You Don’t Have to be a Loser to see The Loser’s Lounge. Illustration by Mott
Friday June 13
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Band: Friday the 13th Zombie Party with Pterodactyl + Fiasco + Puttin’ on the Ritz + Bat Attack
Show time: 8:00 PM
Venue: Death By Audio
Food: Dumont Burger
Drink: Radegast Hall & Biergarten
Miscellaneous: Verb Cafe
It’s Friday 13th, a day made famous by a hockey mask wearing psycho wielding a machete. (Don’t quote me on that!) At this show, dress up as a zombie and get in for the reduced admission of $2 and see Pteredactyl, Fiasco, Bat Attack, Puttin’ on the Ritz, and more. With one of the best burgers in Williamsburg, Dumont Burger offers theirs with gourmet toppings, sandwiches, salads, and their amazing mac & cheese. So you consider yourself a beer connoisseur and like to party. You can do all that and eat at Radegast. The Austrian/German menu perfectly compliments the 12 beers on tap and more than 30 German and Austrian bottles at this large beer hall. One of the oldest and best hipster hangout coffee shops, The Verb offers up excellent coffee and baked goods, a boho vibe, and big windows to watch the days pass while collecting unemployment!
Friday June 13
Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Bang Camaro + The Giraffes + Demander
Show time: 8:00 PM
Venue: Bowery Ballroom
Food: Sammy’s Roumanian Steak House
Drink: Sweet & Vicious
Miscellaneous: Pravda
With at least six band members and a choir of 10 to 15 lead singers, Bang Camaro is not your typical 80s inspired hard rocking metal band. Joining them are local favorites The Giraffes, whose live show is always explosive and Demander, a female led rock trio with great songs. At Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse, expect an atmosphere involving some sort of scene, dancing, and plenty of vodka. The eastern European menu comes down to steaks and chops, and Jewish delicacies like Kasha Varniskes and Kreplach. One of the hipper bars in Nolita, Sweet & Vicious has an all-wood interior featuring big round circular fixtures with lights that make Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire†come to mind, and the prices won’t burn a hole in your wallet! Want a $12 martini that’s worth more? Pravda has an extensive selection of Russian vodkas, and who knows vodka better than the Russians?
Saturday June 14
Location: East Village, NYC
Band: The Loser’s Lounge Tribute to the Kinks
Show time: 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM
Venue: Joe’s Pub
Food: Oyama
Drink: Grassroots Tavern
Miscellaneous: Mudd Cafe
One of the top tribute bands in the city, The Loser’s Lounge pays respect to one of the greatest garage rock bands and songwriters in music history, The Kinks. Look out for special guest singers. With sushi that’s 50 percent off all the time, you might think, “Something’s wrong with that?†but the fish is good and the rolls are inventive, making this one of the best low-priced sushi joints in the city. Though St. Marks all of a sudden lost its charm, Grassroots Tavern hasn’t. This large dive bar has cheap drinks, darts in the back, and old men behind the bar, things a good dive bar should have. Excellent coffee served in a big mug and a healthy menu of food coupled with a year round enclosed outdoor backyard patio make this place a great little coffee shop in the area.
Saturday and Sunday June 14 & 15
Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Band: Mission of Burma
Show time: 8:00 PM
Venue: Bowery Ballroom
Food: San Loco
Drink: Max Fish
Miscellaneous: Sugar Sweet Sunshine
Wow, on Saturday Mission of Burma are playing their complete first EP from 1981, Signals, Calls, and Marches from front to back and on Sunday they will play their complete first album, 1982s VS. For fans of the Boston band, this is one of those things that may never happen again. At San Loco, the Mexican food is inexpensive, you can get a heaping amount of nachos for as little as $3.75, and telling by the heavy traffic, the place is doing just fine. What I like about Max Fish is that it’s a local bar for local artists. It’s walls play host monthly for art exhibitions, there’s a pool table in the back, and drinks aren’t pricey, like many new bars springing up in this neighborhood. For one of the best cupcakes in the city, Sugar Sweet Sunshine has 10 varieties, on top of cakes. Try the Sexy Red Velvet or the Bob, a yellow cupcake with chocolate almond buttercream.
