The Weekend Shortlist October 24 to 26

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Let’s get Reatarded! Dead or alive, Jay Reatard plays CMJ

Friday October 24

Location: West Village, NYC
Band: Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens
Show time: 8:30 PM
Venue: Fat Cat
Food: Tortilla Flats
Drink: White Horse Tavern
Accessory: Magnolia Bakery

For $3 you can see one of the greatest gospel bands around today in Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens who have a residency at Fat Cat, playing every Friday night. They’re on the Daptone label that boasts Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, but it’s Naomi’s voice and personality that will make you feel like you’ve gone to church. For dinner, check out Tortilla Flats. The food is Mexican and delicious, but it’s the insanity within (bingo and hula-hoop nights) that is the real calling for this place. For drinks afterwards, hit the White Horse Tavern, a great bar and the old haunting grounds for Dylan Thomas. If you somehow have time before all of this, stop by Magnolia Bakery for some of the best tasting cupcakes in the city.

Friday October 24

Location: DUMBO, Brooklyn
Books: MADONNA CONFESSIONS Photography by Guy Oseary
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: The powerHouse Arena
Food: RICE
Drink: Low Bar
Miscellaneous: Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

Photographer Guy Oseary takes us into the world of Madonna with Madonna Confessions a book of 250 pics of the Material Girl during her 2006 Confessions Tour. Tonight Powerhouse opens its doors where Madonna Classics will be spun by the legendary DJ Disco Wiz. RICE not surprisingly offers a pretty intense variety of rice, from brown to Bhutanese red. Most of the rice based dishes come in large and small sizes. Right below RICE is Low Bar, an extremely convenient place to grab a drink and catch some great DJs spin in a lounge environment. Right off the water, with a view of the South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn Bridge so close you can touch it, the only thing that could make this view better is ice cream. You’ll usually find a long line for Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, but the sweet flavors are worth it!

Saturday October 25

Location: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Band: Mr. Robinson and DJ Honky present:
Dig Deeper
with Harvey Scales
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Five Spot Soul Food Supper Club
Food: Junior’s
Drink: O’Connor’s
Miscellaneous: Thomas Beisl

Two DJs who can’t seem to get enough of old school soul and funk 45s, Mr. Robinson and DJ Honky also enjoy finding original soul singers from the 50s and 60s and coaxing them out of retirement to perform for appreciative audiences. This is the case here as they’ve found 60s R&B singer Harvey Scales, who hasn’t performed in 20 years. Tonight he will be backed by the Sweet Divines and the Divine Soul Rhythm Band. This should no doubt be a classic. Known more for its cheesecake than anything else on its menu, Junior’s also offers fantastic diner and deli style eats from steak burgers to deli sandwiches. If you can make it through dinner, the cheesecake will be worth the wait! One of Brooklyn’s most interesting dive bars, O’Connor’s offers cheap drinks in a place where Park Slope hipsters meet old-time drinkers, making for one of the oddest pairings that works. An excellent place to get schnitzel and goulash and other Austrian delights, Thomas Beisl is right across the street from BAM.

Saturday October 25

Location: DUMBO, Brooklyn
Band: Rachel’s Homemade World
Show time: 3 PM
Venue: Galapagos Art Space
Food: Hecho en Dumbo
Drink: reBar
Miscellaneous: Almondine

Rachel Trachtenberg (drummer of The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players) presents her own show for kids, Rachel’s Homemade World. The flowery set was made by her mom and here she has fun with the audience doing sing along’s, puppet shows, interactive arts and crafts, and cooking segments where you and the kids get to be creative. Taking Mexican food, keeping it authentic and using organic, locally grown produce and free range, antibiotic free proteins, Hecho en Dumbo takes faves like tacos and uses ingredients like Berkshire pork steamed in banana leaf with Yucatan spices and pickled red onion (Tacos de Cochinita Pibil-$7) making traditional Mexican food healthier and taste even better. A giant loft space converted into a bar also serving tapas ($3-$8 range), reBar is a gorgeous addition to Dumbo with 15 beers on tap. If you like bread and desserts, you MUST stop by Almondine, who make the best croissants in the city along with breads and desserts. This place is a little secret that deserves to be told.

Saturday October 25

Location: Midtown West, NYC
Band: Billy Bragg + The Watson Twins Get Tickets Here
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom
Food: Empanada Mama
Drink: Circus
Miscellaneous: Vintage

Having worked with Wilco on a few albums, folk singer Billy Bragg goes back to being a solo-artist and returns with his 12th album Mr Love & Justice. Joining him are The Watson Twins, who having recently worked with Jenny Lewis have just released a beautiful folky album in Fire Songs, making for a show featuring an excellent pairing of music. Though small, Empanada Mama packs a hefty punch with more than 40 kinds of empanadas. Choose from a wheat or corn flour shell to start as ingredients include basic rice and beans to what they have dubbed “Viagra,” a wheat flour empanada stuffed with shrimp, scallop, and crab ($3). Appropriately, at Circus, you’ll get free hot dogs, peanuts, and popcorn without the animals, screaming babies, and clowns at this Rudy’s Bar spin-off that has beer just as cheap and a neighborhood feel. If cheap beer ain’t your thing, Vintage has a wine list with over 200 wines by the glass or bottle from most of the boutique wineries in Long Island and Upstate New York.

Sunday October 26

Location: Tribeca, NYC
Band: Jay Reatard Get Tickets Here
Show time: 7 PM
Venue: Santos Party House
Food: Pakistan Tea House
Drink: Mocca Lounge
Miscellaneous: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

One of five times playing CMJ, Jay Reatard brings his brand of garage rock-lo-fi-punk music to the stage with openers the Vivian Girls and Cola Freaks. Nearby, Pakistan Tea House is a buffet style Indian restaurant where you can choose between chicken, meat, fish and vegetables. It’s affordable and very good. For drinks, check out Mocca Lounge. With a funky interior and a menu of Italian inspired fare, it’s also a bar with a large list of coffees with or without alcohol, beers, and frozen shots. Smack dab in the heart of Chinatown, the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory makes gourmet ice cream flavors like Black Sesame, Ginger, Durian, and more exotic flavors like Taro and Wasabi. Don’t worry, they have the go-to’s like Vanilla, fruits, and chocolate flavors too.

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