sunday
march 15
The Delta 72 We thought this Washington, D.C., band was pretty great before we cranked its latest, The Soul of a New Machine; now we think the deconstructionist R&B crew might be visionary. Long lumped with the punks, the Delta is really only punk in its aggressive approach to garage rock, which includes a deft interplay between Sarah Stolfa's Farfisa organ and Gregg Foreman's harmonica. The band has, in fact, stumbled on the place where punk and Stax collide, splicing 'em together with alt baling wire and pure gumption. (P.S. The new disc's closer is titled "We Hate the Blues" -- don't believe it.) The Linoleum Experiment and Ponyboy open. 8 p.m. Zelda's, 2706 White Oak (downstairs), 862-3838. $8.
tuesday
march 17
St. Patrick's Day at the Duck How better to celebrate the annual day honoring the patron saint of Eire -- and, more secularly, the wearin' of the green -- than the traditionalist celebration at the comfy, woodsy pub named McGonigel's Mucky Duck? On tap: Guinness stout (but of course), rooftop bagpiping serenades by E.J. Jones, Irish-history and -dancing sessions and music by Clandestine, Gordian Knot and the Kehoe Ceili Band. Noon. 2425 Norfolk, 528-5999. Free 'til 5 p.m.; $8 after.
wednesday
march 18
"Puppet-Infested Planet" It was the Two Johns of They Might Be Giants who sang "If the pup-pup-puppet head / Was only buh-buh-busted in / It would be a better thing for everyone involved." The song of origin was "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head," and TMBG's comically aggressive and typically gibberish-filled little ditty would be a perfect theme song for Houston's Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre. BPT is not your garden-variety puppet troupe; that sort, targeted at little kids and little minds, makes us want to pick up one of Punch and Judy's tiny battering rams and break all of the small bones in the offending puppeteers' hands. No, Bobbindoctrin is for big kids with functioning brains; it, too, is about gibberish-filled art with a wide streak of comic malevolence, but there's a foundation of furrowed-brow seriousness to BPT's work -- and an honest love for the form. That commitment shows up in this inaugural presentation, a co-production of BPT and its usual-suspect partner, Zocalo Theatre. The four-week video fest presents an overview of some of the earnest work being done today in the realm of puppetry, as well as various historical precedents. "Puppet-Infested Planet" opens with a screening of three documentaries, all narrated by the late, great Jim Henson and not publicly broadcast to date: Here Come the Puppets!: The 1980 World Puppet Festival, Jim Henson Presents: Sergei Obratztsov and Jim Henson Presents: Albrecht Roser. 8 p.m. NO TSU OH, 314 Main, 222-0443. Free.
The Big One Preview, featuring Michael Moore The muckraking director of Roger & Me is on the artistic warpath again with his latest flick, a skewering of corporations (like Nike) that downsize employees while upsizing profits. Moore speaks, then the film unspools. 7 p.m. Landmark Greenway 3, 5 Greenway Plaza, 626-0402. More info: 868-7015. $20 (proceeds: ACORN's Living Wage Campaign).
