Friday Music – Private Dancer with Blind Shake, Birthday Suits Private Dancer is an A&E favorite and you can bet money that at least one of us will be in attendance at the Turf Club tonight. Perhaps we like their jangly Iggy Popp-y sound, or perhaps we just like the fact that they’re the perfect bar band. They’ve gotten a ton of buzz from local music critics who hope they won’t burn out and fade away. Either way, the Turf Club is the venue to see Private Dancer at, not only for its cheap PBR but for its typical rock-club decor and atmosphere. Turf Club, 1601 University Ave. W. 9 p.m. $6 Music – Taste of Minnesota The 757s, The Romantics, Pop Evil, Whitesnake, Judas Priest Taste of Minnesota is really satisfying my love of hair bands this summer, and Whitesnake, well, let’s just say that David Coverdale and I have similar hairstyles and that I’ve pretended to be redheaded vixen Tawny Kitaen dancing on the cars in their “Here I Go Again (On my Own)” video. But I digress. Tonight is the second night of Taste of Minnesota’s concerts, and while this one doesn’t hold a candle to the fact that ELVIS COSTELLO is playing tomorrow, if you like epic speed metal, then Judas Priest is the band to see. And OMG, like, did you know the lead singer Rob Halford is gay? Pioneer Press Main Stage, Harriet Island, St. Paul $8 All Taste of Minnesota information can be found here. Theater – Broadway/Kellogg Lot, Downtown St. Paul 8 p.m. $75 Music – Legends of Rock’n’Roll Tribute Tribute bands can be either really amazing, really ridiculous, or really awful. How will the bands paying tribute to Rush, the Ramones, and Nirvana fare tonight at the 501 Club? It’s an odd assortment of bands to pay tribute to: God-centric Canadians Rush, no-song-over-two-minutes punk forefathers the Ramones, and grunge mopers Nirvana. However, tribute bands have proven to be popular, and since most of these bands are now defunct, watching local bands try to replicate their mystique is the closet shot you’ve got. 501 Club, 501 Washington Ave. S. 9 p.m. Saturday Dancing – Dance Party Saturdays Going to Club Jager on Wednesday nights for Transmission, their weekly dance party, is one of A&E’s favorite things to do. DJ Jake Rudh always entertains, and the dance parties are so successful that the bar has added a Saturday 4th celebration. You never know who’ll be the DJ, but that doesn’t really matter because the bar’s made for fun. The dancefloor is sizable, the music is always great (from Velvet Underground to Passion Pit and back again) and there’s a huge backyard patio for the smokers among us, or for whenever your dancing lungs need some air. Clubhouse Jager 932 Washington Ave. N. 10 p.m. free Movies – 10 Second Film Festival Ten-second films? What’s the point in that? Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. This mini-festival, now in its fifth summer, will take place outdoors following the St. Anthony Main fireworks and premieres the top 100 ten second films created by random folks like us. There may be comedy, there’s definitely nudity and adult content (more reason to go!) and every mini-film, well, flickers quickly across the screen. The Debut play the role of the night’s “pit band,” and local celebrities like Alexis from Vita.mn and Barb Abney from the Current appear. Intrigued by this ADD-friendly fest? You can view old stuff here. The Soap Factory, 110 5th Ave. S.E. around 10:15 p.m. 4th of July – Fantastic Fourth Can you think of a place lovelier to spend the 4th of July wandering about than the Walker’s Sculpture Garden? Its trademark cherry is such a touchstone of Minneapolis that it’s got to swell your city pride, if not your nation adoration, just a tad. Visitors are encouraged to decorate their bikes for prizes, hula-hoop to their heart’s content and listen to performances from such varied artists as Haley Bonar and the Sumunar Gamelan Ensemble. Of course, this is also an event that will very likely be swarmed with hipster couples and their children, so if you hate the under-10 set, stay away and go to the beach instead. Minneapolis Sculpture Garden 726 Vineland Place 4th of July – St. Anthony 4th of July Celebration Celebrate the 4th on the riverfront and watch the Minneapolis fireworks here – be warned that this is a family-friendly event, so getting wasted around young children might be frowned upon. However, the fireworks promise to be fabulous (as they should be; they cost a ton) and the best part is the Neil Diamond/Elvis tribute shows planned. What’s better than tribute bands? NOTHING, as we stated before. Especially if they’re paying homage to the King of Rock’n’Roll and his sequin-friendly Jewish cousin. Tuggs Tavern, 219 Main St. S.E. 5-10:30 p.m. free Music – Taste of Minnesota, Elvis Costello & the Imposters How on Earth Taste of MN managed to get uber-legend Elvis C. to perform tonight is beyond me, but they did, and props to them for that feat. The question is, will Minnesotans flock out to Harriet Island to see the man of a thousand faces? (Post-punk, schmaltz, bluegrass, etc. – Elvis has done it all.) He’ll be playing from his new album, “Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane,” but hopefully he’ll throw in a few old gems, like my personal favorite, “Alison.” Anyway, this is a ridiculously cheap way to catch a legend, so spend Independence Day with a British singer who used to go by Declan McManus. Yay America! Harriet Island 8 p.m. $10 Sunday Music – No Doubt Is there any girl of our generation who doesn’t think Gwen Stefani is the coolest girl to walk the planet? She’s 39 now and still manages to be as awesome and stylish as she was 10 years ago, back in the days of “Tragic Kingdom” and “Return of Saturn” when she rocked pink hair and braces, or athletic pants and bindis. Has any frontwoman, save Debbie Harry, been cooler? The band is back together after Gwen’s two solo jaunts and plays the Excel tonight, so henna up your hands, paste on your bindi, and pay tribute to the Gwen you fell in love with. Paramore opens. Excel Energy Center, 175 Kellogg Blvd W., St. Paul 7:30 p.m. $39.50-80 Music – The-Dream After two of his singles became huge hits for other artists (“Touch My Body” for Mariah Carey and “Umbrella” for Rihanna), Grammy-nominated Terius Nash (aka The-Dream) figured it was time to go out on his own, and here he is tonight at Epic. My roommates and I are particularly fond of a Hood Internet mash-up of his “Shawty is a Ten” interspliced with Broken Social Scene’s “Bodhi Sappy Weekend.” Trust us, it’s aces. The-Dream often croons in a Prince-esque falsetto but retains his streetwise cred. Now he’s dating Christina Milian and they’re on the cover of the final issue of “Vibe” magazine, so yeah, we’ll be seeing his face again. 110 N. 5th St. 10 p.m. $25 Music – Taste of Minnesota, Bret Michaels I’ve seen Bret Michaels three times in my life, and every time was for free at the Fargo Fair. Of course, this was post-Poison infamy and pre-Rock of Love, when ol’ Bret was just a washed-up, eyeliner-wearing ’80s throwback. And you know what? He put on one of the most fun shows I’ve ever been to, no lie. I recommend you go tonight only if he refrains from playing his solo crap and sticks to the Poison classics, and I really recommend wearing Bret-approved garments, like tiny shorts, bra tops, fringe, and leather. Stripper shoes not required, but could score you a sloppy makeout session with the extension-sporting, diabetic rock of loooove. Theater – Shakespeare on the Lawn Three guys (in tights, no less) manage to run through all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in a compact 97-minute show. Wow! From high school required reading “Julius Caesar” to “Romeo & Juliet” and “Othello,” I’m actually really intrigued about this idea. Do they pull it off? The original play ran for 10 years in London and calls itself a “high-speed rollercoaster type condensation of all Shakespeare’s plays.” It’s not for people with inner-ear disorders or those inclined to motion sickness, say its creators. Whether your familiarity with Will S. stopped in 10th grade or in one of those English classes at the U where you have to buy his complete works (bookshelf bragging rights), seeing his entire repertoire in an hour and a half seems like fun to me. Brit’s Pub, 1110 Nicollet Ave. 6 p.m. free Restaurant hopping – The King & I Thai The King & I Thai’s chef, Bou Haanpaa, opened her restaurant in 1981 and continues to serve traditional recipes from Thailand with a unique spin, and the cocktails are said to be some of the best in the city. One of Haanpaa’s specialties is her curry, which she works on for hours to make sure that it’s flavor is of utmost saturation and deliciousness. The menu is as staggeringly huge as the portions, ranging from fried rice to vegetarian dishes like mock duck egg rolls. Stay later in the lounge and rub elbows with the regulars, who tend to be the friendly kind of hipsters. 1346 LaSalle Ave. Restaurant: 4:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. Lounge: 4:30 p.m. – 2 a.m. Culture to Consume Watch This:Synesthesia, a video by Terri Timely, tries to visually sum up the condition, where “one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color.” My editor Becky has synesthesia, as do lots of other really creative folks. For those of us without the ability to give letters a color (I wish!), the video is super strange, what with cats jumping from speakers and headphones plugged into eggs. I have to keep watching it to understand it even a tiny bit. Click This:Five Tunes asks emerging/local/indie/just plain deserving musicians what five songs they’re listening to lately and provide accompanying MP3s. Because of the site I discovered a Beatles song, “Long Long Long,” that I’d never known existed, and I really enjoy knowing that Owen Ashworth from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is loving George Jones’s county classic, “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” at the moment. Listen to This: Everyone, from my bro neighbors to the hipster bars to the grocery store, is listening to Michael Jackson, the dearly departed King of Pop. In fact, as I write this from my deck, said bro neighbors are blasting “Remember the Time.” Earlier in the day, it was “PYT,” complete with their vocal stylings. But there’s a reason that MJ is on everyone’s iPod and selling out record stores and iTunes shops – for the most part, his discography flows from year to year, song to song, and nosejob to nosejob with only a few duds. Eat This:Trader Joe’s opened a new location in St. Paul on Randolph and Lexington, and of course my foodie roommates and I checked it out. It’s a zoo in there! Pandemonium, all for low-priced, delicious, oft-organic grocery goods. Okay, well, it makes sense. The staff was incredibly friendly, there were samples (always a plus, ALWAYS), and, of course, we got suckered into buying a lot of things we didn’t exactly need just cause they looked good. But I got my basic groceries for about $15, which keeps TJ’s fairly comparable to Rainbow and far cheaper than Lunds. Drink This:So now that the notoriously delicious and thrifty grocery emporium is open, its patrons are allowed to stock up on its famous $3 “Three Buck Chuck” wine deal. I tried one of the whites to mixed results, but did find a lovely little Lambrusco for $5 that more than trumped the one we buy at Surdyk’s for $9. Perfect place to get birthday wine or dinner party beverages, since the most expensive bottle is around $15. Read This: Honestly, I don’t know what all this vampire fuss is about, but it’s catching on in the fashion world as well. This New York Times style section story about the influence of the undead on fashion claims that vampire culture, stemming from “Twilight,” “True Blood,” and the CW’s “Vampire Diaries” have had quite the affect on both fashion magazine editorials, where skinny pale models play faux-Cullens, and on the runways, where those aforementioned mannequins stalk runways in black lace. Now that I’ve read about it, I can’t help but notice that my “W” magazine is all about bloodsuckers. The vampire obsession is spreading! (As long as the male models don’t sparkle, it’s OK.)