hand, is the fact Chuck Berry and Little Richard are music icons, legends and playing the same damn show. If you’ve got the scratch to see these guys play, do yourself a favor and enjoy seeing two of the creators of all rock ‘n roll.

Black Bear Casino Resort, 1785 Hwy. 210 Carlton, MN
6 p.m.
$49 - $59

CULTURE TO CONSUME

Listen to this: Dead Man’s Bones is Ryan Gosling’s (“The Notebook,” “Lars and the Real Girl”) foray into the music world. Must suck, right? Actually, the band – which is a two-piece outfit featuring Zach Shields – is pretty decent. The dudes clearly have a bit of a thing for Nick Cave, but that’s never a bad thing. Plus, they’ve recently been signed to Anti- Records, the home of Tom Waits, Neko Case and – yes – Mr. Nick Cave himself.

Drink this: Olde English 40s. Just when everyone thought the economy was beginning to turn, VP Joe Biden goes and says the administration underestimated the recession’s severity. Drag. In the mean time, pennies need pinching and livers need pounding, so reintroduce yourself to an old fallback: O.E. Some consider the taste putrid, but if that’s the case, simply mix with a Sparx and enjoy the flavor almost identical to Smarties candy. It’s called a “Sidewalk Slam” - it’s delicious.

Eat this: For ten Tues. this season, the Twins are set to display the most outright expression of Americanism there is: baseball and gluttony. For a $34 ticket, fans are granted the opportunity to gorge on unlimited hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, peanuts, pretzels and pop. Sadly, beer is not included, but for the sake of us Twins fans' waistlines, maybe that’s a good thing.

Read this: Based on the surge in popularity of cooking shows, eating shows and the term – sadly – “foodie,” America is not only obsessed with eating food (read above), but also watching it, talking about it, and yes, reading about it. And with that, we have the newly released guide “500 Things to Eat Before it’s too Late: and the Very Best Places to Eat Them.” Authored by award-winning food journalists Jane and Michael Stern, the book has photos, maps, is divided by regions and offers “bests” lists centered on the most essential food groups: pizzas, burgers, pies, ect.

Watch this: While “Borat” was certainly hilarious (save the bro-y cultural backlash it spawned), “Ali G” mastermind Sacha Baron Cohen’s funniest character is undoubtedly the very European, very gay Bruno. Trailers suggest that Bruno has a hotel encounter with libertarian hero Ron Paul, so that alone is worth the ticket price. Expect this blockbuster to be as funny as it will be huge. Opens Friday.

Click this: The one thing media outlets love more than their respective purposes? Talking about themselves and their peers nonstop. Insufferable? Yes. Interesting? Well, that’s up to the reader. If tracking media trends and happenings was too difficult before, now the world has Mediaite.com. Overall, it’s a mildly neat browse with the coolest feature being its “Power Grid” that (somewhat) scientifically charts the buzz around different media personalities.