Friday February 5
Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn
Bands: The Sky Report Winter Showcase with Brahms
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Tandem
Food: Potion Café
Drink: Life Café Nine 83
Miscellaneous: Stain
The Sky Report Winter Showcase with Brahms is featuring Brahms, who are fresh off sold-out opening dates with Passion Pit, The Dirty Projectors and Telepathe, along with Brooklyn electro chanteuse Bonnie Baxter under her new moniker ShadowBox, “epic synth-pop†band Fan-Tan, and ambient electronic artist David Shane Smith from Los Angeles. DJ’s Fatalist, Jeremy Russell and Silent T will spin till 4 AM. For food in this neighborhood, Potion Café offers organically grown and traded food that’s part of the “slow food†movement and make delicious and creative food like the poached eggs in white wine sauce. For drinks, check out Life Café Nine 83. While it’s THE same Life Café that the RENT musical features in the play, it’s not the same location. This new Bushwick locale also possesses a boho vibe, an Americanized menu of ethnic food, and a fun selection of mixed drinks including martini’s and lemonade cocktails. A HUGE space decked out in old couches, Stain is an artsy bar that looks like an old-school coffeehouse yet serves local wines and beers.
Friday February 5
Location: Upper West Side, NYC
Band: Chromeo
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Guggenheim Museum
Food: Brother Jimmy’s Bait Shack
Drink: Cavatappo Wine Bar
Miscellaneous: Ship of Fools
Not exactly known for throwing shows of this sort, the Guggenheim will see Chromeo perform as part of Guggenheim First Fridays, where art and music meet. While you’re there, check out the exhibition by Anish Kapoor. Now that it’s cold out, what better way to warm up than with some BBQ. Brother Jimmy’s Bait Shack is known for their BBQ’d meats, smoked in house. The menu is all Southern favorites like po boys, catfish, fried chicken, along with burgers. Though it’s small, Cavatappo Wine Bar packs a mighty punch, offering an amazing selection of wines from all over the world for under $10 a glass. With more than 40 TVs featuring sports, Ship of Fools also has darts, pool tables, and video games.
Saturday February 6
Location: Tribeca, NYC
Event: Reverend Billy & the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: 92Y Tribeca
Food: Pakistan Tea House
Drink: Mocca Lounge
Miscellaneous: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
A political statement in the form of preaching of the gospel, Reverend Billy & the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir try to educate their audiences on the evils of too much consumerism in our lives. Add on performance art, live music, theater and humour and you have one of the most addictive events to see in NYC in recent years. 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.
Saturday February 6
Location: Union Square, NYC
Event: The Awesome 80s Prom
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Webster Hall
Food: Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar
Drink: McSorley’s Old Ale House
Miscellaneous: Mudd Cafe
Relive the best and worst of coming of age in high school at The Awesome 80s Prom. This interactive show is part musical and full-on party as the audience gets to drink, dance and vote for the Prom King and Queen. For eats, check out Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar, a sandwich shop offering Thai sandwiches with 7 Steamed Fried Vegetables and a choice of chicken, veggie, tofu or beef on a baguette with 3 types of sauces for $7. One of the city’s oldest bars, at McSorley’s Old Ale House you can feel the history when you enter as memorabilia, since its beginnings in 1854, are all over the walls. Aside from it being a frat hangout nowadays, it’s worth the trip. You’ve seen that orange Mudd coffee truck parked on Astor Place and on various other streets, but check out their Mudd Cafe on East 9th for coffee and a healthy, vegan, and vegetarian menu.
Sunday February 7
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Art: Tim Burton
Show time: See website for schedule; Through April 26
Venue: MOMA
Food: Eatery
Drink: Valhalla
Miscellaneous: Central Park
In this Tim Burton retrospective, MOMA features over seven hundred examples of rarely or never-before-seen drawings, paintings, photographs, moving image works, concept art, storyboards, puppets, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera from his early childhood drawings through much of his filmography. Nearby and delicious, Eatery offers a new American menu that’s asian influenced. Try the Red Curry Chicken Breast over roti pancake, with baby carrots and red curry coconut sauce ($16.95). Valhalla’s minimalist space is chill, letting the 24 brands of beer from all over the world on tap be the main attraction at this bar. While its warm out, waste a little time walking through Central Park, relax, and get out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Just watch your step. The working horses tend to leave surprises behind them!
