The Weekend Shortlist December 19 to 21

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Disco glam makes a comeback along with LaBelle

Friday December 19

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Budos Band + Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens Get Tickets Here
Show time: 10:30 PM
Venue: Mercery Lounge
Food: San Loco
Drink: Max Fish
Miscellaneous: Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Take the hip shaking afrobeat the Budos Band makes that you can’t help but dance to and add in Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens who take gospel and soul and turn a party into a revival and you have a recipe for one helluva time. Let’s face it, San Loco does not serve the greatest Mexican food ever. But it certainly isn’t bad. The prices are 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.

Friday December 19

Location: Harlem, NYC
Bands: LaBelle Get Tickets Here
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Apollo Theater
Food Amy Ruth’s
Drink Harlem Lanes
Miscellaneous Stop 125

Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash are the original divas who wrote and sang “Lady Marmalade” back in the 70s along with a string of other disco hits. Reuniting after more than 32 years and with a new album Back To Now, expect lots of glitter and glam. While you’re up in Harlem, head over to Amy Ruth’s for some of the best fried chicken around. A MUST TRY is the fried or smothered Chicken & Waffles named The Rev. Al Sharpton ($9.50). It’s out of this world! A complex housing 24 bowling lanes, mini arcade, and a gourmet café, Harlem Lanes also has a sports bar with 24 plasma screen TVs. At Stop 125 you’d think the outdoor Tiki Bar would be the main attraction, but it’s the food that many come for. Offering dinner entree’s as well as small tapas style appetizers like the much-loved Chorizo With Caramelized Figs sautéed in its own juices (sm $6.95, lg $12.95), Stop 125 takes American cuisine and spices it up with the international flair that NYC, and especially Harlem are known for.

Saturday December 20

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Event: 3rd Annual Kraftenplatz
Show time: Noon to 6 PM
Venue: Cake Shop
Food: Paladar
Drink: Welcome to the Johnsons
Miscellaneous: Economy Candy

Looking to buy some last minute gifts for the holidays? Check out Cake Shop’s FREE 3rd Annual Kraftenplatz where talented local venders and designers will be selling their wares. Cake Shop will also be selling used and new vinyl for all you audiophiles. Paladar, whose celebrity chef, Aarón Sanchez is from the Food Network show “Melting Pot,” delivers a Pan-Latino concept taking traditional Spanish fare and adding deliciously executed gourmet twists. Feeling retro? Then Welcome to the Johnsons is the place for you. It’s like being in your uncles wreck room from the 70s. With all wood paneled walls, plastic covered couches, and a Pac Man machine, this bar is out for a good time. Stop by Economy Candy and get a small taste of what it might be like to walk through Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, minus the hijinks, as there’s all sorts of candy everywhere. A real NY landmark, it’s been around since 1937.

Saturday December 20

Location: Union Square, NYC
Bands: Serious Business Records Holiday Party
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: The Studio at Webster Hall
Food: Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar
Drink: McSorley’s Old Ale House
Miscellaneous: Mudd Cafe

Rock label Serious Business knows how to throw a holiday party: Have bands play and make it free! With nine acts playing in three hours, you’ll get more than your fill of holiday cheer. Plus if your company cancelled their holiday party due to cutbacks, this is a great way to put one over on the man! With performances by Secret Dakota Ring, The Unsacred Hearts, the Homosexuals, Higgins, Benji Cossa, Rocketship Park, and much more. 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, 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 café on East 9th for coffee and a healthy, vegan, and vegetarian menu.

Sunday December 21

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Major League Dreidel Tournament
Show time: 7 PM
Venue: Fontana’s
Food: Paladar
Drink: Welcome to the Johnsons
Accessory: Economy Candy

For all us Jews trying to celebrate the 8 crazy nights of Hanukah during this Christmas season, well fear not because there’s the Major League Dreidel Tournament at Fontana’s. Anyone can sign up and metal band Gods of Fire will put a hard spin on classic Hanukah songs. Paladar, whose celebrity chef, Aarón Sanchez is from the Food Network show “Melting Pot,” delivers a Pan-Latino concept taking traditional Spanish fare and adding deliciously executed gourmet twists. Feeling retro? Then Welcome to the Johnsons is the place for you. It’s like being in your uncles wreck room from the 70s. With all wood paneled walls, plastic covered couches, and a Pac Man machine, this bar is out for a good time. Stop by Economy Candy and get a small taste of what it might be like to walk through Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, minus the hijinks, as there’s all sorts of candy everywhere. A real NY landmark, it’s been around since 1937.

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