Night & Day Events

23 Thursday
Country singer Neko Case, who used to record as Neko Case & her Boyfriends, hooked up with a new band, The New Pornographers, for her most recent album, Mass Romantic. We hope her Boyfriends have been compassionate and understanding about her need to play the field — while The New Pornographers’ experimental rock is intriguing and fun (much in the fashion of the defunct Zumpano, several of whose members are in the newer group), it lacks the emotional resonance produced by Case’s union with her tried and trusted Boyfriends. They must be especially loyal, because they’ll be performing with her tonight at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire in Lawrence. So the lyrics to Case’s “Porchlight” might take on new meaning tonight. When she sings, Sorry to tread on your patience my dear/my heart might be willing by this time next year, I can’t make you wait ’cause I long to be forgiven, her Boyfriends might groan in frustration. But they also play without ego, letting the strength of Case’s vocals overwhelm them, which is what really makes the difference for her many admirers. The show starts at 10. For more information call 785-841-5483.

24 Friday
At UMKC’s White Hall, 4949 Cherry, Stanislav Ioudenitch — a locally trained pianist who earned a gold medal in this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition — plays works by Prokofiev, Liszt, Schubert, Bach and Stravinsky beginning at 7:30 p.m. Due to the massive amount of recognition Ioudenitch has received for his success in the Van Cliburn Competition — one Pittsburgh critic said of his winning performance, “I’ve simply never heard this music better performed” — the tickets will sell fast, so call as soon as possible to reserve a seat. Tickets cost $24. For tickets or for more information, call 816-235-6222.

25 Saturday
Today at the Rio, sci-fi buffs can sit back and marvel at Them!, the second film in the Hollywood and the Red Menace film series running in conjunction with the Johnson County Museum of History’s exhibit Cold War: Promise and Fear in the 1950s. In this 1954 flick, a team of scientists and FBI agents is sent to the desert to figure out why people are disappearing. At first the researchers’ only lead is a little girl who cryptically repeats, “Them!” Her testimony might not clearly indicate that the people have been eaten by mutant ants who tower over humans as a result of atomic testing, but that’s what she means. (Listen for a familiar-sounding ant victim’s scream; a favorite of Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt’s, the high-pitched sound has been included in dozens of Industrial Light and Magic-related projects, including this summer’s Planet of the Apes.) The show starts at 11 a.m.; people at the door will ask for optional donations, but admission is free. The Rio is located at 7204 West 80th Street in Overland Park. For more information, call 913-631-6709.

26 Sunday
Fliers advertising the Nerveless Nocks Stunt and Thrill Show at Crown Center Square, 2450 Grand, announce in all caps: “DEATH WILL BE DEFIED. GRAVITY WILL BE OVERCOME. PARKING WILL BE FREE.” If free parking is a phenomenon that ranks among overcoming gravity and defying death, car overpopulation in Kansas City has reached truly epidemic proportions. Still, when performers create a “globe of fear” in which three motorcycles cross paths at high speeds, they do not intend for their stunts to serve as driving instruction for automobile dependents whose nerves might shatter under the pressure of road rage. Shows start at noon, 2 and 4. For more information, call 816-274-8444.

27 Monday
William S. Burroughs is rarely applauded for his interest in tradition; perhaps, however, it’s time to recognize him for his ability to reconfigure convention by infusing it with his own ideas. For example, his series of prints titled Seven Deadly Sins puts a modern spin on each of the infamous seven. Printed in an ornate, biblical-style font, they turn pride into an indulgence of the closed-minded and lust into something as empty as the drive that moves Pavlov’s dogs to salivate. He concludes with, “Sin is the degradation of a natural instinct,” turning the very notion of morality upside down. This series is part of an exhibit called Sum of the Parts: Recent Works on Paper at The Spencer Museum of Art, 1301 Mississippi in Lawrence, which includes prints by artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Dennis Oppenheim. The exhibit is on display through September 9. Meanwhile, the gift shop is offering its own collection of parts that compose a whole: a series of books that focus on different body parts. Visitors can purchase such tomes as Feet in Art, Breasts in Art and Bottoms in Art. For more information, call 785-864-4710.

28 Tuesday
Five Easy Pieces, a 1970 film starring Jack Nicholson, plays tonight at the Englewood, 10917 Winner Road in Independence. Though Nicholson plays a moody misfit, he looks exceptionally good. He also has the appeal of the sad outcast, so smitten moviegoers will inevitably want to earn his affection by being the ones to understand why his character gave up a promising career as a concert pianist to become an oil rigger. This movie includes the infamous scene in which Nicholson orders a chicken salad sandwich and utters in that slow, tense voice he saves for characters at their breaking points, “Hold the chicken — between your knees.” For more information, including show times, call 816-252-2463.

29 Wednesday
Kansas City native Emery Emery brings his stand-up comedy routine back to Stanford and Sons, 504 Westport Road, kicking off a Labor Day-weekend run tonight at 7:30 and again at 9:30. The L.A. resident, who writes a Web column called Critic’s Critic (is this getting repetitive?), claims to be “the most vile performer Kansas City has ever spawned”; if that’s true, his visit is either a rare, not-to-be-missed occasion or a stay-at-home-and-hide kind of weekend. Since Labor Day is coming up, the obstacle that usually prevents people from hiding at home — commonly called “work” — should prove less cumbersome than usual. For more information, call 816-753-5653.