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NPC STATE BODY BUILDING CHAMPIONSHIP
6:30 p.m., Robinson Center Music Hall. $22-$30.

If the Olympics haven't quenched your thirst for incredible feats of physical prowess, head downtown for the state body building championship. Though there's no actual athletic competition — the contestants are really going head-to-head in a beauty contest for mutants — participants have clearly put in countless hours of training to appear the most-ripped person in Arkansas. The contest requires each body builder to perform a series of poses, though there are some restrictions: According to official guidelines, “the moon pose has been banned by the NPC and will not be allowed.” Female contestants are also advised that they “must maintain a feminine look. Extreme hardness and extreme muscle size is not acceptable.” Three-time Arnold Classic champion and sometimes Muscular Development Magazine cover boy Dexter “The Blade” Jackson will make an appearance.
—John C. Williams


CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED
8 p.m., Timberwood Amphitheater. $45.99.

Long known to Central Arkansas music fans (the band's played intimate shows at Sticky Fingerz for years) Cross Canadian Ragweed, on Saturday, plays a stage more in keeping with its national status. The Oklahoma-based act — which takes its name from rhythm guitarist Grady Cross, lead vocalist/guitarist Cody Canada, drummer Randy Ragsdale and original bassist Mark Wiedemann (Jeremy Plato fills the role now) — is currently touring in support of “Mission California.” The record, the band's ninth overall and fourth on Universal South, debuted at number six on the Billboard country charts and spawned the songs “I Believe You” and “Cry Lonely.” Look out for big, arena-style rock with a country slant.


THE MUNKS
9 p.m., the Afterthought. $7.

Needless to say, these guys maintain a pretty busy gig schedule and for all the right reasons — long shows, diverse sets and spontaneous jams. So expect the Munks to crank out their usual lengthy show of three-plus hours, loaded with numbers from their 2006 debut, “Heartbreak Numbers”; their latest, “Sing Dirty Songs”; new originals and a few well-placed covers. Fueled by ambient vocals of singer/songwriter Aaron Grimm and bolted down by locomotive rhythms of drummer Brooks Browning, the band also consists of pedal/steel and traditional guitarist Alex Piazza, violinist Bennett Ryel and bassist Rich Dwiggins. And speaking of covers, the Munks' rendition of the Who's “Eminence Front” on YouTube is worth a gander, especially with Ryel's violin touch. And Dwiggins handles John Entwistle's trampoline bass lines quite nicely, especially while sporting the Motorhead T-shirt.
—Paul Peterson

MAXXIMUM IMPACT: THE HIP HOP SEND OFF
9 p.m., Downtown Music. $7.

Maxx, AKA Maxx the Great, AKA Max Farrell, who as you might've figured out is the impetus behind the Maxximum Impact concert series, is lucky that he's young and has high-school age friends, who still think going to all ages shows at clubs is a novelty. Because the grown folks' hip-hop audience in Little Rock is jaded, y'all. Last weekend, three of the state's most bona fide acts — 607, Suga City and XXzotic — played to an embarrassingly slim crowd at Downtown. Undeterred, 607 and Suga City are back for more to help Farrell, who's soon off to start his freshman year at Grinnell, celebrate his last show for a while. Here's betting that the line-up, which also features Epiphany, Osyrus with the live band SolFude and 4X4 Crew, will play to a full (or at least fuller) crowd. Farrell has a lot of friends and an impressive way with the mic that belies his age.

 

Next up for “AETN Presents: Front Row”: North Little Rock's own swamp rock legend, Dale Hawkins (“Suzy Q”). The “Austin City Limits”-style live performance TV show will tape on Wednesday, Aug. 20. To reserve a seat at the free taping, call 1-800-662-2386 or go to www.aetn.org.

CLUNKER CAR NIGHT
7:10 p.m., Dickey-Stephens Park. $6-$10.

Though lots of things have changed in the Travelers promotions department since the move to Dickey-Stephens Park — bingo night is a thing of the past, Captain Dynamite is dead, lucky scorecard numbers are now shown on the scoreboard rather than announced over the PA — Clunker Car Night remains the marquee event on the team's calendar. The concept is simple: Every inning Bill Valentine's boys will roll out some ancient jalopy, each more decrepit than the last, and give it away to one dubiously lucky fan. If you don't want to drive it — assuming it's street legal, that is — then you can at least mine it for parts. That will be a more palatable prospect this year — each car comes with free installation of a sound system, keyless entry and remote ignition. There's a baseball game to boot, against the Corpus Christi Hooks.

—John C. Williams

BLACK CROWES
7:30 p.m., Arkansas Music Pavilion, Fayetteville. $30-$65.

There was a two-year hiatus and then a two-year period of line-up changes and general tumult. Let's call them the Kate Hudson days. With the release of “Warpaint,” the band's seventh album, earlier this year, things have calmed down a bit for the Crowes. Luther Dickinson, son of Jim and member of the North Mississippi All-Stars, officially joined up as a second guitarist. They brought their Southern-fried pyschedelia to Australia, New Zealand and Europe. They launched liveblackcrowes.com, a download site that offers current and archived concerts. They sued Gretchen Wilson for copyright violation. Ho-hum. Maybe playing a show close to Wal-Mart HQ, which refused to carry the pube-bearing album cover of the band's third album, “Amorica,” will inspire some deep-down angst to resurface. Northwest Arkansas, long a dead zone for live shows from big name acts, needs a jolt of wildness. Tickets, available via arkansasmusicpavillion.com, were still available at press time.

He's mostly remembered for "Shaft" and, in this generation, for starring as Chef on "South Park," but as Oliver Wang argues on the essential Soul Sides mp3 blog, his contributions to Stax/Volt as a singer/songwriter were almost without parallel.


Wang's got 10 tracks Hayes either wrote or performed, including the Charmels "As Long as I've Got You," which is one of the greatest obscure singles in all of soul.

Do yourself a favor, buy the complete singles.

Also, check Hayes' influence on hip-hop.

CANDLEBOX
8 p.m., Revolution. $20 adv., $25 d.o.s.

Candlebox originally was named Uncle Duke, perhaps a nod to Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury character of the same name, who was blatantly cloned from Hunter S. Thompson. The Seattle band's 1993 debut album sold an impressive 4 million copies, with plenty of assistance from radio and MTV's rotation overkill. After albums in 1995 and 1998, Candlebox remained below mainstream's radar for an entire decade. Until now. Last month's long-awaited release of “Into the Sun” spawned a single, “Stand,” that's picking up airplay on mainstream rock radio stations. Now the band returns to the public sphere with three of its four original members. The Little Rock show falls only one week into a tour that runs through Oct. 4. Known for hard-hitting live performances, Candlebox has toured with the diverse likes of the Flaming Lips, Rush, Henry Rollins, Living Color and Metallica. Vocalist Kevin Martin delivers his signature plaintive wails with his hard-rocking cohorts Monday at Revolution for an all-ages show. Supporting acts the King's Royal and Smalltown Sleeper complete the bill. —Paul Peterson.