Local musician Jordan Pendley wanted to put together a show to benefit Kaleidoscope, a youth arts program that recently lost its state funding.

He also wanted a show that would serve as a mixing ground for the eclectic artists in Bowling Green to interact and to play together to one crowd.

“Bowling Green is such a small place, and it’s kind of like a cross-section of different music styles,” he said.

Bread & Bagel’s Best of Bowling Green: Local Musicians helping Local Youth debuted Thursday night.

This concert was part of Kaleidoscope’s Big Give Challenge, their first fundraiser in the program’s four-year existence.

“It was good to see that all of these musicians wanted to help,” program coordinator Lauren Cunningham said.

From here, she said they will continue to apply for grants and to rally support among people in Bowling Green.

Pendley, who said he sees pretty much every band in Bowling Green, selected the bands to represent the city’s music scene.

“Everybody here just kind of wanders around without any way to gauge their musical reality,” he said, “I wanted music in Bowling Green to be represented by the best people.”

Six acts played Thursday and five Friday. The shows began at about 7:30 p.m. and lasted until about 12:30 a.m.

Sleeper Agent headlined Thursday.

Double Zero: The Rabbit, Miss Umbrella, The Dink, Pendley and Steven Page also played.

“It all went pretty smoothly,” Pendley said.

Friday, The Lost River Cavemen started the night out on the patio, with singer Michael McMillian confessing “I don’t mind crying,” in a sonorous whine and asking a hypothetical woman to “take away this ball and chain” while Kerry Pruitt danced with his fiddle and Joshua Riddle kept beat. He swigged his Killians between songs and transported the patio patrons – a reserved crowd enjoying pizza and pitchers of beer – all the way from the banks of Pontchartrain to a jail cell on Bourbon Street.

Halfway through the set McMillian gave a “whoop!” to Kaleidoscope.

Self-described freestyle-indie-progressive band Slowols moved the music inside with their amped set-up. The band members complemented each other’s sounds, and their tight-jeans and shaggy or jelled hair presented a cohesive polished style, if one that became progressively sweatier throughout the set. Their music was full of pulsing repetitions and shrilly sustained notes, and their presence was playful. Guitarist Joe Tichenor leaned out the open patio door to give a smile and a nod to those still enjoying the music from outside. Zach Lindsey made cheeky stage chatter between songs.

“Thursday night was crazy … was anyone here the other night? Well, I was, and it was fun.”

Such Tall Buildings, and Technology vs. the Horse also played.

Despite singer Tiger Merritt’s banjo being stolen early in the night, Morning Teleportation headlined with a borrowed instrument, but abruptly stopped during their second song as one of the managers at Bread & Bagel announced that someone on the patio had punched the glass window, and it was about to shatter.

The name of the person hasn’t been released.

Pendley said he still considered the night a success.

“The whole goal was to make money for Kaleidoscope and to bring everyone together to listen to a variety of music,” Pendley said. “The moral of the story is watch out for douche-bags, and guard your banjos.”

Everyone was asked to leave, and everyone did. Most retreated to one of several house parties happening on a Friday night in Bowling Green.

Cunningham said Kaleidoscope raised $1,500 from the music event. The program has raised $20,000 so far from the Big Give Challenge.

“I had an awesome time,” she said.

Cunningham said she also has a show this week – Thursday night at Subway’s Night Class in the Downing University Center. Her former band, Noizejoi, will return from a summer break to headline for an open mic.

She said it was good to meet more local musicians.

Ryan Hunton and Colleen Stewart contributed to the reporting.