Winda Benedetti

Exotic animals, flying acrobats and a passel of clowns will fill five rings when the circus comes to town Tuesday and Wednesday. The Carson & Barnes Circus will raise its big top - with the help of a few elephants - at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. Carson & Barnes, the only traveling five-ring circus left in the country, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this tour. The show arrives in Spokane with about 100 animals including giraffes, camels, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and 20 elephants. And don't forget the cats - lions, tigers and a cross between the two, called ligers.

Shawn Colvin, who will perform at the Spokane Opera House on Wednesday, didn't emerge a pop-folk star overnight. File/Associated Press

Sammy Hagar Wednesday, Aug. 13, Opera House The crowd loved Sammy Hagar. No, it adored him. Indeed, at times it seemed the cheering, the whistling, the shouts of "We Love You Sammy" roared almost as loudly as this rock-and-roll dude's guitar solos.

Six rock bands will offer up a free show in Coeur d'Alene City Park Saturday beginning at noon. Sugar Pig will headline with Stonefish, Felix Shmitt, Bolt, Morning Breath and Worm Drive opening. The bands hail from North Idaho and Spokane and are on the heavier end of the rock spectrum. They will perform in the rotary bandshell.

The Makers headline at Ichabod's North, with The Stoics and The Pills.

Lollapalooza Tuesday, Aug. 12, The Gorge If there's one thing Lollapalooza '97 proved, it's that the fans who attend this music circus can and will mosh to anything. I mean really, who would have thought anyone could work up the gusto to crowd surf to swirling Brit-pop from James? Is it a sign of desperation? A pining for times past? It would seem so.

Barenaked Ladies use a mix of wacky comedy and folk-flecked rock to stage one of the more popular shows around. Photo by Jake Blakesberg

(Sammy Hagar)

Lucky Dube's music was banned in South Africa during apartheid.

Wylie Gustafson, from LaCrosse, Wash., mixes '60s rock with old-time country.

1. Orbit, which plays the second stage at Lollapalooza, takes a more thoughtful approach to tunes about fast cars and lust. Danny Clinch photo 2. Tool, which has won numerous video and music awards thanks to a visually strong stage show, plays a dark art-metal that can be strangely alluring.

BeeCraft members, from left, Colby Davis, Don Goodwin, Jamie Zyskowski, Bob Rees, Scott Goodwin. Photo by Torsten Kjellstrand/The Spokesman-Review

Art and food lovers will flock to Coeur d'Alene this weekend for a three-fold event that finds hundreds of artists and vendors hawking their wares, displaying their talents and cooking up their finest feasts. The events are Art on the Green, The Street Fair and Sidewalk Sale, and A Taste of the Coeur d'Alenes Fine Food and Arts Fair. All three run Friday through Sunday.

Get ready for some blues, brews and some reggae, too. Silver Mountain is hosting the Third Annual Blues, Brews and Microbrew Festival Saturday. More than 40 microbrews from places like Northern Lights, Pend Oreille Brewing, the Bayou Brewery and the Fort Spokane Brewery will be on hand for beer lovers to sample.

1. Blackstreet frontman Teddy Riley has produced some of the biggest urban pop icons of this decade. 2. The R&B; crew 112 landed at No. 13 on Billboard's top singles chart with "Cupid."

The sounds of Phish have hooked legions of fans. Danny Clinch photo

Amateur Lovers are, from left, Mark Livingston, Sean Boots and Scott Clampett.

El Chicano, a Latin rock band from East L.A. that made a splash in the 1970s, will make a stop at The Edge in Coeur d'Alene tonight and Saturday. Taking inspiration from Ritchie Valens' proof that Hispanic musicians could make it to rock stardom, El Chicano formed in the 1960s first under the name V.I.P.

The Digital Underground - masterminded by rapper/hip-hop master Greg "Shock G" Jacobs (a k a Humpty Hump) is back in action with a new album, another one on the way and a tour. The hip-hop group brings its zany theatrical flair and serious penchant for not always being serious to The Met Tuesday. Like Family and Composure open the show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 day of the show, available at Outback Jack's, G&B; Select-A-Seat locations or call (800) 325-SEAT.

The veteran Spokane cover band known as Oasis will regroup for a 15-year reunion performance Saturday at Casey's Restaurant. The band, which formed well before the British artists by the same name, spent 12 years playing a variety of music, from country to Top 40, with '50s and '60s music being their mainstay. Bill and Dawn Latronica formed the band in 1981, with Bill on guitar and vocals and Dawn on percussion and lead vocals.

Cherry Poppin' Daddies have been doing the swing thing since 1989.

Dan Seals

Digital Underground returns with a new album, but the same funk. William Richards photo

Spokane's Kevin Hanson, second from left, plays lead guitar for Huffamoose.