5 Things to Do This Weekend in Boise: Whiskey & Wings, prison romance, Top 5 basketball

1. Be a Valentine

Forgot to make reservations at a romantic restaurant? Here are other worthy Valentine’s Day weekend options.

▪ Boise-based singer Curtis Stigers is a romantic guy. So expect him to be jazzed Sunday evening for a special “Evening with Curtis Stigers: Love Songs & Funny Valentines.” It’s at 7:30 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, 700 W. Main St. Tickets are $20-$45 at egyptiantheatre.net. Good seats are still available.

▪ Love art? How about local art? Nearly 300 area artists donated pieces to the 27th annual Valentine for AIDS, a silent auction to benefit SNAP (Safety Net for AIDS Program). Put your bids in at Flying M CoffeeHouse, 500 W. Idaho St., through 4 p.m. Sunday.

▪ At the Old Idaho Penitentiary’s self-guided Romancing the Pen tour on Friday, you’ll explore the grounds (bring a flashlight!) “and find the true meaning of ball and chain.” There will be special love-story exhibits and a “Partners in Crime” scavenger hunt, “featuring unique looks into the site’s historic residents and what they loved.” Also, don’t miss the soon-to-end “Marked Men” exhibit about prison tattoos. Admission is $8, or get two tickets for $14 by using the code “PROM” at story.history.idaho.gov. Romancing the Pen is from noon to 9 p.m. (last admission at 8:15 p.m.).

2. Wing it at a bar crawl

It’s not clear whether Boise participants will dress in chicken suits — as is the case in the national promotional video. But the Whiskey & Wings Bar Crawl sounds like something to crow about Saturday. (And there IS a $500 costume contest.) Basically, birds of a feather will tour downtown Boise bars enjoying bourbon, wings and related debauchery. Event check-in is from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Cactus Bar, 517 W. Main St. Tickets are $20 at Eventbrite.com. You’ll also find more details on Facebook. The crawl goes until 10 p.m. — when the official after-party starts. Don’t chicken out.

3. Hit a concert

The weekend calendar is teeming with live music.

▪ Rap collective Shoreline Mafia will play not one, but two shows Friday at the Knitting Factory, 416 S. 9th St. The gigs are at 6 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 general, $75 reserved, at TicketWeb.

▪ Indie-rockers Wildermiss headline a show that starts at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Neurolux, 111 N. 11th St. It’s $10 at TicketWeb, $12 at the door.

▪ Hip-hop duo Atmosphere is the main attraction at a 7 p.m. concert Saturday at the Knitting Factory. Tickets: $29.50 general ($30 door), $70-$85 reserved, at TicketWeb. Opening: The Lioness, Nikki Jean, DJ Keezy.

▪ Country singer Jerrod Niemann will roll into Kuna bar Cowgirls, 353 N. Ave. East, for a 7:30 p.m. show Sunday. It costs $15-$20 general admission, $50 VIP, at ICTickets. Cliff Miller opens.

▪ Feelin’ old-school? Bone Thugs-n-Harmony is back for an 8 p.m. performance Sunday at the Knitting Factory. Tickets are $29.50 general ($33 door), or a cool $100 for a meet-and-greet, at TicketWeb. Opening: Zero, Hot N Heated.

▪ Hailing from New York City, art-rock band Bodega will visit Neurolux on Sunday. The 8:30 p.m. show costs $10 at TicketWeb or $12 at the door. Opening: Ruff Pups, King and Queen of the Losers.

4. See big-time hoops

The Boise State men’s basketball team has a potential revenge game at 2 p.m. Sunday at ExtraMile Arena. Yep, No. 4 San Diego State is visiting — the same team that blew out the Broncos 83-65 last month in California. BSU (17-9, 9-5 Mountain West) is 12-1 at home this year, so expect intensity to be high. About 9,000 tickets already have been sold for this rematch. And yes, the Aztecs are still undefeated — the only Division I college basketball team that can say that. Prices are $20-$30 general, $19-$29 seniors, $18-$28 juniors, at broncosports.com. Can’t attend? The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

5. Get some culture

Going to the opera? Might as well make it a popular one. Opera Idaho definitely knows its way around “La Bohème” (and its famous aria, “Che gelida manina”). This is the seventh time the Boise company has presented it. Love? Heartache? Loss? You’ll feel it all during performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Morrison Center, 2201 Cesar Chavez Lane. Tickets are $20-$85 at Ticketmaster.

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 3:26 PM.