Lake Trout

SOULIVE The lowdown -- Tonight, improv jazz trio Soulive (above) performs at Rams Head Live. Alto saxophonist Sam Kininger joins organist Neal Evans, drummer Alan Evans and guitarist Eric Krasno for a handful of tunes during the band's set. If you go -- Soulive will perform at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, tonight at 10 p.m. Doors open at 8 p.m. $18 in advance, $20 day of show. Ages 18 and over; under 21 pay $3 extra at the door. Call 410-244-1131 or visit ramsheadlive.com. Sonar power The lowdown -- Hip hop/reggae/rock band Power Movement Project plays Sonar's club stage tomorrow.

Skalloween night Get your skank on at the Sidebar's fourth annual Skalloween fest. This year's Halloween night of ska, rocksteady and punk will feature headliners King Django and the Jammyland Allstars. Other featured acts include the Ready Steady Go and the Smizokes, among others. This all-ages show is scheduled to begin around 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. The Sidebar is at 218 E. Lexington St. For more information, call 410-659-4130 or visit www.sidebartavern.com. Last band standing If metal is on your mind, then head to the Thunderdome tonight for the finals of the club's weeks-long Battle of the Bands competition.

Question of the week: Which of the following is your favorite place to go dancing in Baltimore? Club Orpheus Have a Nice Day Cafe The Hippo One Baltimore Redwood Trust I only go clubbing in D.C. Vote at www.sunspot.net/live. Post your answer and see what others have to say, then look for the results (and a new question!) in next week's LIVE! section Last week's question: Which of the following is the best band from the local music scene? Your answers: 70.1 percent Black-Eyed Susan (263 votes)

One of my favorite shows as a kid was Supermarket Sweep, which featured contestants attempting to fill up their shopping cart with as much food as possible in a minute or two. Invariably, the contestants - at least the savvy ones - would head straight to the meat department and start chucking roast beefs and steaks into their carts. A similar impulse occurred to me as I scanned the enormous buffet at Kimmy's, a small eatery in Northwest Baltimore. A salad bar, fruit bar, cooked vegetables, a couple of Asian dishes, fried chicken and much more awaited.

The liquor board will allow a downtown nightclub's patrons to stay until 4 a.m. as long as they don't have any fun. Lake trout is neither trout nor from lakes, but you already knew that. The Redskins are going to pay Coach Spurrier so much money, he'll have to play quarterback, too. Since when is it news that a chief executive officer lied to employees about how well the company would do?

What's in a name? When it comes to "lake trout" - that fried fish fare so unique to Baltimore it's almost a trademark - lies. Two for starters. Touted for decades on restaurant signs across the city, "lake trout" is filleted, breaded and deep-fried here at a clip of tons a week, then served up - usually in tin foil with two pieces of white bread - to customers who often assume that, based on its name, they are eating trout from a lake. But "lake trout" is neither. And if you are one of the few who already knows that, who has been told - perhaps by a frank fishmonger - that "lake trout" is actually "whiting," caught in the bay or ocean, well, that's not exactly right, either.

Just announced "Mistletoe Meltdown," featuring Christina Aguilerea, LeAnn Rimes, Brian McKnight, BMAK and Baha Men, will held at the Baltimore Arena Dec. 9. Call 410-481-SEAT. Ticket watch Tickets are still available for: Comedian Russell Parham at the Arena Playhouse Dec. 2. Call 410-484-0904. Warren Zevon at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis Dec. 6. Call 410-268-4545. Sam Cockrell and the Groove at the Bayou Blues Cafe in White Marsh Dec. 8-9. Call 410-931-BLUE. Singer/actress/dancer Debbie Reynolds at Dover Downs Slots Dec. 8-9. Call 800-711-5882.

Micah's is a soul-food restaurant with a split personality -- part cafeteria, part banquet hall. If you don't mind carrying your own food on a plastic tray to the dining room, Micah's is a good choice for a hearty, comforting meal of lake trout, ribs or smothered pork chops.We entered the bright cafeteria on a recent weekday night, and got on line to survey the evening's choices. Most people were having their dinners boxed up for carryout, but a few, like us, were planning to eat in the dining room.

The ice snapped under my feet and a fierce wind bit my skin as I walked from my car to the Roost carryout restaurant at Reisterstown Road and Hayward Avenue in Northwest Baltimore. It was a bone-cold day.A few minutes later, however, I was aglow. I was feasting on hot "lake trout." The fish had been rolled in batter and fried in oil. Steam rolled off the pieces of fried fish. The aroma filled my car as I headed down Reisterstown Road eating and remembering. The smell and taste of fried fish triggered memories of church suppers, of fish sandwiches for lunch, of fish on Friday.