Friday August 24
Location: Tribeca, NYC
Music:Â James Blood Ulmer Memphis Blood Blues Band featuring Vernon Reid
Show time: 8 PM
Venue:Â City Winery
Food:Â Pakistan Tea House
Drink:Â Mocca Lounge
Miscellaneous:Â Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
James Blood Ulmer Memphis Blood Blues Band featuring Vernon Reid is a great musical collaboration between two incredible and legendary guitarists, Ulmer coming from the avant-garde jazz side and Vernon Reid who can run the gamut from Jazz to metal and anything in between. Put Ulmer’s killer backing band behind them and you have an incredible show. 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.
Friday August 24
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Music: Sublime with Rome
Show time: 6 PM
Venue: Williamsburg Park
Food: Wild Ginger Pan-Asian Vegan Café
Drink: Teddy’s Bar & Grill
Miscellaneous: Verb Café
Sublime with Rome features original Sublime member Eric Wilson along with newcomer Rome Ramirez who not only play new material but also Sublime songs. Catch them on this all-star bill also featuring Cypress Hill, and Pepper. For vegetarians and those not in the mood for meat, Wild Ginger Pan-Asian Vegan Café offers Pan-Asian cuisine in a relaxed earth-toned environment with a menu featuring veggies, tofu, seitan, and soy. The best thing about Teddy’s Bar & Grill is that it’s just got this great neighborhood vibe that’s warm and friendly, while also having a great menu of drinks and American bar food favorites like burgers, salads, sandwiches, and steak. A great place to get good coffee, take a seat, and watch the passing hipsters stroll by, Verb Café even has excellent sandwiches and baked goods to snack on before the show.
Saturday August 25
Location: Union Square, NYC
Music: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Webster Hall
Food: Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar
Drink: McSorley’s Old Ale House
Miscellaneous: Mudd Cafe
The Brian Jonestown Massacre makes a weird but exciting mix of folk, psychedelia, experimental, blues, and electronica. Led by group visionary, Anton Newcombe, the band is filled with a cast of great players and characters making them a must-see-live band. Also joining them is Magic Castles. 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.
Saturday August 25
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 August 26
Location: Upper West Side, NYC
Art: Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History
Show time: See website for schedule; Through September 2
Venue: New York Historical Society
Food: Swizz Restaurant & Wine Bar
Drink: Café des Artistes
Miscellaneous: Magnolia Bakery
The exhibition Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History takes a look at the social, economic, political, and technological history of the production and consumption of beer, ale, and porter in New York City from the seventeenth century to the present. Fondue lovers, Swizz Restaurant & Wine Bar is the place to go and the menu is just as extensive as its wine. It’s romantic and cheesy. Get it! Café des Artistes is one of those old historic bars that’s as New York as it gets. This bar/restaurant was the meeting place of artists going all the way back to 1917. Today, it serves up new American dishes and cocktails to those in the know. To soothe your sweet tooth, check the uptown location of Magnolia Bakery and sink your teeth into one of the city’s best cupcakes.
