Before they ever played a gig in Pittsburgh, the members of Tangerine paced themselves through a sort of rock ‘n’ roll boot camp. Formed in early 2001, they began by practicing. Then they practiced some more. And some more. For nearly a year, Tony Matz, Anthony Treme, Anthony Reto and Scott Burke rehearsed until they were beyond confident in their sound. “It was frustrating to be in a band and not be out there,” says Matz, the group’s lead singer. “But when we did come out, we came out strong. We came out swinging.” Tangerine plays at Nick’s Fat City in the South Side tonight. Swinging, however, isn’t quite the word to describe Tangerine’s music. They’ve been compared with Pink Floyd and The Church, but there’s also a hint of the hypnotic, cerebral sounds of bands such as the Dream Syndicate and Miracle Legion. “I honestly couldn’t tell you what the music is like,” Matz says. “We just sound like Tangerine to me.” There’s a professional quality to the band’s music that belies its inexperience. Aside from drummer Treme, none of the other members was in bands prior to Tangerine. Despite the difficulties of having no track record to speak of, they’ve managed to play most of the area’s high-profile venues. They’ve also played in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, and have a short tour of Canada scheduled for the end of November, with stops in Ottawa and Toronto. Matz attributes some of Tangerine’s success to its manager, Tara Cyphers. But no manager can sell a band that doesn’t have the goods. Again, Matz says, preparation was the key. “Our basic goal was that we were not going to come out of the practice space until we were ready,” he says. “We just made sure we were all happy, and that all the songs were good.” What one hears on Tangerine’s self-titled CD, which Matz admits is on the mellow side, can get cranked up a bit at live shows. Yet the biggest question everyone seems to have is about the group’s name. Certainly, it’s not a tribute to electronic band Tangerine Dream. Actually, the name might be the only thing Tangerine’s members didn’t plan. Matz says he was in Chicago at an Italian restaurant when the waiters started singing Frank Sinatra’s version of the standard “Tangerine.” When Matz got in a cab, Led Zeppelin’s “Tangerine” came on the radio. Back at his hotel watching television, a reference to tangerines came on the screen. “It was like, that works for me,” he says. “We did a lot of research and found there were no other bands with that name.” Admission for tonight’s 10 p.m. show, which also features The Attendants, is $2. Details: (412) 481-4880. — Regis Behe Biking for charity Bicycling around the world wasn’t enough for Dan Oshop. The Greenfield man who did a ’round-the-world charity bike ride in 2000 will try to spend 64 hours on a stationary bicycle this weekend. He says it will top the mark in the “Guinness Book of World Records” and hopes it will raise money for the Katie Westerbrook Fund, which supports pediatric cancer research at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. The effort will begin at 5 a.m. Saturday at the Bruster’s Ice Cream Store on Beechwood Boulevard in Squirrel Hill. Oshop is the owner of that franchise. He says he will have two witnesses and medical personnel at the site to validate the attempt. If successful, he will finish at 6:45 p.m. Monday. Oshop is asking for donations for each hour cycled. Details: (412) 805-7795 or doshop@aol.com . — Bob Karlovits Miners at Laurel Arts The nine miners rescued from the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County will appear 5-6:30 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Philip Dressler Center for the Arts. A painting featuring the miners will be one of two recent acquisitions that Laurel Arts will put on display for the first time that night. Also, the miners will autograph calendars produced by Laurel Arts in recognition of the rescue effort and as a fund-raiser for the Sipesville Volunteer Fire Co. For more information, call 814-443-2433. Art exhibit The East Suburban Artists League will present an exhibit of orginal paintings and photographs by experienced and amateur artists through Nov. 29 at the Penn State New Kensington campus. For more details, call 724-325-4951. Music club performance The Friday Evening Music Club will perform 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg. Members will be performing various instrumental music. A donation at the door will be taken. ‘Teachers’ exhibit The Greensburg Art Center instructors will feature an exhibit, “Teachers in Our Midst” beginning with an opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday in the gallery, 230 Todd School Road, Greensburg. The exhibit will run through Feb. 8. Purchased paintings can be be taken immediately. Gallery hours are 7-9:30 p.m. weekdays and noon-3 p.m. Saturdays. Details: 724-837-6791 or visit greensburgartclub.org . Cedar Point auditions Cedar Point amusement park will hold open auditions, casting calls and interviews for entertainers and experienced technicians for its Live Entertainment Department 1:30-4 p.m. Saturday in the Lawrence Hall Lobby at Point Park College, downtown Pittsburgh. The department will be looking for singers, actors, dancers, stage managers, theatre ushers, sound engineers, lighting technicians, projectionists, costume shop personnel and musicians who play guitar, drums, banjo, saxophone, steel guitar, fiddle and keyboard. Reporting dates run from late April to mid June, with shows running continuously through late August or early September. For more information, call 419-627-2390 or e-mail liveshows@cedarpoint.com . Violinist at UPJ Vilolinist Nicolas Kendall will perform 8 p.m. Nov. 20 on the Mainstage of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center. The Philadelphia musician is the winner of the 2002 Pennsylvania Prize/Janet Weis Award. St. Vincent concert Double bassist Volkan Orhon will perform 8 p.m. Nov. 23 in the Science Center Amphitheatre at St. Vincent College, near Latrobe. Admission to the concert is $17. A Classic Evening at St. Vincent, a sitdown dinner at 6 p.m. and a standout concert at 8 p.m. , is available at $26 per person. For tickets or more details, call the SVC Concert Series Box Office at 724-537-4565. Mon Valley light-up night Monongahela Valley Hospital will hold light-up night events at 7 p.m. Nov. 25. Activities will feature Santa and Mrs. Claus, who will greet children and distribute treats. Singers from Monessen High School will perform. Irwin light-up night Light-up night festivities for the Norwin area will begin at 5 p.m. Nov. 21on Main Street, Irwin. A parade begins at 6 p.m. with a visit from Santa Claus. Pitt-Johnstown play Theatreworks USA will present “Just So Stories,” 2 p.m. Nov. 24 on the Mainstage at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center on the campus. The performance, inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s book, interweaves the informative, delightful and nonsensical tales that explain how things came to be. Tickets are $5.50 and available by calling the Artsline 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays at 800-846-2787. Spider-Man creator sues The creative force behind Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil filed a $10 million lawsuit Tuesday, charging that his old comic book company is cheating him out of millions of dollars in movie profits. Stan Lee, who crafted a menagerie of superpowered heroes with very human flaws, now claims that Marvel Entertainment Inc. has tried to shut him out of the “jackpot” success of last summer’s “Spider-Man” movie. Lee’s attorneys filed court papers in Manhattan federal court, claiming that Marvel signed a deal to give Lee 10 percent of any profits from his characters used in films and television shows. “Spider-Man” has been the year’s biggest hit, grossing more than $400 million domestically — but the 80-year-old Lee says he hasn’t seen a penny. “Despite reaping enormous benefits from Mr. Lee’s creations, defendants have failed and refused to honor their commitments to him,” the lawsuit charges. Marvel has reported millions of dollars in earnings from the film but has told Lee the company has seen no “profits” as defined by their contract. Lee hopes a judge will intervene and make sure he gets a percentage of profits from the Ben Affleck movie “Daredevil,” scheduled for release in February. He also seeks a share of profits from the upcoming movie “The Hulk,” and the sequels to “X-Men” and “Spider-Man.” The lawsuit demands damages and a court order forcing Marvel to turn over Lee’s share in any profits from movies about characters he created. Marvel issued a statement saying Lee “continues to be well-compensated” for his contributions to the industry. It said the company is “in full compliance with, and current on all payments due under, terms of Mr. Lee’s employment agreement.” “Spider-Man” stars Tobey Maguire as the teenage superhero, Willem Dafoe as the villainous Green Goblin and Kirsten Dunst as love interest Mary Jane Watson. A sequel is due out in 2004. — The Associated Press Ventura in talks with MSNBC Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, a former talk-radio host who has had his own radio program while in office, is negotiating with MSNBC for a TV show when his term ends in January. Ventura has met with MSNBC President Erik Sorenson over the last several months to discuss a talk show focusing on general news and including a segment on media criticism, a source close to the discussions said on condition of anonymity. MSNBC spokeswoman Paulette Song said, “We’re always looking at potential options for programming but we have nothing to announce.” Since taking office in 1999, Minnesota’s flamboyant governor has been a regular on the cable television news circuit. MSNBC, a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC, is an all-news cable channel whose top-rated show is “Hardball” with Chris Matthews. Ventura has appeared often on “Hardball,” several times as Matthews’ only guest. Last year, Ventura, a former professional wrestler, was a football commentator for the failed XFL. He was an analyst on Tampa Bay Buccaneers radio broadcasts in 1989 and ’90, and also spent a season doing Minnesota Vikings games on KFAN Radio, in 1991. He hosted a talk show on KFAN-AM from 1997 until he filed his candidacy for governor in 1998, and hosted a talk show on KSTP-AM from 1994 to 1996. As governor, Ventura has presided over “Lunch with the Governor” on a statewide network each Friday, promoting his ideas, settling scores and taking calls from listeners. He plans to do just two more Friday shows, ending on Nov. 22, said his spokesman, John Wodele. Ventura would not confirm the MSNBC meetings, Wodele said. — From wire reports ‘Star Dates’ Would you like to go on a blind date with Vicki from “The Love Boat?” How about Screech from “Saved By the Bell?” Or maybe you’d prefer to sit back and watch them and other TV has-beens squirm as cameras follow them around all night? Here’s your chance: “Star Dates,” the latest reality show from E! Entertainment, scheduled to debut at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 15. The series combines the fly-on-the-wall allure of shows like “Blind Date” and “Dismissed” with the stars-in-awkward-situations element of “Celebrity Fear Factor.” Besides “The Love Boat’s” Jill Whelan and “Saved By the Bell’s” Dustin Diamond, celebrities expected to take part include Phyllis Diller, Gary Coleman from “Diff’rent Strokes” and Kim Fields from “The Facts of Life.” — From wire reports Gay detective show in works ABC, having had some success with second runs of USA’s “Monk,” is looking to develop a lighthearted detective show of its own. The premise of the new show is similar to that of “The Thin Man,” or ABC’s 1980s series “Hart to Hart” — a pair of amateur sleuths who solve crimes while taking a break from their regular jobs. The difference this time is that the two leads are a gay couple. Alan Cumming (“The Anniversary Party,” “X-Men 2” ) has signed on to star in the show, tentatively titled “Mr. and Mr. Nash,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show is being developed for next season by Steve Martin and Joan Stein, through their company Martin/Stein, and “That ’70s Show” producers Carsey-Werner-Mandabach. In “Mr. and Mr. Nash,” Cumming and his fellow lead will play a pair of interior designers who fall somewhat haphazardly into detective work. Fox picks up shows Fox has picked up its new series “John Doe” and “Fastlane” for full seasons. A network spokesman says that decisions should come soon on “Firefly” and “Cedric the Entertainer Presents.” — From wire reports

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