What’s going on this weekend?

First things first: It’s UVA graduation, so make your restaurant reservations if you haven’t already. And onward… 

Some nice bands tonight at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar: Vandaveer is a prolific D.C.-based songwriter who has apparently been called his generation’s Nick Drake, which doesn’t sound so far off. Opening is Nettles, a new local band-to-see whose frontman Guion Pratt is, judging by his lyrics, as good a poet as he is a songwriter. Details are here.

In this week’s Feedback column, I write about Dzian!’s last show, a "The Love Boat"-themed affair that will usher its members out of town. Dzian! has tasked itself with the considerable task of rewriting rock and roll with Asian influence—which is a lot more fun than it sounds. Read about it here.

Farewell, Dzian!

Six Degrees of Separation is the story of a young man who goes from door to door, winning entry into various estates by convincing rich people that he is the son of Sidney Poitier—which, of course, he is not. The show opens tonight at Live Arts, which wraps up its inaugural Shorts Festival this weekend as well. Details are here.

The Importance of Being Earnest shows through the weekend at Four County Players, but makes the switch over to the Hamner next weekend (Earnest details are here); for now, the Hamner is hosting Ocean View Odyssey, the local playwright Robert Wray’s update of The Odyssey, about a New York lawyer who returns to his home state of Virginia. Details.

Even if you’ve never listened to The Blind Boys of Alabama, you’ve almost certainly heard them—the performance of “I Shall Not Walk Alone” that so delicately characterized Sawyer’s back story in "Lost"? Them. The rendition of Tom Waits’ “Way Down in the Hole” that was easily the best theme song for "The Wire." Them too. Even Prince agrees (below): Saturday night at the Jefferson Theater is going to be a killer show. Jim Waive opens.

What’re you up to this weekend?