BRING ON THE WEEKEND >>>

Last week I was on vacation. There was no Prefunk.  Your weekend still happened, of course, and I assume you still figured out a way to occupy yourself. But, you didn't start things off with tasteless whip-it jokes from the Weekly Volcano, and there was no picture of an alcoholic household pet thrown in for good measure to set you on your way.

Was this a good thing or a bad thing? It's up to you to decide.

Whatever conclusion you reach, however, can't stop the inevitable. Here comes another installment of The Prefunk, a weekend primer for you and your liver. Turn away or stare in horror. The choice is yours.

THE B.B.C. BOTS PRESENT: THE PHOENIX

Friday & Saturday at Beyond the Bridge Café

Choosing events to highlight for the Prefunk isn't as easy as it might seem. For one, I'm forced to wade through hundreds of shindigs happening over any given weekend. There are more than you might think.

This week, for instance, before settling on what should be a spectacle to remember at Sixth Avenue's newest coffee hotspot, Beyond the Bridge Café, I considered the Washington History Museum's "The Many Shapes of Chess" exhibit, the White River Valley Museum's "Politics and Bedcovers" display, and even "Patriot Days" in Lake Havasu City, Arizona (yes, for some reason Lake Havasu's "Patriot Days" were submitted to the Volcano's online events calendar).

These are decisions no one should be forced to make.

Luckily, Beyond the Bridge Café went and made it easy on me - with their Bots and their performance of "The Phoenix." Aided by the always-worthy Vicci Martinez and her typical barefooted musical styling, the B.B.C. Bots, something of a genre defying performance group, will mix movement and music with "The Phoenix," pushing the artistic envelope all the while. "The Phoenix" will be performed by the B.B.C. Bots tonight and tomorrow, from 8-10 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available through brownpapertickets.com.

Here's a taste of what to look forward to, gleaned straight from the source, beyondthebridgecafe.com:

The BBC Bots present The Phoenix, with live entertainment by Vicci Martinez! Come and enjoy an evening of performance by Bastian Rogue, Nadia Dawn, Vylla Vortex, Darkly Riot and Skyler Ties... Beyond the Bridge Cafe's very own Bots! This night will be full of life changing movement and music put together in ways unimaginable. Enjoy the show!

PREFUNK: OK, whatever. Usually - as is suggested in the column's name - I suggest ways for you to prime yourself BEFORE the highlighted event. This week it's going to run a little differently.

You see, your best bet is to use Saturday's performance of "The Phoenix" at Beyond the Bridge Café on Sixth Avenue as a Prefunk for the show later that night at Jazzbones, which features Matt Coughlin and the Growlers. Coming of what I hear from reliable sources was a truly amazing CD release show at The Swiss Wednesday night, Matt Coughlin and the Growlers will provide an excellent way to round out an evening kicked off by the B.B.C. Bots and the sounds of Vicci Martinez. Mark my words.

See you next week.