Michael Kelsey Leads Off Monon Food Co Summer Music Series

Lafayette, Indiana's Michael Kelsey plays the guitar, and anything else within his reach. The multi-talented, omni-musical Kelsey has long been a favorite for IndySocial -- we've enjoyed seeing him regularly at places like Birdy's, and even had the real pleasure of attending one of his famous house party performances, at Monon Food Company founder Tim Williams' pad.

So it is fitting that we report the news that Michael Kelsey will lead off the Monon Food Co's Summer Music Series with a performance on June 19 at 9pm at the Broad Ripple eatery.

Monon Food Company, quickly becoming known for "the best Fish Tacos in Indy" offers a fine selection of Micro Brews,  and is located at the corner of 65th and Cornell (6420 Cornell Avenue) along the scenic Monon Trail.




 

Broad Ripple Art Fair Celebrates 40th Festival

Thousands of art-loving Hoosiers took advantage of the good weather, packing the Monon Trail and occupying every parking spot for miles, to enjoy the 40th Anniversary of the Broad Ripple Art Fair.

Giant rusted lawn sculptures,  live bands and the smell of kettle corn set the scene as artists from around the state, and around the country set up shop in a temporary tent city of galleries, jewelry shops, restaurants and informational booths.

The two-day festival, put on by the Indianapolis Arts Center,  featured more that 225 artists, who along with dozens of food vendors and arts organizations filled the lawns of the Indianapolis Arts Center on East 67th street.  "This reminds me of Penrod," one patron noted, "Broad Ripple Art Fair has gotten huge."
 Despite the $15 adult admission fee (patrons who attended Saturday were offered wrist bands to return for Sunday) the two-day festival was well attended. And, to the relief of many the weather was good with only a few brief Indiana Spring showers pulsing through.

Jay Jaffe, a local attorney who has been coming to the art fair for many years noted that the caliber of the artists, and the price point of the featured art, had gone upscale.  "I always buy something every year, " he said, "and I expect to leave here today with another piece of original art to add to my collection."

The Return of Jack Merde

Back when Indy was still referred to as "Nap Town", before the Colts came to the Circle City, before Bob and Tom changed our mornings forever; back in the early eighties when the Hoosier Dome was still a dream, local hipsters relied on a host of free arts and entertainment magazines to keep them abreast of all the happenings. These were the wild days before the Internet put everything at our finger-tips. Anybody out there remember reading Poor Jack's, The Bloomington Free Ryder or Steppin' Out?

The publishers of two of the most notorious of the street rags, Taboo, and Hot Potato, are getting together for a gonzo renuion of sorts.  Hosted by Taboo Publishers Don Berry and his long-time partner/competitor Terry Lowe (Hot Potato),  the event is being promoted as the Social Event of this year's Memorial Day Weekend festivities in Indianapolis.

The evening will take place at RADIO RADIO in Fountain Square, and will feature the bands, the rockers, the punks, the artists and the glam crowd that packed venues like Crazy Al's and The Patio in the 1980s.

According to co-host Terry Lowe, "If you remember the Broad Ripple Music Festival, Taboo Nights and Hot Potato, you won't want to miss this 'one night only event' when we get the gang back together for a wild night of inappropriate social behavior."

Featured entertainment includes:

* RANDY KING AND THE FIENDISH THINGIE

* DAVE FULTON AND THE LAST DIGIT

* CELEBRITY GUEST DJ MARVIN P.

* PLUS A SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY INDIANA'S NOTORIOUS GONZO JOURNALIST, JACK MERDE

Doors open at 8 pm. $5 Cover Charge.

A Night of Vonnegut Comes to Athenaeum

It was called Das Deutsche Haus when Kurt Vonnegut's grandfather designed the ornate German  gymnastics club in 1898. It was renamed "Athenaeum" during WWI because of anti-German sentiment. Today, the site is best known for its Bavarian outdoor biergarten and Rathskeller nightclub.

This Saturday night, May 8th, the spirit of the beloved sardonic Indianapolis literary figure will once more fill the historical theatre as the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library Foundation hosts "A Night of Vonnegut."  Proceeds from the benefit will go towards the completion of the new Vonnegut Library, which planners say will serve as a cultural and educational resource center, museum, art gallery, and reading room for readers, writers, and students.

 The event is $75, with a limited number of student tickets reserved at $45, and will include dinner at the Rathskeller, jazz stylings of the Tim Brickley Jazz Band, a Kurt Vonnegut look-alike contest, game show, and a silent auction.

Tickets are available online here:


 

 

 

 

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Mary Jo DeMyer brings Birds Mostly to Domont

The Domont Studio Gallery, 545 South East Street, will play host to the whimsical art of Mary Jo DeMyer. "Birds Mostly" debuts on Friday May 6th, and will run through May 29th.

According to the artist, who is married to Indy musician Larry DeMyer, the show "represents the interrupted yearnings of an overly concerned middle-aged woman tending to the emotional needs of inanimate objects and the care and feeding of loved ones -- feathered or not."

Sounds like fun to us! Admission is free.