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Best Bets, 7/21
By L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / GZO
Friday, Jul 21, 2006 - 12:12:31 am CDT

The big news here this weekend is, of course, the final July Jamm.

The music festival’s headliners understandably get the most attention, but there’s plenty of fun to be had from performers who take the stage earlier in the evening.

Such is the case with 18 Wheeler, a stripped-down, three-piece rockabilly band from Denver that is scheduled to hit the stage at 6 tonight, kicking off the main entertainment for the evening.

“Nothing cerebral here, but we had fun making it.” That’s what drummer Will Sahs, a former Lincolnite, wrote on the sticky note he attached to “Charmed Life,” 18 Wheeler’s new CD.

That’s not a bad way to describe the disc, which explores classic rockabilly themes of cars, girls, ’50s-style fashion, drink and dance with entertaining enthusiasm, staying well within the genre’s confines but still sounding fresh. Among its highlights — a cover of Billy Burnette’s “Are You With Me?” that brings to mind the powerful version of that song done in the ’80s by the LeRoi Brothers, the Stray Cats-like “Rigormortis Cat” and “Good Time Tonight,” the propulsive “What’s This All About?” and the spooky grind “Out of Gas”

As good as it sounds on record, 18 Wheeler’s brand of rock ’n’ roll is always best experienced live.

Tonight’s show is also notable because it’s Sahs’ final performance with the band. He’s moving to Austin, where I’m guessing he’ll end up pounding the skins for another rockin’ group.

On screen

A half-dozen new pictures come to Lincoln screens this weekend. For me, the best of the lot is “Clerks II,” the very politically incorrect, outrageously funny sequel to Kevin Smith’s 1994 indie classic. This one’s a bit hit-and-miss, but it’s still got more laughs than any other other movie this summer. But be forewarned: The humor here is deliberately offensive. You can read more about “Clerks II” on Page 4.

MoPix movie

The MoPix movie again this week is “Superman Returns.” MoPix is a system that allows access to films to the deaf and blind and is available in one of the auditoriums at the Douglas Grand Theatre.

On stage

Kally Duling, Kyle Lorenz, Jon Weber and Whitney Rhodes worked together for the first time in “Footloose” at the Playhouse a few summers ago.The quartet will reunite Thursday in David Rimmer’s comedy “Album,” staged by the student-run No Boxes Productions in the Playhouse’s Studio Theater.

Playhouse acting vet Scott R. Glen is making his directorial debut. The comedy is about four teens and spans four years of their lives during the turbulent 1960s. See story on Page 17.

Clubland

Get out the hairspray and the spandex and head down to Knickerbockers tonight for an invasion of ’80s hair bands. Pop metalists Faster Pussycat, Bang Tango and Adler’s Appetite, featuring Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses, will rock the Ninth and O street club with sounds that almost instantly went out of fashion when grunge rolled in about 15 years ago.

That, hopefully, means the rock star posing will be at a minimum — they are playing a three-band bill at a club, after all. But hair metal was all about style and attitude, so there’s a bit a problem there, eh?

Elsewhere on the local club scene this week, Carla Bozulich and The Dead Science will be at Duffy’s Tavern Wednesday for a 19-and-over show presented by Omaha’s 1% Productions. Here’s how the 1% newsletter describes the show:

“Carla Bozulich is best known as the powerful singer for the L.A.-based band The Geraldine Fibbers. Before that, she was the gamine howler in the confrontational sex assault outfit Ethyl Meatplow. She has one of the most unique voices in any genre (she was, I believe, nominated for ‘Best Female Vocalist’ and ‘Best Male Vocalist’ one year in BAM Magazine!). She’s also a painter, writer and has directed a video for the Fibbers. Her work is at once brutally raw and weirdly visionary.”

The Zoo Bar’s only national touring act this week is Mike Morgan and the Crawl, who’ll bring their brand of Texas blues in on Thursday night. But there is one more show of note. It’s tonight’s swan song of Honey Stump. The Lincoln swampy acoustic blues outfit is calling it quits with a final show. They’re good and deserve a send-off. You can even hit July Jamm, then slide on over for the final set.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.