Nashville Pussy 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 1 One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St., 569-8361 If you enjoy Ted Nugent riffs performed by aggressive women in leopard-print bras who spit beer on the crowd, deep throat long-neck bottles of beer, and occasionally breath fire, then Nashville Pussy might be right up your alley. Believe it or not, guys at Nashville Pussy shows generally go bonkers for a spray of beer spat by the dames. In the band's DVD Keep on F--kin' in Paris (Music Video Distributors) one lucky Frenchmen got to practice his nation's trademark kiss on lead guitarist Ruyter Suys while her husband and bandmate Blaine Cartwright watched. The current is local girl, KatieLynn Campbell who replaced Tracy Almazan, who replaced Corey Parks (who's the brother of Cherokee Parks, the forward/center for the Golden State Warriors). Before Nashville Pussy, Campbell played in the Hazard County Girls, Famous Monsters and Sugartank. $12 cover. -- Reuben Brody

Jonathan Richman 10 p.m. Wednesday, June 2 One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St., 569-8361 While mod-obsessed kids started dressing square-yet-hip just last year, Jonathan Richman has always been a dork in a striped shirt playing lo-fi rock 'n' roll. And though we like to think of him as a big-kid type, playing songs about ice cream and parties, he's dabbled in more serious issues, however innocently. Lately, the founder of the Modern Lovers has been contributing to the anti-war effort; he plays songs like 'Not In My Name' live, and lends his support to the political action group Voice of Democracy, along with better-known iconoclasts such as activist Ron Kovic and comedian David Cross. Richman's current live tour is leading up to the release of his newest effort, Not so Much to Be Loved as to Love, on Neil Young's Vapor label. He also released a live DVD last year titled Take Me to the Plaza, which documents a show at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall in 2002. Jesse Denatale opens. $10 cover. -- Cristina Diettinger

Bonnie "Prince" Billy 10 p.m. Thursday, June 3 One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St., 569-8361 If the name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy doesn't ring a bell, maybe the name Palace does. B.P.B. plays dark folk, and Palace plays rockin' alt-country, but both projects are masterminded by moniker monger Will Oldham. He adds to the confusion on his new album, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music (Drag City), covering/revisiting his own songs in the least expected ways. He's best known for showing an indie-pop disregard for tuning and key, singing dark, affecting folk with such sadness and honesty that his simple mountain tunes come off like devastating folk dirges. This time, though, he arranges them as country songs with Nashville studio hands adding fiddle and pedal steel. Remarkably, the frailty and melancholy in Oldham's music remains. Call club for cover. -- Rob Bryant

Save Our Lake Back to the Beach Festival 6 p.m. to midnight Friday, June 4; 3 p.m. to midnight Saturday, June 5; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, June 6 Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena, 836-SAVE The Ponchartrain Basin Foundation hosts its 15th Annual Back to the Beach Festival to celebrate a more environmentally healthy lake and pay tribute to the efforts of volunteers, sponsors and local musicians, past and present. Featured performers include Marcia Ball, the Producers and Rockin' Dopsie Jr., the Molly Ringwalds, the Bucktown All-Stars, and Bag of Donuts. Children will also get their fill of fun with events such as a kids' casting contest hosted by the LA BASS Federation and the New Orleans Saints Jr. Training Camp, with a chance to meet and greet Saints player Steve Gleason. Throughout the weekend, kids can partake in inflatable games and scale a rock-climbing wall. On Sunday, a car show will feature street rods, custom cars, racecars, bikes, bicycles and antiques. Tickets $20 per car until Thursday, $25 the day of each show. Call 836-SAVE for more information. -- Katie LaCorte

Dames at Sea 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, June 4-5; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6 Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré, 616 St. Peter St., 522-2081 Bring your Dramamine and climb aboard Le Petit Theatre for George Haimsohn and Robin Miller's classic satire on 1930s movie musicals in Dames at Sea. Big Easy Entertainment Award winner Karen Hebert (as Mona Kent), Katherine Adams (as Ruby), Cher Westcott (as Joan), Bob Edes (as Hennessy and The Captain), Bryan Wagar (as Lucky) and Brian Rosenberg (as Dick) stage a show set on and around a battleship that encounters chaos during a rehearsal when the group's theater is demolished. A young chorus girl comes to the cast's rescue, and the show is moved to the deck of a frigate. Derek Franklin and Sonny Borey direct a cast that will tap-dance to songs by Jim Wise, whose music made Bernadette Peters a star in its original production. Cecile Casey Covert and Carolyn C. Barrois designed the costumes, while Bill Walker provided the production design. Tickets $26 adults, $21 students. Call 522-2081 for reservations or more information. -- LaCorte

Juleps in June 8 p.m. Friday, June 4 The Palacois House, 5824 St. Charles Ave., 524-2940 As New Orleans lumbers toward summer swelter, the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society hosts its second annual soiree appropriate to the season and its literary purpose. Held in the garden of Walter Flower III, the party hosts guest of honor Julia Reed, who will sign her new book, The Queen of the Turtle Derby & Other Southern Phenomena. Guests are encouraged to dress in summer-style frocks, linen and white summer suits. The Red Stick Ramblers, a Baton Rouge-based band known for injecting a youthful, swinging vigor to a classic Cajun style, provide the tunes. Food will be catered by Upperline. Tickets to Juleps in June are $75. Patron levels start at $250 and increase to $1,000. Proceeds from the event benefit The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, a nonprofit that sponsors the annual Words & Music Festival, the Double Dealer literary magazine, the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition and author readings. -- Etheridge

2004 New Orleans Playwrights Festival 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, June 4-5 Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., 581-5812 Le Chat Noir's 2004 New Orleans Playwrights Festival proves that two can be better than one with its productions of Things I&185;ve Done and Mating Habits. Carl Walker directs Things I've Done, a twisted tale of innocence, obsession and failed trust. Sean Patterson directs Mating Habits, a short work originally shown at 2002's DramaRama, with the scene set in an aquarium. Both productions feature an array of cast members, including Andy English, Jerry Lee Leighton, Lisa Picone, Ashley Ricord, Carol Sutton and Jessie Terrebonne in Things I've Done, and Picone, Ricord and Terrebonne join Sandra Moorman, Nick Thompson and Cammie West in Mating Habits. Tickets $18 general public, $12 students with ID. -- LaCorte

Press Club Awards Ceremony 6 p.m. Saturday, June 5 Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel, 100 Bourbon St., 523-1010 The Press Club of New Orleans will honor achievements in local media with an awards ceremony featuring a national star. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, the bright, brash host of the nightly program Anderson Cooper 360, leads the 46th annual ceremony that will recognize achievement in print, broadcast and online media as well as public relations work. The Press Club's Lifetime Achievement awards will be presented to two honorees, WWL-TV cameraman Willie P. Wilson Jr. and MCMedia CEO William M. Metcalf Jr. Wilson was lauded in a 2003 Gambit Weekly story as 'the dean of local television news photographers' and started his career when a camera was put in his hand during the 1973 sniper attacks at the downtown Howard Johnson's hotel. Metcalf's current projects include the recently launched BIZ New Orleans, New Orleans Magazine, La Prensa and Biz Radio 990 AM and LaFabulosa 830 AM. The $45 tickets include an open bar and hors d'oeuvres and are available to the public. -- Etheridge

Astral Project 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday, June 5 Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, 626 Frenchmen St., 949-0696 Astral Project celebrates the release of its latest CD on Saturday at Snug Harbor. During Astral Project's performance at Jazz Fest, the song 'Cowboy Bill' changed intensities effortlessly as James Singleton alternated between trying to pull the strings off his bass, then more gently caressed out the notes. The theme, played by Tony Dagradi, had a touch of 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' to it. In fact, it seemed like jazz for an action movie, though it doesn't feel like that on the band's fifth album, The Legend of Cowboy Bill (Independent). The intensity shifts are less radical in the studio, where it's easier to admire the subtler decisions. The reflective 'Down Time' swings harder than you might expect, considering Johnny Vidacovich's light touch with the brushes and sticks in the track. A minute from the end of the bouncy 'Too Close for Comfort,' Dagradi and guitarist Steve Masakowski suddenly duel, then stop almost as abruptly. Those touches -- the little things -- set Astral Project apart. $15 cover. -- Alex Rawls

Petey Pablo 9 p.m. Saturday, June 5 House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE Informed by back country preachers as much as urban beats, Petey Pablo's raps on his latest, Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry, show amazing range. He works the tongue-tripping Jamaican toasting style of 'Did You Miss Me' (featuring Baby and TQ), the simple funk of 'Let's Roc,' which turns on such an eccentric, recorder-like synth riff you might make the mistake of thinking Petey is related to Augustus Pablo. 'He Spoke to Me' is a gospel rave-up based on Al Green's 'Love and Happiness.' Pablo can tell a story, too. Check out the cinematic 'Stick 'em Up' and 'Get On Dis Motorcycle,' featuring Bubba Sparxxx. Pablo also makes the most of samples, tapping George Clinton's 'P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)' for a scorching guest shot from Missy Elliott, dropping the Munsters theme into the freaky 'Boys Bathroom' and reaching into metaphysics to translate Chicago's '25 or 6 to 4' into 'What You Know About It.' Tickets $20. -- John Swenson

The Black and White Blues ' 100th Show 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 7 Le Chat Noir, 715 St. Charles Ave., 581-5812 The Black and White Blues celebrates its 100th performance Monday, June 7, at Le Chat Noir. It's an oft-heard adage that in New Orleans, our dining table conversations revolve around talk of the current meal, memories of past meals and dreams of meals to come. This obsession with local culinary culture apparently extends to the stage as well, as The Black & White Blues celebrates its 100th performance, a milestone underscoring the work's stunning success. A winner at both the Big Easy and Storer Boone awards, The Black & White Blues looks at the restaurant world from the worn but witty vantage point of the workers who serve you. Staged every week at Le Chat Noir since its August 2002 debut, the musical combines the writing and lyrics of Ricky Graham with music composed by Harry Mayronne. The cast features Bob Edes, Heidi P. Junius, Jessie Terrebonne and Chris Wecklein. An original recording was even made of the play, with the CD available in most local music stores. For more info, visit www.blackandwhitebluesthemusical.com. -- Etheridge

Rasputina, Faun Fables, Baby Rosebud 10 p.m. Monday, June 7 Howlin' Wolf, 828 S. Peters St., 522-WOLF Rasputina is your typical pop band, if a typical pop band has members who play cello, violin and percussion, write tunes with titles such as 'My Captivity By Savages' and 'Momma Was an Opium Smoker,' and dress in late-period Victorian clothes. The new album, Frustration Plantation, was inspired by a visit to some of Louisiana's plantations and 'sterilized slave cabins.' The songs have a slightly precious but intense tone, and Raputina gets a lot of sound out of the bows flying back and forth over sometimes distorted strings while drums push the rhythm forward. This is a band that knows how to make the best of a strange mood. It is definitely rock 'n' roll, but more in the Elysian Fields/Morphine vein than the Train/Limp Bizkit vein. Faun Fables, a band that shares a dark sound and similar attitude opens, as well as Ninth Ward faves Baby Rosebud. $12 cover. -- David Kunian

Gene Koss: Projects and Sculpture 1974-2004 Through July 3 Tulane University, Newcomb Gallery, 314-2406 From little acorns mighty oak trees grow. When Gene Koss came here some 30 years ago, glass was not part of our art scene. Today, this city is one of America's top 10 art glass centers, and Koss and his Tulane glass program deserve much of the credit. His bold vision, which took glass "off the pedestal and into the landscape," as well as his mastery of the techniques and traditions of glassmaking, are evident in this Newcomb Gallery retrospective featuring an array of works and large sculptures from the past three decades. This show is held in conjunction with the International Glass Arts Society's 34th annual conference, June 10-12. In addition to numerous exhibitions at Julia Street galleries, the conference also hosts demonstrations at various local glass studios about town, as well as lectures at the Fairmont Hotel and Contemporary Arts Center. -- D. Eric Bookhardt