A couple stray bits as we head into the weekend:

**As if the New Standards performing two shows Friday and Saturday at the under-utilized Ritz Theater in northeast Minneapolis (right by the 331 Club and Modern Cafe) wasn't cool enough, the guys have let it slide that they'll be joined by a couple of special guests: Jeremy Messersmith and the Owls' Allison LaBonne, each slated to sing "new standards." The Standards themselves are just back from another trek to New York, where they played the hip Le Poisson Rouge. Click here for all the info on those shows.

**Saturday is the official 40th anniversary day for First Avenue. Joe Cocker opened the place when it was called The Depot on April 3, 1970. To mark the occasion, Mayor R.T. Rybak is naming it "First Avenue Day" in Minneapolis and will make an official proclamation to that effect, and the club reportedly has a few surprises in store for that day. A sign of just how much the club is still rocking 40 years later, Saturday's main room show is the second of two sold-out sets by one of its regulars, Spoon. If you want to be there to celebrate, though, the 7th Street Entry gig that night isn't sold out, and it features somebody from way back in the club's past, sort of the Joe Cocker of scrawny, smart-ass indie-rock bands: Joe Jack Talcom of Dead Milkmen fame ("Punk Rock Girl"), who's touring with an all-female band and has Chooglin' opening. Click here for info.