Entertainment

Cocktail hours! Hands-on shows! Cheap lobster! These are just some of the tools local arts groups are using to attract newer, often younger, crowds. Why this is a new survival skill for them—and what’s in store for you as a result.

Hunter Smith is still kicking it. The former Colts punter and front man for the Hunter Smith Band will perform at an album release show Friday.

IndyFringe hosts 384 performances in 11 days during the IndyFringe Theatre Festival. We found three most unusual shows coming to the stage.

Pauline Moffat remembers thinking: “Here’s a man with vision. He’s starting at a grassroots level with soccer, just as the Fringe did with performance.”

“I’d love to get Taylor Swift on our stage, which would endear me to my daughter. We’d sit Taylor down with a guitar and have her sing some old country songs.”

What you can expect from the DrumLine Battle taking over Georgia Street and Pan Am Plaza on August 8 for a day of total percussion warfare.

“‘California Girls.’ I think that’s the cornerstone song. They’re all so good, but man, that’s the one. In the Beach Boys world, it’s girls, surf, cars, school, and then it starts graduating.”

One Direction may have just lost a band member, but it hasn’t lost any talent.

Here are our choices, presented in chronological order because we can’t really rank them. Well, except for maybe that one.

Couldn’t make it to all of John Mellencamp’s greatest concerts? We’ve got you covered.

John Green day, local celebrity appearances, and the inspiration behind pranks in the movie. Our list of fun from the Get Lost Get Found tour in Indy.

HS: I remember you shouting out some “Blank Space” lyrics.
JG: I’m not afraid to say “boys only want love if it’s torture.”

How to beat last call, protect your lawn spot, and more advice from a concert veteran.

Green, Cara Delevingne, and Nat Wolff will host a Q&A panel. The event will also include a sneak preview of a brief scene from the movie, which hits theaters on July 24.

John Green doesn’t take his fame seriously, so why should we? Here, a slightly absurd chart of the author’s connections to the stars.