Night and Day

Wednesday • 29
The Cock Rock Show
MUSIC

The way peace signs, bellbottoms and assorted hippie accoutrements were novelties for Generation X-ers, spandex, leopard print and lamé are what the kids find kitschy these days. It was the bastard child of 1980s Sunset Strip metal and a (mostly) regrettable period in music history — but hair metal and burnout culture make for a hilarious theme night. Enter the Cock Rock Show, an all-metal dance party at Luna in Royal Oak. Complimentary drinks from 9 to 10 p.m. at 1815 N. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-586-3344. Dress the part and you'll get in free.

Thursday • 30
Blanche CD Release
MUSIC

The only thing better than another droll and twangy offering from the nice folks of creepy country band Blanche is an opening performance from Davy Rothbart, the brains behind the brilliant and (formerly) underground Found magazine. Blanche's schedule has been pretty hectic these days — what with the band trekking to Tennessee to record the album, and with banjo player "Little" Jack Lawrence out touring the world with the Raconteurs — but they're all in the same place at the same time this week, and ready to release their newest opus, What This Town Needs at the Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-544-3030.

Thursday • 30
Henry Grimes Trio
MUSIC

Comic books had Captain America trapped in an iceberg all those years. Jazz has Henry Grimes. He played with mainstreamers like Buddy Rich, but gravitated to freedom players like Albert Ayler. Grimes disappeared in the late '60s, only to be tracked down to a one-room California pad by a diligent fan. After decades without touching a bass, he rediscovered his resonant touch and the improv radar that lets him get spacey — then find his way back home. With trumpeter Roy Campbell and drummer Chad Taylor. Bohemian National Home, 3009 Tillman St., Detroit; 313-737-6606.

Thursday • 30
Private Lives
THEATER

This week marks the closing of a terrific play at the Hilberry Theatre. Playwright Noël Coward's incisive look at the true underpinnings of marriage and divorce, Private Lives, is a great old chestnut. It's the tale of Elyot and Amanda — a divorced couple who have each since remarried — and an associated romp through the familiar forest of relationship woes. As the divorced couple discovers that true love often means not being able to live with and not being able to live without someone, the comedy of desperation ensues. At 4743 Cass Ave., Detroit; 313-577-2972.

Friday-Sunday • 1-3
ISIM
MUSIC

Yes, the price is a bit steep: You buy into the whole weekend conference and concert series at the University of Michigan for $100 after shelling out $29-$70 for a membership. But the International Society for Improvised Music is putting on a sort of Edgefest with footnotes, an international gathering with the head-spinning title: Time, Sound and Transcendence: Forging a New Vision for Improvised Music Pedagogy and Practice. Among the 150 participants and performers in 50 sessions: LaDonna Smith, Jane Ira Bloom, Pauline Oliveros, Nicole Mitchell, Connie Crothers and Steve Coleman. Information at isim.edsarath.com.

Friday-Sunday • 1-3
31st Annual Potters Market
ART

As the largest pottery sale of its kind in the country, the annual Potters Market, sponsored by the ceramic technology department at OCC, might be the perfect place to finish up your Christmas shopping. Featuring items from 135 different potters and a selection of stoneware, earthenware, porcelain, raku and smoke-fired pottery that's second to none, this show offers everything from the functional to the whimsical. There's a little something for everyone. At the UFCW Union Hall, 876 Horace Brown Dr., Madison Heights. Call 248-246-2686 or visit thepottersmarket.com for further lowdown.

Saturday • 2
Forward Russia
MUSIC

¡Forward, Russia! is an angsty but cute Brit quartet with a strange name (and goofy punctuation) riding a wave of yearlong UK successes. The group's first hit, 2005's "Nine," sold out in a week, and was exasperatingly hyped on BBC radio. Two ensuing singles, "Thirteen/Fourteen" and "Twelve" claimed even more ears. Bandmembers Tom Woodhead, Rob Canning, Katie Nicholls and Whiskas use guitars, drums, synths and vocals to create a danceable punk-funk racket with traces of 1980s Northern UK agitators Gang of Four and current chartbusters, Bloc Party. ¡Forward, Russia! is part of the so-called New Yorkshire scene, a response to their slightly more experienced regional indie comrades the Arctic Monkeys and the Kaiser Chiefs. The band is touring behind its new full-length, Give Me a Wall, with support by Atlanta's Snowden, a five-piece drawing comparisons to the Cure and Interpol. At the Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700.

Saturday • 2
Noel Night
HOLIDAY/FUN FOR ALL

It isn't Christmastime in Detroit until Noel Night arrives. This longstanding tradition is the ideal way to kick off the holiday season, not to mention a great way to show the city some support. There are carriage rides, dancing, music and an open-house tour of many popular cultural hubs in the Culture Center, including Detroit Institute of Arts, the New Detroit Science Center and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Visit detroitmidtown.com for specifics.

Sunday • 3
X-Trava Con
FUN FOR ALL

In cahoots with their ultra-cool exhibit Zap! Pow! Bang!: The Golden Age of Comic Books, the Jewish Community Center in Bloomfield will host — you got it — a comic convention. The confab should include all the must-haves — action figures, anime, collectibles, HeroClix — plus a special reading from Simcha Weinstein, author of Up Up and Oy Vey. At 6600 W. Maple Rd. Call Motor City Conventions at 248-426-8059 for info.

Sunday • 3
Lottie the Body Tribute
COMMUNITY

Sometimes called Detroit's answer to Gypsy Rose Lee, Lottie "The Body" Claiborne shared far-flung stages across the globe with such artists as Duke Ellington to Aretha Franklin. In recent decades, she's been better known as an energetic jazz MC and hostess, though on a lucky night, a musicgoer might have seen enough of her shimmy to fantasize about more. Donald Walden and his band Free Radicals, singers Shahida Nurullah and Robert McCarther, and others are joining to salute Lottie, and they promise a comedy-song-and-dance extravaganza. From 5 to 9 p.m. at Bert's Marketplace Theatre, 2739 Russell St., Detroit; $20. For more information, call 313-393-3299.