BEST BET: Mission Creek Festival

Alphabet soup

By Diana Nollen

From Acid Mothers Temple to Dave Zollo, the Mission Creek Festival has it all.

Booker T of the MGs, Meat Puppets, Greg Brown, Pieta Brown, Xiu Xiu, Bomb Squad, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, Tune-Yards, and on and on.

More than 100 national, regional and local musicians and writers will be raising their voices next week in various downtown Iowa City venues.

The action begins with a pre-festival party for ages 19 and older featuring Pocahaunted and others at 9:30 p.m. Monday, March 29, 2010, at Gabe's, 330 E. Washington St. Concerts continue through April 3, 2010, at the Mill, the Englert, Prairie Lights, Old Brick, the Yacht Club and more.

You can pay as you go, or purchase festival passes. Fifty bucks gets you into everything except Booker T. and Greg Brown's gigs. An $80 Platinum Pass gets you into everything.

For the full schedule and all the details, go to http://missionfreak.com/festival

Although he plays numerous instruments, Booker T. Jones is best known for his organ keyboard wizardry with his band, the MGs. The R&B, rock, soul and bluesman has had plenty of songwriting and producing credits to his name, too.

All that talent earned him a spot in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 2007. He's still racking up the Grammies. His latest effort, “Potato Hole,” was named best pop instrumental album at this year's awards ceremony.

He'll bring his signature sound to the Englert Theatre at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, 2010. Tickets are $26 in advance and $29 at the door.

Other Mission Creek acts coming to the Englert include a free all-ages discussion on the making of Public Enemy's “Fear of a Black Planet” at 7 p.m. April 1; Les Dames Burlesque with Cirque Stupendo at 9:30 p.m. April 1; Dave Zollo at 8 p.m. April 2 and Greg Brown with daughter Pieta Brown at 9 p.m. April 3. For tickets and more, go to

www.englert.org