Saving money this weekend by staying home? Set your DVR. Friday night there is a new episode of the occasionally dull, but occasionally fantastic "Wife Swap." "Friday Night Lights" is new too. We are finally getting re-interested in "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," so will spend at least some part of the evening drooling over Summer Glau. Because we have great taste. If you have bad taste, or just secretly hope to see a mauling, check out "Siegfried and Roy: The Magic Returns." You sick bastards. Saturday night, we will try to catch the Marx Bothers classic "A Night at the Opera" on TCM. SNL is new this weekend, so that's… something. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hosts, pimping his "Witch Mountain" remake. The musical guest is someone we'd never heard of and didn't feel like looking up. Oh, okay, it's Ray LaMontagne.
There's decent sports on this weekend, too. The World Baseball Classic kicks off in Tokyo and San Juan, Puerto Rico, plus tomorrow is the mandatory report date for Spring Training. The Davis Cup opening round, including Switzerland at USA, starts Friday. NASCAR is at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, one the fastest tracks on the circuit. But the weekend's big one should be Sunday's meeting of Duke and North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Even though Duke is down this year, that one is always a gem.
If you want to get out of the house and maybe see a movie, the Miami Film Festival opens this weekend. For cinema less arty, there's no other choice. The long-awaited, long-delayed "Watchmen" has finally cometh. People are already lining up for tix online. (Okay, technically you can't "line-up online," but you get the idea.)
There is, of course, all sorts of great live music, throughout this great land. Hall and Oates are playing a gig Friday night in Baltimore. Can you imagine the MILF-y goodness I that crowd? After canceling the first four shows of his tour, Morrissey, the Godfather of EMO, plays the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC. Jam-band megastars Phish is starting their big reunion tour with a three-night stand in Hampton, VA. If you want something with a little more soul, and you happen to be in Akron, OH, catch Young Jeezy. Just one state to the west, you can see T.I. at Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL.
Also? There are way, way too many tribute bands in the world. Way. Seriously. For instance, there are no fewer than three Beatles impersonators playing somewhere in the USA this weekend; Rain, Yesterday, and Strawberry Fields. You could also catch Thunderstruck, who play the songs of AC/DC, Toys in the Attic, an homage to Aerosmith, and Frontiers, who are devoted to the music of Journey. Kiss Alive! could be fun. They are playing a triple bill with Clock Strikes 10, a Cheap Trick tribute, and Happy Jack, who pretend to be The Who. Fans of more modern rock can see The Cured, who sing Robert's Smith's mope rock, El Scorcho, a homage to Weezer, and there are two, count 'em two tributes to Sublime playing gigs this weekend; Badfish and 40 Oz. To Freedom. (Sublime, by the way, released a total of three albums. ) Oh, did we forget Broken Road, who mimic Rascal Flatts? And, of course, Who's Bad, the "Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute." We've already got our tickets. No truth to the rumor that kids get in free.
