Things to do this weekend

Music | Nightlife | Dining deals | Family | Great date

NIGHT LIFE: Monday, Sept. 1

Monday Labor Day Relapse party
Mondrian Scottsdale
7353 E. Indian School Road
Noon until 6 p.m.; free
480-308-1100, mondrianscottsdale.com

Hosted by Iconic Entertainment, this party will feature roughly 500 of your closest friends all wearing little to nothing, three poolside bars and music by DJs Fashen and Kid Vicious. Poolside massages and spa treatments will be hosted by Agua Spa, for a fee. And white-clad waiter-delivered noshes will be provided by Asia de Cuba. Look out for the free chilled towels and Otter Pops.

MUSIC: Saturday, Aug. 30

Dancing Machine Review - A Tribute to the Jackson Five
Rhythm Room
1019 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix
6 p.m.; $10
This show is either going to be the cheesiest thing you've ever seen or the most amazing. Phoenix, the founder of the band, is a longtime friend of the Jacksons and has put together a band dedicated to capturing the electrifying essence of the Jackson Five. It performs such classics as ABC and I Want You Back complete with dance moves and color-coordinated jackets.

DINING: Saturday, Aug. 30

Phoenix Cooks!
Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa
2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; $80 in advance, $95 at door
602-381-7632, phoenixcooks.com

Foodies, alert! At Phoenix Cooks, you can shop for gadgets, watch celebrity chefs in cooking competitions, taste tequila and, of course, eat.

EVENTS: Friday-Monday, Aug. 29-Sept. 1

Labor Day Floating Picnic
Salt River Tubing and Recreation
1320 N. Bush Highway, Mesa
9 a.m.-3 p.m.; $10-$14
480-984-3305, saltrivertubing.com

Even if you're not going out of town this weekend, you can still have a great time outdoors. Salt River Tubing hosts its annual Labor Day Floating Picnic, so grab a group of friends, a cooler of cold drinks and head to the river. The business runs like a well-oiled machine where visitors can pay, grab their tubes, get on a shuttle and get dropped off at one of the stops. When tubers hit the end, shuttles will be waiting to pick them up. It can't get any easier, or more refreshing, than that.

FILM: Saturday, Aug. 30

Phoenix Fear Film Festival
Chandler Cinemas
2140 N. Arizona Ave.
Noon-2 a.m.; $20
480-821-1605, phxfearfilmfestival.com

The second annual event showcases horror films from around the world and promises more gore, more thrills, and more terror than last year. Special guests include the Midnight Movie Mamacita and Count Smokula. Prizes will be awarded to filmmakers in several categories, including best feature, best short and audience favorite.

COMEDY: Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 28-31

Frank Caliendo
The Tempe Improv
930 E. University Drive
8 p.m. Aug. 28 and Aug. 31, 8 and 10 p.m. Aug. 29-30; $35-$39
480-921-9877, tempeimprov.com

Star of the TBS sketch comedy series Frank TV and a regular on the Fox NFL pregame show with Terry Bradshaw, Caliendo is probably best known as the guy with the spot-on George W. Bush imitation. Bush is just one of a long list of the comic's side-splitting impressions, which include John Madden, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Bill Clinton and Dr. Phil McGraw. With an upcoming election, you can bet that Caliendo is perfecting his John McCain and Barack Obama already.

MUSIC: Sunday, Aug. 31

Down-Home Blues Festival
Rhythm Room
1019 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix
7 p.m.; $12
602-265-4842, rhythmroom.com

The Rhythm Room presents its second annual Labor Day Weekend Down-Home Blues Festival, featuring a long lineup of blues stars. Headlining is Tail Dragger, who brings his signature '60s Chicago blues sound with him. Also performing are Eddie Taylor Jr., Tomcat Courtney, the Rhythm Room All-Stars, Big Pete Pearson and many others.

ART

'Hungarian Modernism'
Phoenix Art Museum
1625 N. Central Ave.
10 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, and 6-10 p.m. for First Friday; $10, $8 student and senior, $4 ages 6-17, free for 5 and younger, and free for First Friday evenings
602-257-1222, phxart.org

In the first half of the 20th century, Hungarian artists were an influential part of the avant-garde in art, with artists such as László Maholy-Nagy teaching at the famous Bauhaus school in Germany. The collection of former American ambassador to Hungary Nancy Brinker includes work by him and also Róbert Berény, Josef Lempertz and photographer André Kertész, and are on view at the Orme Lewis Gallery of the Phoenix Art Museum through Oct. 26.

>> Globalization makes its way to arts
>> Fall arts calendar

PLAN AHEAD

'Certain Explanations: Magical Walking'
Theatre Artists Studio
4848 E. Cactus Road, Suite 406, Phoenix
Directions: from Cactus, turn north on Paradise Village Parkway East and look for the theater sign on your left
7:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, Sept. 5-7, 12-14; $20
602-765-0120, theatreartistsstudio.org

Sometimes a straightforward description doesn't really tell you what to expect, and such is the case with the season opener at Theatre Artists Studio. This multimedia solo performance is a collaboration between two Arizona State University professors, writer Arthur J. Sabatini and actor Lance Gharavi. Billed as a blend of "esoteric, magical ritual (and) high-tech sleight of hand," the piece has Gharavi wired up with interactive sensors so he can manipulate the sounds and visions onstage. Could be genius, could be a disaster - but it's definitely not the same old same old.