Broomball, Tom Jordan and more this weekend

Alive Again: A Tribute to Chicago

Saturday 1/4 | Lucille Tack Center for the Arts, Spencer

Alive Again, Chicago Tribute Band

Another tribute to one of the major bands of the previous century. Chicago, originally called Chicago Transit Authority before shortening its name in 1969, was a band formed in, well, Chicago. Their music combined rock ‘n roll with jazz and r&b, employed a horn section and saw great success for decades. (And this is where I take the opportunity once again to say that Chicago’s former guitarist, Terry Kath, is one of the most underrated guitarists of all time. It’s unacceptable, and I will never understand it.) Alive Again is a Chicago tribute act based out of Green Bay that is composed of experienced and talented musicians, many of whom are music educators themselves. Big fans of Chicago will enjoy this loving tribute to a legendary band. 7:30 pm. $35. lucilletackcenter.com

Hadestown 

Mon-Tues. 1/6-7 | Grand Theater, Wausau 

The Grand Theater is really pushing the musicals hard this season! They really booked some top-notch examples from the genre, and this latest one is no exception. Hadestown won no fewer than eight Tony awards and a Grammy on top of it. Hadestown entangles the tales of Orpheus and Eurydice with King Hades and his wife Persephone. You may not be familiar with Greek mythology, but everyone can relate to themes of nature versus industry, doubt versus faith and fear versus love. 7 pm. $75-$135. grandtheater.org

Jackson Taylor 

Friday, Jan. 3 | Bantr, Rothschild 

Jackson Taylor

Jackson Taylor is really growing his country music career, and he’s building it from right here in the Wausau area. Born in Medford, Taylor calls Weston home while having a full tour schedule, taking him all around the state in the next few months. His style is a very top-40, singer-songwriter style of country that might sound familiar to those who listen to modern country. Taylor considers country artists Jason Aldean, Riley Green and Canaan Smith the main influences of his acoustic guitar-driven style. Jackson played 175 shows per year, and this year will make his way to Bantr, which is starting to become a real spot for music recently, and in the event listing they promise complementary popcorn and arcade games such as Pac-Man. 8 pm. 

Line Dance Lessons 

Saturday, Jan. 4 | The Labor Temple, Wausau 

This highlights section this week has a very decidedly country theme to it this week! If Friday night’s show with Jackson Taylor left you jonesing for more country, now is your chance to learn how to line dance! The Sound-a-Motion Country-style dancers group out of Marshfield is hosting this line dance lesson session Saturday afternoon at the Labor Temple. Come learn how to dance with fellow learners of all ages at the Labor Temple. The group has dancers from all over central Wisconsin and that’s probably because they travel a lot to put on these lessons. 1-5 pm. $10. Learn more at www.soundamotion.com

Broomball drop in league 

Sunday, Jan. 5 | Marathon Park, Wausau 

Ready to try a new sport? The kickoff of this new league took a little while longer to get off the ground than previously hoped, but the city’s first-ever broomball league is up and running. They call it a drop-in league because you can show up to any of the Sunday night games and get a spot on a team to play this sport. Broomball is kind of like hockey, but it uses a rubber ball rather than a puck, a mallet instead of a hockey stick and you use shoes, not skates. That makes it a little safer and adult-friendly. $5 per night, plus $2 to rent a hockey helmet if you don’t have one. The rest of the equipment is provided. 6 pm. Wausau/Marathon County Parks and Recreation on Facebook for more. 

Tom Jordan and Scott Kirby 

Saturday, Jan. 4 | Malarkey’s Pub, Wausau 

Mitch Ostrowski, left, and Tom Jordan of 20 Watt Tombstone hammer out one of their latest tracks 'Untitled', at DAT Bar on Saturday night.

It seems like we’ve been writing a lot about Tom Jordan this week - but that’s because the founder of 20-Watt Tombstone has been playing around these parts quite a bit lately! Jordan will join Scott Kirby this week for a show at Malarkey’s Pub, one of Wausau’s leaders in the music scene. Jordan plays a mean, dirty, noisy blues rock with his slide guitar style that’s always worth checking out. And Kirby brings the chops with a blues, rock, Americana style from Rhinelander, so they should make for a solid evening. 8 pm. malarkeyspub.com