Check out this list of big upcoming entertainment options just outside our area. These totally drive-to-able events maybe just thing to scratch your mini-road trip itch. Or, if you just need to get out of town for the day (we're not asking questions), you might as well have some place to go, right?

Incubus
May 9 • Myth, St PaulDonald Glover + Danny Brown
May 10 • Epic Event Center, MplsKD Lang
May 10 • O’Shaughnessy, St PaulChickenfoot + Black Stone Cherry
May 11 • The Brick, MplsElectric Six
May 11 • First Avenue, MplsPaul F Tompkins
May 12 • Fitzgerald Theater, St PaulSt. Vincent
May 12 • First Avenue, MplsSteve Winwood
May 12 • The Orpheum, MplsDaughtry
May 13 • The Brick, MplsMeshuggah
May 13 • First Avenue, MplsSlash
May 14 • The Brick, MplsThe Black Keys + Arctic Monkeys
May 15 • Target Center, MplsThe Cranberries
May 17 • The Brick, MplsBB King
May 18 • The State Theatre, MplsMarilyn Manson
May 18 • Myth, St PaulLynyrd Skynyrd
May 19 • Treasure Island, Red WingVan Halen
May 19 • Xcel Energy Center, St PaulXiu Xiu + Dirty Beaches
May 19 • Triple Rock Social Club, MplsRob Zombie + Megadeth
May 22 • La Crosse Center Arena
Former Eau Clairian/current Madisonian and Christopher Porterfield's latest project Field Report* just done got itself written up by the Rolling Stone Magazine. (Porterfield uses to head up Conrad Plymouth.) A taste:
Field Report doesn’t have a record deal yet – Porterfield says he’s weighing his options – but the band has already attracted famous fans like Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz, who invited Field Report to play his SXSW showcase and watched the band from the front row, "with a camera phone out, singing along," Porterfield recalled. "It is undeniable when you listen to Field Report," Duritz enthused to Rolling Stone. "This is just great music."
In other news, the article was written by Sconnie music writer and one-time Eau Clairian Steven Hyden. Who also writes for The Onion's A.V. Club.
*An anagram of Porterfield!
It’s been over two years since local indie band Laarks released An Exaltation Of Laarks. Now with a new CD – Fiat Lux – completely recorded and mixed, the band is shopping for a new label and hoping to have the CD available this summer. In the meantime, singer/keyboardist Ian Jacoby is working with local filmmaker Peter Eaton to produce a music video for the lead single. (Among other things, Eaton directed the Eau Claire-based short film, Sugar Mountain.)
For the music video, Eaton and Jacoby created a story of a man who experienced an alien abduction and spends his life searching for validation and truth. Jacoby – in state of manic creativity – transformed an upstairs room at his house into a film set. While he cites “The X-Files” and Steven Spielberg as influences, the video will have a distinct “Eau Claire” feel. Forrest Hill Cemetery, Boyd Park, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Downtown Cinema, and the bus transfer station all served as backgrounds in the filming. Local actors appearing in the video include Josh Ingersoll, Ted Piper, Dave Power, Emily Wievel, Shane Leonard, Matthew Mabis, Paul Wildes, and Catherine Jacoby.
Rough cuts of the video will be done soon, and Jacoby and Eaton hope to have it available online this summer.
Check out more photos after the jump ...
Just when you thought Bon Iver’s Flaming Lips collaboration was the only local music nugget to look forward to on Record Store Day (this Saturday, April 21), The Ronald Raygun swoops in and drops news of a 7” single release. The awesomely named Eau Claire trio (comprised of Ben Hinz, Jaime Hansen, and Matt Haapala) just got the shipment of vinyl on Tuesday, with the A-side holding the song Driver and the B-side introducing a song called Brain by Hinz and his wife Louise, a project they call The New Apocalypse Bass Orchestra.
I can’t speak for the B-side, but Driver is a phenomenal track that came as a welcomed surprise upon first listen. It no doubt still carries the sonic nightmare stamp that Raygun is known for, but also highlights some catchy vocal melody. It’s a perfect entrypoint to the band for those of you n00bs out there.
Raygun has 200 physical copies of the record (on snazzy blue vinyl), which come with a download code and handmade posters. They will be available at Revival Records, The Local Store, Raygun’s Bandcamp site, and their live shows. They’ll likely go for between $7 and $10.

As a graduation celebration, local band Scrimbo is packing their bags and heading across the big pond. The self-described “catchy indie rock” band, composed of Adam Thoms (More Amore, The Blue Room) and Alyssa Rieper (Feathe), is currently in the process of contacting venues to play as they travel across a good portion of Western Europe. Their adventure begins in England and continues on to France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain. They will be playing alongside many European acts, even Chumbawumba. Alyssa (a recent UWEC graduate) while excited about many different aspects of the tour, said that it will be unreal to see many of the famous European landmarks such as Big Ben and the Colosseum. The “Bon Voyage, Eau Claire” European tour kicks off on May 2 and Scrimbo will be in Europe for about 57 days. What then? Adam says, “We’re in it for the long haul and are also preparing for the next big unknown tour to cross off our bucket lists: Australia.” Make sure to check out one of their shows before they leave and wish them farewell.