8pm Pop MusicKathleen Hanna has ruffled a...

8pm Pop Music

Kathleen Hanna has ruffled a lot of feathers in her day, first as the leader of the riot grrrl house band Bikini Kill, then with the sample-happy alter ego Julie Ruin. Now she’s combining beat and electronics with her liberation message with the trio Le Tigre, whose album “Feminist Sweepstakes” has returned her to the front lines.

Le Tigre, with Chicks on Speed and Eraseratta, Friday at the El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. Sold out. (323) 936-4790. Also Saturday at the Glass House, 200 W. 2nd St., Pomona, 6 p.m. $13.49. (909) 469-5800.

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all day Art

“To Do Battle: Conflict, Struggle & Symbol in Art,” an especially timely exhibition opening Friday at the Norton Simon Museum, serves as a reminder that human conflict is as persistent a theme in art as in history itself. Planned before Sept. 11, the exhibition will explore, through an assortment of violent images, the struggles of men versus women, good versus evil, man in combat with animals and the horrors of war. The objects come from the collections of the Simon, the Getty and the Grunwald Center for Graphic Arts at UCLA.

“To Do Battle: Conflict, Struggle and Symbol in Art,” Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Wednesdays-Mondays, noon-6 p.m.; Fridays, noon-9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Ends July 8. Adults, $6; seniors, $3; patrons 18 and younger free. (626) 449-6840.

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8pm Jazz

Draped in the mantle of the legendary Newport Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz 2002 concert swings through Southern California this weekend. Produced by George Wein, the original Newport Jazz Festival founder, the touring mini-festival features virtuoso trumpeter Terence Blanchard, Grammy-winning saxophonist Joe Lovano, pianist-composer Cedar Walton, guitarist Howard Alden, Latin jazz saxophonist Justo Almario, drummer Idris Muhammad and bassist Peter Washington.

Newport Jazz 2002, Royce Hall, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave., Westwood, 8 p.m. $14 to $35. (310) 825-2101. Also 7 p.m. Sunday at Campbell Hall, UC Santa Barbara, Mesa Road, Santa Barbara, $19 to $35. (805) 893-3535.

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7:30pm Movies

After the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard, playwright and director Moises Kaufman (“Gross Indecency”) and his colleagues from the Tectonic Theater Project ventured to Laramie, Wyo., to interview residents about the killing and its ramifications. The results were subsequently re-created in a play, and now in Kaufman’s film, “The Laramie Project.” The 56-member cast includes Steve Buscemi, Janeane Garofalo, Laura Linney, Camryn Manheim and Christina Ricci. This examination of homophobia in America debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Friday’s screening is a sneak preview, prior to its debut on HBO, Saturday at 8 p.m. Kaufman and producer Ross Katz will appear in person.

“The Laramie Project” sneak preview, the Village @ Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood, 7:30 p.m. $6 to $7. (323) 960-2394.

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9pm Pop Music

The Montreal-based groove collective Bullfrog boasts a high-profile member in DJ Kid Koala (of Gorillaz and Deltron 3030), but the quirky band has collected a strong following of its own primarily through heavy touring since its 1994 inception.

Bullfrog featuring Kid Koala, Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., Silver Lake, 9 p.m. $12. (213) 833-2843.

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8pm Theater

Petula Clark, Jason Graae, Davis Gaines, Tyne Daly, Lea Salonga and a raft of other well-known performers will “Accentuate the Positive,” in “Dream, the Lyrics and Music of Johnny Mercer.” The 18th annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event, a benefit for several AIDS charities, will feature such favorites as “Autumn Leaves,” “Blues in the Night,” “Moon River” and “That Old Black Magic.”

“Dream, the Lyrics and Music of Johnny Mercer,” Luckman Theatre, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m. $30-$200. (323) 656-9069.

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8pm Music

Opening 10-concert Los Angeles Bach Festival, American organist George Baker plays a Bach program beginning with the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, ending with the Fugue in B flat.

George Baker organ recital, Los Angeles Bach Festival, First Congregational Church, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave., L.A., 8 p.m. $7-$11. (213) 385-1345.

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8pm Dance

Founded a quarter-century ago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has grown from a jazz-oriented show-dance company to a prime exponent of contemporary versatility. The company is able to dance just about anything from the world of modern dance and make it clear, strong and accessible. The current tour repertory features Ohad Naharin’sv “Passomezzo” and “Minus 16” (both danced to an assortment of recordings), Trey McIntyre’s “Split” (music by Art Blakey ) and a preview of artistic director Jim Vincent’s “counter/part” (J. S. Bach). And lest you think that dance is diversion with no practical value, each Hubbard performance will leave the audience with the recipe for company dancer Joey Pantaleon’s all-natural guacamole.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 p.m. $30-$35. (949) 854-4646. Also Sunday, 7 p.m., at the Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. $20 to $43. (818) 243-2539.