Philadelphia Weekly

Calendar: Sept. 14-20

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Wednesday, Sept. 14

Monte Montgomery
Like a street artist, guitar virtuoso Monte Montgomery sketches with extraordinary dexterity, deftness
and intricacy, his hands a blur of activity producing a sound stunning as a Taser. At 13, he skipped a year of school to join his folk-singing mother on tour and never looked back. He plays electrified acoustics with a surgeon’s skill segueing from moments of delicate folk beauty to raw, slashing blues, notes gathering into foreboding storms that part to reveal beatific blue skies. Not
content with guitar divinity, Montgomery’s honed his songwriting skill, reaching a new level with 2008’s self-titled seventh studio album. His daughter’s subsequent accidental death prompted a career re-evaluation, only recently picking up the touring pace. -Chris Parker

8pm. $21. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. worldcafelive.com

Big Questions
Chicago-based graphic novelist Anders Nilsen’s new book, Big Questions, collects the strips he’s been self-publishing in individual issues for 10 years. It’s heavy. Yeah, yeah, it’s more than 600 pages and weighs about six pounds, but not just that kinda heavy. Nilsen wrestles with the BIG metaphysical jawns: What’s it all about? Why are we doing what we’re doing? But the questions are asked by birds in a bird-world, specifically one where the birds have encountered a bizarre event. When a plane crashes and they mistake one of its bombs for a gigantic egg, their lives turn upside down. There’s also a snake, an idiot and a fowl named Algernon, and their stories unfold with the grace and grandeur of a Terrence Malick film. Nilsen’s reading at Brickbat tonight, but not alone. He’s bringing comic Marc Bell, the artist behind Pure Pajamas, with him. -Elliott Sharp

7pm. Free. Brickbat Books, 709 S. Fourth St. 215.592.1207. brickbatbooks.blogspot.com
 
Feastival
This year’s Feastival unites dynamic artistic performances with world-class restaurants, brought to you courtesy of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe. Attendees will be treated to a culinary feast from 75 of Philly’s top restaurants and bars, led by co-hosts and cuisine superstars Stephen Starr, Michael Solomonov and Audrey Claire Taichman. As you nosh on delicacies, you will be entertained by the less edible but equally palatable choreography of Brian Sanders, live painting by the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and a circus performance by Montreal’s 7 Fingers. You’ll definitely want to come back next year for seconds. -Trishula Patel

6pm. $250-$350. Pier 9, 121 N. Columbus Blvd. 215.413.9006. phillyfeastival.com

The Big Bang
The most brilliantly stupid production in Philadelphia theater history returns to Center City with the Kimmel Center’s revival of The Big Bang. Penned by Jed Feuer and Boyd Graham, the 80-minute musical made its area debut in 2004 in a riotous production at Act II Playhouse starring the irresistible Ben Dibble and Tony Braithwaite. Braithwaite went on to win a Barrymore Award for outstanding actor in a musical and the production became an instant classic. At the Kimmel’s cozy Innovation Studio, the duo recreate their spectacular performances as two neophyte producers hoping to recruit investors for their lavish $83,000,000 musical depicting the entire history of the world. Pitching the show to would-be backers, the pair performs all 318 roles from their conceived extravaganza (include a stunningly funny bit involving the Virgin Mary and Mrs. Gandhi) and harmonize on catchy songs like the spectacularly silly showstopper “Free Food and Frontal Nudity.” -J. Cooper Robb

7pm. $30-$39. Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St. 215.893.1999. kimmelcenter.org

Thursday, Sept. 15

Two Gallants
It’s been so long since San Francisco indie-folk duo Two Gallants have made a peep (they’ve been on hiatus for a few years), it’s almost hard to remember they were once touted as the “next big thing” in the mid 2000s. Or that singer-guitarist Adam Stephens and drummer-singer Tyson Vogel once got Tasered by a cop investigating a “noise complaint” at a 2006 gig in Houston. Or that the duo offers a brilliant sound that combines evocative, mostly acoustic folk-blues with a stormy p