Birmingham Top Things to do: July 26th through August 1st

This upcoming week promises lectures, movies, alcohol, and festivals!  As always, there are more events on our dedicated event calendar, and any band name links should be assumed to involve auto-playing music, so be careful if you’re reading at work!

Lunch and Learn: Companion Planting

• July 26 @ 11:30AM
• Birmingham Botanical Gardens
• Free! (Just a guess, you’ll pay for lunch)

Companion planting means planting complimentary species together in order to protect harvests and encourage growth.  Think of it as a natural pesticide, that happens to put nutrients back in the soil!  Learn how it works at the BBG this week.  Read more

Flicks Among the Flowers: Jumanji

• July 26 @ 8PM
• Birmingham Botanical Gardens
• Free! (donations are optional, but always encouraged)

Bring a low-profile lawn chair or a picnic blanket to the Gardens tonight!  This week’s show is Jumanji.  Kathy G will cater snacks and drinks, and you can bring your own food too.  Read more

Splash ‘n Sip

• July 27 @ 4:30PM
• Simply Infused Olive Oil Shop
• $20

Join Simply Infused to explore… shrubbery!  Hang out at the shop, enjoy a full bar and try something new in cocktails.  Coming from someone who didn’t think he’d like elderberry-infused Moscow Mules, trust me, don’t underestimate plants in drinks!  Read more

Ben Millburn & Sunglass Moustache, Long Bony Arms, and the Kyle Kimbrell Band

• July 28 @ 10:00PM
• The Nick
• $6 cover

Hang out at the Nick, drink, and listen to some good music. Ben Millburn stops in Birmingham July 28th, playing alongside Birmingham locals Long Bony Arms and Kyle Kimbrell.  Read more

Birmingham Record Store Crawl

• July 29 @ 11:30AM
• Meeting location TBD
• $50

Bottomless PBR, free swag, a seat on the Record Store Crawl bus with live music along the way, and more await!  Record Store Day isn’t the only day of the year to get unreasonably excited about vinyl – giveaways, music, food, and shenanigans promise to make the Record Store Crawl memorable.  Sponsored by PBR, who have kindly (and perhaps foolishly) promised all the beer you can drink while you shop through 3 record stores, eat, play, and talk.  Read more

11th Annual Magic City Brewfest

• July 29 @ 4PM
• Avondale Park
• $40

Magic City Brewfest returns!  Learn about craft beer and drink Alabama!  Presented by Free the Hops, MCBF will play host to over 150 individual beers.  The J. Clyde will once again sponsor traditional casks of beer this year.  Read more

Stoned Cobra, Lady Legs, Startle the Heavens, the Goddamn Rights

• July 29 @ 10PM
• The Nick
• starts at $8

The Nick hosts some of Alabama’s most intriguing bands – including Birmingham metal band Stoned Cobra, Auburn rock and roll act Lady Legs, Birmingham native Ben Leopard’s ambient act Startle the Heavens, and Birmingham garage rockers The Goddamn Rights.  This is too interesting to miss!  Read more

The Sound of Music

• July 30 @ 2PM
• Alabama Theatre
• $8

You know what it is (and if you don’t then you need to go).  See, hear, and sing along with the Wurlitzer Organ before the movie!  Read more

Gov’t Mule plus Galactic

• July 30 @ 6PM
• Avondale Brewery
• $37

Having seen Gov’t Mule in Birmingham 4 times now, I’m planning to go again!  They’re fantastic, they’re even better than fantastic live, and Warren Haynes easily rates as one of the greatest guitarists alive.  I’ve discovered a few bands by seeing who opened for them.  The band returns to Avondale Brewery this Sunday.  Read more

Bad Art Night

• August 1 @ 6:30PM
• Emmet O’Neal Library
• RSVP

Let your imagination run horribly, horribly wild!  Prizes for “Worst in Show,” gift baskets, and a total lack of “artistic pressure” are the orders of the night.  Food and drink are provided.  Read more