It Had To Be Uke

It's all about the ukulele. Tonight, Loudon Wainwright III plays the Keswick Theater, with Hot Tuna. He'll bring his guitar, his mandolin, and his ukulele. My interview with LWIII in this morning's Inquirer is here.

On Sunday, at the Brooklyn Bowl (in Brooklyn), the entire Beatles catalog - all 185 songs - will be played on Jake Shimabukuro and George Harrison's favorite instrument - in a 13 hour marathon in which uke enthusaist Roger Greenblatt will be joined by 80 guest musicians and 16 Yoko impersonators. Yes, Sonic Uke will be there, as will suburban Philadelphia rock band Jiggy Nye, who'll be doing "I'll Be Back" and "Ticket To Ride" sometime betwen 3 and 4 p.m. Info here.

And if you don't want to venture all the way to the 718 for your uke fix, or even to Glenside, there'll be a veritable ukulele explosion at the North Star Bar on Saturday night, when Phineas Q. Tinklebottom leads the Philadelphia All-star Ukulele Orchestra through "all your great-grandfather's favorite songs" and promises a "party like it's 1939."

Also on the bill: the Parsnips, the Silence, and veteran Philadelphia garage-rockers Nixon's Head, whose fine new Enemies List just might have favorite album title of the year. Jim Slade and his "rakish ne'er-do-wells," as Professor Tinklebottom refers to Nixon's Head, are the headliners. The four band $8 show starts at 9, and the Uke Orchestra comes on first.

Previously: Welcome Back, A.I.