Events

Made famous on the riveting television experience “The Real World: New Orleans,” gay rights activist Danny Roberts arrives at Amherst as part of Coming Out Week, sponsored by the Pride Alliance. Since his exposure on MTV, Roberts has used his publicity to discuss and promote issues of gay rights across college campuses nationwide. During this free event, he will give a talk entitled “Real World, Real Life, Real Issues.” (Thurs., 8 p.m., Johnson Chapel.)

The UMass Fine Arts Center will present the free exhibit “Aftermath: Images from Ground Zero,” which features 30 photographs by Joel Meyerowitz. Meyerowitz was the only photographer with unlimited access to the site of the World Trade Center attacks. He documented the ruins and recovery efforts at Ground Zero in the nine months following Sept. 11, stopping only when the last column of the building was removed from the wreckage in May. (Starting Sat., open 2-5 p.m., University Gallery, Fine Arts Center, UMass, 545-3670 for more information.)

For more women’s choral music than you could ever hope to hear, check out the Women’s Choral Festival, hosted by the Amherst College Women’s Chorus and featuring the Radcliffe Choral Society, the Northfield Mount Hermon Select Women’s Ensemble, the Smith College Chorus and the Dessert Singers. This plethora of women singers promises to rock Buckley to the tune of classical, popular, spiritual and world music this weekend. The event is free and open to the public. (Sat., 7:30 p.m., Buckley Recital Hall.)

Alabama-bred singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne is on tour promoting her recently released album “Identity Crisis.” Lynne began her career in Nashville, but she has gradually developed a distinctive style of her own, blending soul, pop, rock and country. Lynne won a Grammy for Best New Artist after the 2000 release of her album “I am Shelby Lynne.” (Sun., 7 p.m., Pearl Street Night Club, Northampton. Tickets $17.50 to $20 at 256-5656)

I enjoy Keanu Reeves’s pretty face as much as the next person, but after the disappointing mess that was “The Matrix Reloaded,” I don’t know if I like him enough to wait in line for five hours at Cinemark this weekend to catch ” The Matrix Revolutions.” Instead, I’m going to watch Neo before he was Neo in the classic ’80s comedy “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” Alex Winter and Reeves star as Bill and Ted, respectively, two completely clueless high schoolers who gain access to a time machine and use it to trek through history and enlist the help of various historical figures for a school presentation. It’s shorter, funnier and quite a bit less profound than the “Matrix” trilogy; plus, you don’t have to wait in line for it. It’s all the Keanu-watching you could want, with none of the effort.