A-List

Rebirth

Mon., Aug. 29, 9pm. $5. Silk City, Fifth and Spring Garden sts. 215.592.8838. www.silkcitylounge.com

Old-school party-heads are fond of lamenting the good old days, when dance floors were packed and sweaty, and having to be at work at 9 a.m. the next day was no excuse for staying in. Everett Saunders and his partner DJ Dotmatic had those days in mind when they started their new Silk City monthly Rebirth, whose second installment is Monday. "We wanted to bring back the whole dance essence to the nightclub, to give music some African rhythms, Latin rhythms, house rhythms," Saunders says. Monday's party includes a performance by the group Dotmental, which Saunders describes as "based off hip-hop but with a lot of soul essence to it. It's bringing back the way hip-hop music felt back then-A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul." Eventually Saunders wants to make Rebirth a weekly party, but for now he's content to just, as he puts it, "make music through God that moves people's souls." (Doree Shafrir)

>>ART

Big Art Show Philly

Sat., Aug. 27, 7pm. $5. With Magic Caravan, American Watercolor Movement, US Funk Team, Sw!ms + Farcical Hoodwink. South Philadelphia Athenaeum, 2011 S. Juniper St. www.bigartshow.com

Attending First Fridays can sometimes be like walking into an unfriendly saloon in the old West, with every mustachioed urban warrior sporting gun tattoos sizing you up. A respite from such pretension can be found in the Big Art Show, a monthly exhibit from Asbury Park, N.J., that's begun to take its inclusive approach to curation on the road. Original founders Paul Yavarone Jr. and Tom Phillips started the show in order to create an open forum for those who wished to present their work to the public without all the bureaucratic red tape typically associated with the professional art world. Their first Philadelphia show is shaping up to be a huge event, with 50 artists from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio and New York registered, and five bands scheduled to play everything from experimental music to flat-out rock 'n' roll. Every artistic medium imaginable will be represented, with members of art collectives Madison Under-ground Press, Renegade Art Project and Albus Cavus providing a dose of can-do attitude. It seems as though a real artistic revolution might be brewing, which, thankfully, doesn't take kindly to soul-sapping scenesterdom. (Emily Brochin)

>>TRIVIA

Beat the Champs

Sun., Aug. 28, 6pm. $10-$12. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. 215.222.1400. www.worldcafelive.com

Philly Quizzo is serious sport. Now quizmaster Johnny Goodtimes follows up on winter's contentious Quizzo Bowl with Beat the Champs-a four-round bout to crown new kings of esoteric trivia. This time around teams can earn early points by completing a series of scavenger-hunt tasks that range from the simple (finding an Art Museum pin) to the do-I-want-to-win-that-badly? (taking a picture at the "Welcome to Intercourse" sign), and getting them in by Thursday. Lucky for the players, Goodtimes knows Quizzo can be a slow-going event, so he's lined up the Kyle Dunleavy Steel Drum Quartet and breakdancing Lunchbox Cowgirls for 'tween-round entertainment. Till then, bone up on the most useless trivia you can get your hands on. Who knew Arthur Meighen was twice prime minister of Canada, or Shaggy from Scooby-Doo's real name was Norville Rogers, or that two-thirds of the world's eggplant comes from Jersey? Crazy stuff, but tame by Goodtimes' standards. (Jesse Smith)

>>VIDEO

Found Footage Festival

Sat., Aug. 27, 9pm. $7. Vox Populi, 1315 Cherry St., fourth fl. 718.752.0281. www.foundfootagefestival.com

Right now at a film school in the Midwest, there's a frustrated freshman putting the finishing touches on his angsty and overly precious first-year film project. Little does he know he's actually destined to be a dentist. And that film, after languishing for years in his parents' basement, will get donated-along with well-worn copies of Timecop and Mrs. Doubtfire-to the local thrift store. That's where Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher come in. They scour dumpsters, flea markets and, yes, thrift stores for unwanted and discarded video gems. It's not just about unfortunate student films-the Found Footage Fest also has a stellar collection of puerile instructional videos, home-movie outtakes and random experimental footage. Nick Prueher began collecting found videos more than 10 years ago after coming across a copy of a McDonald's training video on the wonders of "inside and outside custodial duties." Pickett also likes collecting bizarre ephemera, and tonight-as a part of the Small Change screening series-he and Prueher bring their extensive collection to Vox Populi. (Julie Gerstein)