FRIDAY: Folk Rock and JavaThe greatest band...

FRIDAY: Folk Rock and Java

The greatest band from Newbury Park, majority DOG, will do its folk-rock thing at Two West Coffee Company in Ventura. It’s an all-ages free show.

The DOG band has a couple of CDs, including the latest, “Nevada,” a 17-song epic that includes the catchy “Pinnokio,” a song that proves there are no spellers (and also no lawsuits) in this band. Powered by stylish three-part harmonies featuring front man Brian Wurschum and April and Laurel Hoffman, majority DOG was the first local rock band to play the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza a year or so ago.

The show will start around 9 p.m. The venue is at 2 W. Main St. Call 643-6411 to find out more.

SATURDAY: Dancing for Art

With colorful costumes and lots of noise, Chinese lion dancers will take the stage at the Carnegie Art Museum for the opening of an exhibit on Chinese brush painting and calligraphy.

The Ventura County Chinese-American Assn.’s Chinese Lion Dance Troupe and other dancers will perform, and a martial arts demonstration will also take place.

The exhibit, which runs through Feb. 23, will feature Chinese brush paintings by area artists, of Chinese and non-Chinese heritage.

The festivities run from noon to 4 p.m. at the museum, 424 South C St., Oxnard. Admission is $3. For more information, call 385-8157.

*

Courting Fame

Here’s this week’s tip for the Best Band You’ve Never Heard Of: That would be Tito & Tarantula, opening at Nicholby’s in Ventura for those local luminaries who haven’t played for a while, Bloody Mary Morning.

Tito’s band is four guys sitting down playing guitars plus a drummer, creating this bluesy rock groove. And when it gets real exciting, they stand up, but not for too long. No CDs, no tapes, no T-shirts, just lots of Stones-like dance songs. They should start around 9:30 p.m. or so. Six bucks will get you into the gig at 404 E. Main St. Call 653-2320 to find out more.

*

UP THE COAST

The Missoula Children’s Theatre, accompanied by about 50 local students, will stage “Beauty Lou and the Country Beast: A Sagebrush Fairy Tale” on Saturday at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara. The production is a country-western musical adaptation of the classic “Beauty and the Beast” from the nationally touring troupe. Show times: 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets: $15; $10, children 12 and under; group rates available. For more information, call 966-4946.

*

GLANCE AHEAD

The Brigham Young University Ballroom Dance Company--honored in June as the top ballroom dance formation team in the world--will perform at two venues in Ventura County. The 36-member collegiate troupe tours nationally and abroad, performing routines that range from the Viennese waltz to West Coast swing and Latin numbers. Performances: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30, Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 646-3240; 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 498-3335. Tickets: $10; $8, students and children 12 and under; $25 Golden Circle seating.