It all started with a simple brainstorming session. IU senior Eric Butte, from the IU Business Careers in Entertainment Club (BCEC), wanted to put on a show that would draw a crowd, be fun and worthwhile, and maybe draw a little profit in for the Emergency Room at Bloomington Hospital, which saved his life from a near-fatal motorcycle accident several years ago.

He wanted something fun and simple. What he got was Hoosier Guitar Idol, a two-year-running, rip-roaring good time of a guitar talent show that attracts the best axemen this side of State Road 37.

"There's just something about guitar playing that brings people out, that people love to see," Butte said. "People love guys like Slash and Jimmy Page, and they also love [shows like] American Idol. So the idea just combined the two."

In case you missed the preliminary rounds of this year's Hoosier Guitar Idol, hosted by the IU Business Careers in Entertainment Club (BCEC), don't stress. There is still rock redemption to be had.

The five remaining contenders will battle it out for the "Idol' title at 8 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 28, at Max's Place, located at 109 W. Seventh St.

While competition details are still being worked out, the finalists -- Casimir Lewandowski, Shane Provost, Kyle Gilpin, Austin Johnson and Tyler Baker -- will expose their creative visions, hopefully with their own composed riffs, to the audience for about five to 10 minutes apiece. From these exhibitions, the panel of judges will make their decision on who will be Bloomington's next Hoosier Guitar Idol.

There are certain things in life that just sit with you. Maybe it's a song, maybe it's a scene in your favorite movie, or maybe it's a painting filled with color and life. Whatever "it" is, it rounds out your life and makes the journey a little easier to bear.

For me, it's an entire musical. Rent, the history-making rock musical based on Puccini's opera La Boheme, came to the IU Auditorium Nov. 13 and 14, and the experience filled a hole in my life that I didn't even know existed.

While I was already familiar with the music and storyline from the movie version that came out in 2005, I knew I needed to see it live to get the full experience. Well, I went, and I fell in love with the production all over again.

I'm a Rent fan. I love the music, I love the message, and I love the characters who tell the story through their eyes during "a year in the life." So, naturally, seeing the opera that inspired such a production
was crucial. It would be like seeing the movie without reading the book. For me, it was one of the last pieces of the puzzle to help me grasp the message of the plot: that through seasons, sickness, poverty and even death, love can still hold on.

And I loved every minute of it.

Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme played to a packed house in the Musical Arts Center on Nov. 9, and for good reason. The story of four young bohemians dreaming (and freezing) their way through winter in 1800s
Paris is a tale packed with human emotion and relatable experience, even if not all of us have lived it. The characters are strong, the plot even stronger, and for IU Opera Theater's production, the set just blows your mind.

For several years, I've wanted to attend the famed late-night showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I can't tell you why exactly, but there was always something appealing about dressing up like a nutcase and throwing toast at a movie screen, with die-hard fans shouting and singing along to every campy line.

Well, I finally popped my "Rocky" cherry. Granted, it wasn't a midnight showing, but I dressed up, I threw things, I yelled the appropriate lines during the movie -- and I had one hell of a time. Decadent doesn't even begin to describe it.

In case you don't know the story, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a two-hour long, 1975 camp-fest starring Tim Curry as the transvestite scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter who hosts a stranded couple in his mansion one rainy night.

If Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's had grown up and formed a band in the heart of the Midwest instead of New York, one could imagine that the resulting outfit would sound a lot like Cincinnati-based Heartless Bastards, who rocked Bloomington's own Bluebird on Sept. 6.

While the brazenly unapologetic name might make some a little hesitant, one listen to the trio's brand of bluesy, grungy, down-home rock 'n' roll and you can't get them out of your ears.

Kicking off a late show Thursday night, HB drew a decent crowd for still being relatively unknown and were definitely worth the three-hour wait (for this reviewer, at least). Coming off from a recent appearance at this year's Lollapalooza in Chicago and starting a tour of the Midwest, the band has a lot to look forward to, as evidenced by the hard-stomping show.

Craig Brenner Trio
tutto bene
Wednesday May 2, 8 p.m.

After a final or large project is completed, I always treat myself to something fun, be it a new pair of shoes or dinner out with friends. The end of another semester is no different.

Now that the year is winding down and the insanity of class and work is finally wearing off, take a cue from me and reward yourself. And what better way to unwind than with some good wine and jazz?

Breaking Away
Dunn Meadow
Wednesday April 18, 8:30 p.m.

Breaking Away, the 1979 triumph that won an Oscar and won IU some serious recognition, makes an appearance in Dunn Meadow this year. The Little 500-centric sleeper hit about breaking away from the crowd and following your dreams is a downright classic movie, and perfect to watch right around this time of the year.

Stephen Marley and Jr. Gong
Bluebird
March 29, 9 p.m.

When the weather starts getting warmer and the sun shines for hours on end, it’s usually about time for reggae to make its way into my stereo. Whenever I hear those bouncing rhythms and breezy guitar, it instantly sends me on my very own Caribbean vacation.