Six Picks: Our experts pick their favorites for the week

Kenny Wayne
Shepherd

How do you fight the slump that’s bound to fall between two days of drinking beer at NASCAR? Maybe with some fiery blues from guitar slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd. With suds, of course. Shepherd cranks it up at 8 p.m. Saturday at Sam’s Town. Tickets are $33-$44; call 284-7777.

— Mike Weatherford

English Beat

What’s even better than seeing Brit ska greats The English Beat? Seeing them for free, which you can do at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip, 3771 Las Vegas Blvd. South. No cover; call 650-8590.

— Jason Bracelin

‘West Side Story’

If you weren’t able to get tickets when it played The Smith Center last week — or if you were and just want to see Tony and Maria one more time — “West Side Story” is returning to theaters for a night. See the 1961 classic movie musical at 2 and 7 p.m. Wednesday at Sam’s Town, Santa Fe Station, South Point and Suncoast.

— Christopher Lawrence

Willie K

Having trouble achieving an aloha state of mind? It’s Willie K to the rescue, on guitar and ukulele, as the “Hawaiian Jimi Hendrix” (as Honolulu Weekly dubbed him) brings sweet island sounds — along with blues, rock and even opera — to The Smith Center’s Troesh Studio Theater, 361 Symphony Park Ave., at 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday. For tickets ($32-$42), call 749-2000 or go online to www.thesmithcenter.com.

— Carol Cling

Benefit dinner

Chefs Rick Moonen, above, and Matthew Accarrino, of SPQR in San Francisco, will collaborate in a benefit dinner for Three Square food bank Thursday. The dinner, at Moonen’s rm seafood at Mandalay Place, will begin at 7 and feature Moonen’s sustainable seafood choices and dishes inspired by Accarino’s new cookbook, “SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine.” Tickets, at $150, include an autographed copy of the book. Call 632-9300 or email info@rmseafood.com.

— Heidi Knapp Rinella

Nero

The great British music duo Nero serve as headlining DJs tonight at club Surrender in the Encore. They have put out just one album, but their talents are immediately apparent, especially in the bone-crushing, power-dance tracks “Doomsday” (one of the best tunes of 2012) and “Promises.”

— Doug Elfman