Since no club in the Charlotte area has seen fit to bring the great indie/art-rock band Stereolab to this part of NC, you'll have to hoof it up to Chapel Hill and catch the group at Cat's Cradle. It'll be worth it. From the band's beginnings as students of Krautrock acts like Neu! and Faust to Stereolab's brushstrokes of bossa nova and lounge music, this combo positively redefined alterna-pop in the '90s. The result was that American music fans began opening our ears enough to make Beck a star and bring experimental acts like Mexico's Café Tacuba into vogue. Tickets are $15 and the show stars at 9:15pm, so you might want to hit the road about now. For more info, go to www.catscradle.com or call 919-967-9053. (Kemp)

Been aching to watch Samuel L. Jackson as the Bible-quoting hitman in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction? Or maybe you want to see Brad Pitt (as if you don't see enough of him already with the whole Angelina pregnancy thing) and Ed Norton get out their frustrations with pure aggression in Fight Club? CL presents Retro Thursday at Ballantyne Village Theatre, Charlotte's newest independent film-focused theatre. Enjoy these two favorites plus Shakespeare in Love at the Grand Pre-Opening Party. Showtime starts at 7:30pm. Only $5 so you can afford it! For more info call 704-752-2960. (Calloway)

Anthemic hard rockers Nickelback are oft-compared to Creed, but to be fair the Nicks have been doing their own thing from their inception in 1996, a year before the arrival of Scott Stapp and Co. On Nickelback's latest disc, All the Right Reasons, the Canadian rockers benefit from guest ZZ Topper Billy Gibbons, who adds his Southern buzz-saw guitar to a couple of tracks. Nickelback's pop sensibility rescues the band from slipping into the morass of generic alterna-rock. Chevelle and Trapt join Nickelback tonight at the Bobcats Arena at 7pm. Tickets are $39.50. For more info, go to www.charlottebobcatsarena.com or call 800-495-2295. (Shukla)

Thanks to Hollywood and Madison Avenue, there's no shortage of images and instruction telling us how women should look or how they should achieve all those testosterone-charged beauty dreams. In 14 days or less! The Body Chronicles encourages women to forget all the con artistry, but not before experiencing the healing powers of laughter, empathy and female communion. First unveiled at SouthEnd Performing Arts Center in January 2005, the sellout smash celebrates a springtime rebirth through Sunday at McGlohon Theatre in Spirit Square. Works by Maya Angelou, Mary Gallagher, Kathy Najimy-Mo Gaffney and the late Wendy Wasserstein are among the highlights chosen by Donna Scott and directed by Sheila Snow Proctor. Stay for the LivePulse post-performance discussion with cast and director. Performances run evenings through Saturday at 8pm, with a Sunday matinee at 2pm. Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for students, with proceeds once again channeled to Girls on the Run International. Call 704-372-1000. (Tannenbaum)

As part of Winthrop's Cultural Collage, Mayda Del Valle performs her poetry. A two-time (and reigning) National Poetry Slam champ, Del Valle is the youngest person to win the honor, the first woman to take it since 1996 and the first Latina winner. Her influences include hip-hop, Latin jazz, salsa, R&B, Miles Davis, Tito Puente, Al Green and Ella Fitzgerald. She has been on the road with the Tony-Award winning Broadway incarnation of "Def Poetry Jam," after being featured in several seasons of "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry" on HBO. Check out Del Valle tonight at Winthrop University's Dinkins Underground, Rock Hill. Admission is $5 with a Winthrop ID and $7 for the public. For more info, go to www.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/dsu. (Calloway)

So OK, whatever was left over from the cake at Mozart's 250th birthday party is somewhere at a Vienna dumpsite -- and the composer himself has long ago decomposed. But the music lives on as Charlotte Symphony Celebrates Mozart's 250th Birthday one more time in a matched pair of concerts at Belk Theater. While the structure of the evening is as trite as the previous sentence -- overture, concerto and symphony -- it's all prime Wolfgang. The overture is from "The Magic Flute," followed by Mozart's Piano Concerto #26, with Jon Nakamatsu at the keyboard. CSO maestro Christof Perick brings the festivities to a close, partying on with Mozart's Symphony #40. Friday and Saturday at 8pm; single tickets are $17-$49. Call 704-972-2000 (Tannenbaum)

Martha Strawn's seven visits to India, spanning three decades, have culminated in an upcoming new book and exhibition of photographs. Strawn is a photographer and emeritus professor of art at UNC Charlotte, and her collection will be displayed as part of the Light Factory exhibition Across the Thresholds of India. The show features images of rice flour designs (often called rangoli) created by women on the ground at the entrance of homes, as well as places of worship. The exhibit opens tonight with a reception from 6 to 9pm at Knight Gallery in Spirit Square and runs through April to coincide with the Festival of India, April 29-30. For more details, go to www.lightfactory.org. (Shukla)

The World Famous Harlem Globetrotters have been around for 80 years! Their 2006 "Unstoppable" Tour stops in Charlotte today. Founded in 1927, the Globetrotters have traveled to more than 100 nations, played before millions of fans, won championships and brought together people and communities around the world. The team was only the fifth to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, followed by their induction into the Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame and the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. The Globetrotters continue to introduce new generations to their dazzling ball-handling and comedic routines, while keeping enough classics for folks old enough to remember Meadowlark and Curly's antics during the team's heyday. Playing against the New York Nationals, game time is at 1pm at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Stay for the 30-minute meet-n-greet after the game. Tickets start at $12 and are available by phone at 800-495-2295, or online at www.charlottebobcatsarena.com. (Calloway)

You know right-thinking Americans aren't supposed to see parallels between Vietnam and Iraq, but CODEPINK and Ahmad Daniels think now might be a good time to screen Sir! No Sir! anyway. The Vietnam War raged through the '60s and '70s. Civilians against the pointless bloodshed, much like today's War in Iraq, kept the conflict front page and 6 o'clock evening news. In contrast, comparatively little attention was given to uniformed military personnel who protested the war. Peace and social justice activists plan to show the documentary, which chronicles anti-war activities of military members, today on Vietnam Saturday at 1pm in the Francis Auditorium of Charlotte's main library. This event is free and open to the public. For more details, call 704-641-9463 or go to www.sirnosir.com. (Shugart)

Tyrone Jefferson and A Sign Of The Times are known for delivering music with a message, relayed through rhythms inspired by the African diaspora. ASOTT is most often considered a swinging big band that plays original compositions, but the group is not so easily pigeonholed into one category. This weekend the ASOTT presents Slavery: Yesterday & Today, a thought-provoking concert that traces the journey of slavery. The performance will honor the fortitude and perseverance of people of African descent through music. Tonight's concert is at Central Piedmont Community College's Pease Auditorium at 8pm and Sunday at 6pm. Tickets range from $25-$35. Call 1-800-4-1-UNITY or go to www.asignofthetimes.org. (Calloway)