The Gomers will give their audience something old and something new at their show on Saturday night at the High Noon Saloon, 701 E. Washington, with a combination "classic album night " and CD-release party.

For this version of their classic album series, the Madison band will be recreating TV 's "Midnight Special, " hosted by Wolfman Jack, from the 1970s with special guests like Steve Martin, Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton. Musical selections will include ELO, Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Billy Preston and more artists who made appearances on the late 1970s version of the show.

The band even held open auditions for the role of Wolfman Jack, and they assure me they have the right human/canine hybrid for the job.

As an added bonus the band will releasing their latest studio album. The title of "Mike Zirkel " is an attempt to correct an oversight in which Smart Studios engineer Zirkel was not credited for mixing the Gomers ' previous release. Ironically Smart Studios engineer and Madison Media Institute instructor Doug Olson (aka Mr. Colson) mixed "Mike Zirkel. "

Songs range from a Chuck Berry-inspired rock rhymefest ( "Dance Jack Palance ") to an inadvertent theme song for ex-Idaho Sen. Larry Craig 's private theme ( "Don 't You Hate It When the Toilet 's a Crime Scene? ").

The show starts at 9 p.m. Cover is $10.

While Packers fans have to wait to see if their team will be heading to a warmer climate in the early February, Bobby Bryan 's itinerary is already set for Super Bowl weekend. The Madison bluesman will be heading to Memphis, Tenn., to participate in the International Blues Challenge featuring the best talent the world has to offer. Bryan and his band the Original Downtown Players are hosting a fundraiser to help finance their trip (and maybe recruit a few fans who like to travel) starting at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Brink Lounge, 701 E. Washington Ave. Cover is $7, $5 for Madison Blues Society members.

A Catapult Western 's Jason Nyberg used the free time created by his wife 's six-month volunteer trip to a Kenyan orphanage to propel his own songwriting goals. He then recruited some of his friends from Strange Talking Animals, Buck Cornell and the Nematones and Aporia to create a collaborative album. The result is the band 's eponymous debut CD, an alt-country slowcore affair that brims with loneliness, friendship and pop hooks.

Whitney Mann and the Boys headlines the show Friday at Cafe Montmartre, 127 E. Mifflin St. The show starts at 10 p.m. Cover is $5.

The Barrettes are four women from Milwaukee (including former members of The Skexies) who update an early '80s punk sound with the help of mandolin, cello and a few other odd punk instruments. The show starts at 10 p.m. Friday at the Annex, 1206 Regent St. Cover is $5. Opening act Two Girls is actually four boys from Peoria, Ill., who play "the kind of music you wish hippies would make. " It 's true.

King Club owners Tristan and Lisa Gallagher sent out an e-mail earlier this week to local musicians explaining that the club will close for remodeling on Jan. 21 and re-open about a month later with a much smaller emphasis on live music.

Well, at least they 're going out in style.

The Midwest Beat had one of the best local releases of 2007 with their self-titled EP, and El Valiente 's free jazz and spaghetti western washes are mind-bending enough to be the soundtrack to the dreams of surreal director Alejandro Jodorowsky.

National Beekeepers Society 's pleasantly akimbo pop and the ROBOMAN1MANBAND, starring longtime King Club doorman and Knuckel Drager guitarist Rob Oman, round out the bill. Doors open at 9 p.m. Friday at the King Club, 114 King St. cover is $5.