JournalStar.com - Ground Zero Online

Best bets

Thursday, Jul 29, 2004 - 06:26:45 pm CDT

BYL. KENTWOLGAMOTT

As you can tell from the Ground Zero cover, there's plenty of music going on in Lincoln this week. We've got stories on Marcia Ball, the JulyJamm headliner; Robert Randolph & the Family Band, which will be at the Rococo Theatre tonight; and Papa Roach, which will bring its big rock show to Knickerbockers on Saturday.

There's also a piece on James Valentine, the Lincoln native who's hit the big time with Maroon 5.Valentine and company will be opening for John Mayer at Kansas City's Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on Tuesday. That's a pretty good distance to go for a show. But it's as close as Maroon 5 is going to come to Nebraska in the foreseeable future.

But that's not even close to all of the notable shows headed for Lincoln this week.

Saturday night, Such Sweet Thunder, a Kearney band that moved to Lincoln and made some serious noise around the region a decade or so ago, will reunite for a show at P.O. Pears.

Sunday afternoon, there are a pair of worthwhile benefit concerts. At P.O. Pears, there'll be another reunion - this time of '80s fun-loving rock 'n' rollers Brainhammer.They'll be joined byKaitlyn and others at a 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. benefit for Sean, a 2-year-old who was critically injured in an accident earlier this year.

Also on Sunday is Hallamstock, a four-band benefit for the victims of the tornado that ripped through southern Lancaster County. On the bill at the 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. show at the Pinewood Bowl in Pioneers Park are: Labelled, One More Time, Paisty Jenny and Cactus Hill.

Sunday night, it's time to rock and roll at Duffy's Tavern with a smokin' three-band bill. The lineup includes 18 Wheeler, a Colorado roots rock act in the Beat Farmers mold; Lincoln's own rockabilly sensation, The Mezcal Brothers, who have released one of the year's best rockabilly records; and The Boss Martians, the Washington garage band, which will be making its second consecutive appearance at July Jamm, then hanging around to play Duffy's.

If you like '60s-rooted garage psychedelia, you can't go wrong with The Boss Martians, who are cool enough that they're regulars in Little Steven's Underground Garage, the radio program/Sirius radio stream produced by Little Steven Van Zandt, who plays guitar with Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band and is a regular on "The Sopranos." That's coolness by association.

Also of note this week are Wednesday's show by Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, who will bring their Texas blues and the gutsy vocals of Sam Myers to the Zoo Bar for a 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. show, and Thursday's return of Kansas' alternative country entertainers SplitLipRayfield to Knickerbockers.

There won't be a busier or better music week in Lincoln this year.So pick a show or two and have some fun.

The summer movie season is going full steam, with two of its last big releases hitting screens today.They are "The Bourne Supremacy,"the well-done sequel to 2002's surprise spy hit, and "Catwoman," an effort to create a superhero franchise with star Halle Berry.

But the biggest ongoing movie news in Lincoln is the success of documentaries "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Super Size Me." The pictures are playing at the Ross Media Arts Center and are doing so well that they've been held over until Aug. 5.

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