Thursday, 21
Snap! Downtown Grand Opening
ART First things first: Snap! Space is not moving out of the historic Cameo Theater building on Colonial Drive. That location will continue to host the high-quality exhibitions and events you've come to expect (like the current Wild Is the Wind exhibit, which you should hit up before it closes on Jan. 30). The new Snap! Downtown hosts three new galleries, with three new shows filling them for this grand opening event. Local artists Chris Robb and Earl Funk show work inspired by color and changing seasons, respectively, and German artist Mark Gmehling returns to show Nu Werks, a collection of prints of 3-D renderings of his drinsch characters. You've probably seen an example in the giant mural on the side of the Cameo that looms over Mills 50. The opening gala also features food and drinks from the Courtesy Bar and music from DJs Nigel John and Ken Sherry. As for us, we're excited to have another stop on the Third Thursday Gallery Hop. – Thaddeus McCollum
7-10 p.m. | Snap! Downtown, 420 E. Church St. | snaporlando.com | free
Saturday, 23
Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment
ART Even though the long, slow "death of print" resulted in it being sold to Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox global media empire, National Geographic is regarded as the source for thought-provoking, eye-opening and heartbreaking images from around the globe. Whether it's wildlife, war, day-to-day life of human beings around the globe, or the silent majesty of nature's most impressive landscapes, National Geographic sends photographers out to shoot it. This exhibit collects over 100 photographs from 11 photographers in a display of what makes National Geographic great. Diane Cook and Len Jenshel's urban and remote landscapes abut Maggie Steber's black-and-white portraits of people in their beds, while Beverly Joubert snaps intimate portraits of wild leopards. It's a whirlwind tour of the globe through these women's eyes, and a reminder of why we fell in love with those golden-bordered travelogues in the first place. – TM
through April 25 | Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N. Mills Ave. | 407-896-4231 | omart.org | $10
Saturday, 23
Dinner Inspired by Zora
LITERARY If you've lived in Orlando for long, you've probably heard of Zora Neale Hurston, the Harlem Renaissance writer who grew up in Eatonville and later immortalized it in her stories. In her ethnographic masterwork Mules and Men, Hurston collected and preserved not just the folk tales but also the folkways and traditions of early 20th-century African-Americans – including the way they cooked and ate. Frederick Douglass Opie, a food historian and professor at Babson College, analyzed Hurston's work through a food lens in his 2015 book Zora Neale Hurston on Florida Food: Recipes, Remedies and Simple Pleasures. Now he hosts this buffet dinner, a kickoff event for Eatonville's annual Zora Festival (see more on page 10). Enjoy an authentic Florida feast and a lecture from Dr. Opie, as well as a copy of the book and a commemorative Zora Neale Hurston poster. – Jessica Bryce Young
6-8 p.m. | Holy Trinity Reception Center, 1217 Trinity Woods Lane, Maitland | zorafestival.org | $75
Saturday, 23
Monster Jam
SPORTS Wham, bam, the Monster Jam. Get up everybody and do the freak. Or just scream enthusiastically at giant trucks. Like the dreams-come-true of a 7-year-old, the Monster Jam combines ridiculously impractical trucks with all of the pageantry and spectacle of professional wrestling to create entertainment that's larger than life – and tons of fun to watch. Colorful performers like Max-D, El Toro Loco, Monster Mutt and Grave Digger compete against each other (because the trucks are kind of treated like they're sentient, see) by doing freestyle runs around an obstacle course, trying to incorporate as many badass tricks as they can into their run. Points are deducted if the truck flips over, has to go in reverse or stops, which encourages the drivers to make each run a whirling, flipping, gravity-defying display of chrome-and-rubber fury. – TM
7 p.m. | Florida Citrus Bowl, 1 Citrus Bowl Place | 407-423-2476 | monsterjam.com | $15-$100
Saturday, 23
Scott H. Biram
MUSIC Early in his career, Scott Biram was nearly killed in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer. He ended up wheelchair-bound for more than four months as he recovered from multiple surgeries to install rods and plates in his limbs and remove a foot and a half of lower intestine. "I played a show a week after I got out of the hospital in a wheelchair with an IV in my arm just to show everybody I was still gonna do this shit," he told No Depression in 2004. That steely determination comes across in Biram's music. Bouncing between traditional country and blues and punk- and metal-inspired stompers, Biram stands out as a unique voice in an era where most commercial country is homogenized into a haze of truck manufacturer names. – TM
with Doug Strahan, Molly Gene One Whoaman Band | 9 p.m. | Will's Pub, 1042 N. Mills Ave. | willspub.org | $10-$12
Saturday, 23
Shannon and the Clams
MUSIC As if a visit from Oakland, California's dreamy retro-steeped Shannon and the Clams weren't significant enough in its own right, this show happens to be the first of two five-year anniversary parties for local promoter powerhouse Norsekorea. Known for bringing quality talent to an area often neglected by touring bands, Norsekorea has developed a reputation for quality primarily through the toil of main man Kyle Raker. Along with L.A.'s Guy Blakeslee, Raker has assembled a lineup of local acts for this show that's hard to beat, including Golden Pelicans, Wet Nurse and Dumber Bunnies. Of course, the highlight is seeing the Clams back in town for the first time since they dropped 2015's Gone by the Dawn, a record that revels in the timelessness of pre-British Invasion rock & roll, and should be the perfect soundtrack for this birthday party. – TM
with Golden Pelicans, Wet Nurse, Guy Blakeslee, Dumber Bunnies | 6:30 p.m. | Backbooth, 37 W. Pine St. | 407-999-2570 | backbooth.com | $12-$14
Sunday, 24
Red Priest
MUSIC When one imagines a baroque concert, the image that comes to mind is that of a hundred elegantly dressed musicians performing as still and upright as possible, and while there is nothing wrong with such an event, Red Priest – whose name is a reference to the ordained ginger composer Antonio Vivaldi – tends to do things a bit differently. The lively group doesn't just play; they bounce around and move about. The sheet music is noticeably absent, replaced by extra layers of emotion, a replacement the group affirms is just as powerful and necessary as strict interpretations of the classics. The night itself is German-themed to a degree; expect to hear songs from composer George Frideric Handel's catalog, along with Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Phillip Telemann. – Kim Slichter
3 p.m. | Tiedtke Concert Hall, Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park | bachfestivalflorida.org | $35-$50
Sunday, 24
The Temptations and the Four Tops
MUSIC What started out as a "battle of the bands" set piece for the now-legendary Motown 25 TV special way back in 1983 has, over the last 30-plus years, turned into an ongoing and appropriately wonderful series of tours featuring Motown's two greatest vocal groups. Of course, the years have taken their toll in various ways, as many of the core members of both groups have passed away or retired, but amazingly, the vocal magic on display in these shows actually manages to rise well above the level of pure nostalgia. Certainly, the Temps were always the strongest and more musically adventurous of the two, while the Four Tops always stuck more closely to their pop-soul roots, but as the years have gone on, those contrasts have melted away, as both now go straight for highly polished and immaculately performed versions of their greatest hits. – Jason Ferguson
8 p.m. | Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. | 844-513-2014 | drphillipscenter.org | $49.50
