Friday July 17
Location: East Village, NYC
Bands: LA Riots
Show time: 10 PM
Venue: Webster Hall
Food: Momofuku
Drink: The Village Pourhouse
Miscellaneous: Sundaes and Cones
LA Riots have been making some quality remixes of big names from Chris Cornell to N.A.S.A. and doing some truly inventive stuff. Catch them live with Wolfgang Gartner and Nick Catchdubs. If you like ramen noodles and pork, then Momofuku is your spot for food. The Berkshire pork is the best I’ve had and it’s the only place I’ll eat pork period, which should tell you just how good Momofuku really is! The Village Pourhouse may look like a neighborhood bar to watch sports, but it actually has three more rooms, where you can order food or find a quiet place to smooch! For dessert a little left of the dial, Sundaes and Cones offers eclectic flavors like wasabi and corn and many more flavors that are familiar.
Friday July 17
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Art: Hard Hearts
Show time: 7 – 10 PM; FREE
Venue: The Williamsburg Music Center
Food: Dumont Burger
Drink: Radegast Hall & Biergarten
Miscellaneous: Verb Cafe
Hard Hearts features art from the female members of the Urban Individualists, including Helen Bascom, Helene Ruiz, Mariam Muradian, Mia Hernandez, Wahala Temi, Valerie Kirk, Gloria Holwerda-Williams, the event also will have live music by Booker T Williams, Silvano Ferrin, Tara Thierry, Gerry Eastman’s houseband, plus poetry/spoken Word by Mia Hernandez, Gloria, Tara Thierry and Valerie Kirk. 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 Hall & Biergarten. 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 Cafe offers up excellent coffee and baked goods, a boho vibe, and big windows to watch the days pass while collecting unemployment!
Friday July 17
Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Libbie Schrader
Show time: 7 PM
Venue: Living Room
Food: Katz’s Deli
Drink: Motor City Bar
Miscellaneous: Ludlow Guitars
Indie singer/songwriter Libbie Schrader has done a great job of getting her music to the people by way of opening for the likes of Jewel, Poe, India.Arie, and Michelle Branch just to name a few and even appeared in the finale of The Gilmore Girls while her music has been on several MTV shows. Check out what the fuss is all about. If you’re starving, I mean really starving, head over to Katz’s Deli. This old school deli packs on the pastrami a mile high. The portions are huge and the place is classic NY. If you like your bars loud and packed with an eclectic mix of hipsters and denizens of the neighborhood, then you’ll love Motor City Bar, which not only pays tribute to Detroit with car parts scattered everywhere but also has DJs playing rock nightly as well as a go go dancer in the window. Stop by Ludlow Guitars if there’s time and peruse through some magnificent rare and new music equipment from inexpensive to guitars that you will have to save dearly to afford.
Saturday July 18
Location: Coney Island, Brooklyn
Bands: Siren Music Festival
Show time: Noon – 9 PM; FREE
Venue: Coney Island (Main Stage-W 10th St-off Surf Ave & Stillwell Stage-Stillwell Ave-off Surf Ave)
Food: Nathan’s Famous
Drink: Ruby’s Old Tyme Bar and Grill
Miscellaneous: New York Aquarium
The Village Voice’s annual Siren Music Festival rolls into Coney Island for the ninth year and features a list of great bands playing for FREE including Built to Spill, The Raveonettes, Spank Rock, Frightened Rabbit, A Place to Bury Strangers, Grand Duchy, Monotonix, Thee Oh Sees, Future of the Left, Japandroids, Micachu and the Shapes, Tiny Masters of Today, Bear Hands, The Blue Van, Justine D, and Deadheat DJs. While you may not be a competitive hot dog eater, eating a hot dog, a corn dog, or even cheese fries at Nathan’s Famous goes back several generations. Expect long lines, but it’ll be worth it! Not just a tradition but an institution on the boardwalk, Ruby’s Old Tyme Bar and Grill is a great dive bar for cheap drinks and watching local drunks belt out Rat Pack songs. It’s been open since 1896 and is the only one in the city, so if you’re going to be on Surf Avenue or nearby, check out the New York Aquarium where you can hang with sea otters, penguins, and seals, take a class, see an exhibition or a show at the Aquatheater.
Saturday July 18
Location: Astoria, Queens
Event: 7th Annual Musical Saw Festival Get Tickets Here
Show time: 2 PM
Venue: Trinity Church
Food: Sanford Restaurant
Drink: Café Bar
Miscellaneous: Cavo Café Lounge
While the saw is synonymous with carpentry it’s also been used as an instrument for nearly 300 years and the 7th Annual Musical Saw Festival presented by festival founder Natalia ‘Saw Lady’ Paruz, will feature music from saw players from around the world, a saw exhibit and an attempt at breaking the Guiness World Record for largest musical saw ensemble. While Sanford Restaurant has been around for 75 years, you’d never know it with it’s modern décor and its very forward thinking diner fare. Try the Organic Asian Noodle Salad ($14.95) or the Pork Osso Bucco ($17.95) for just a taste of the delicious dishes that this place offers. For a drink, try Café Bar for something surprisingly different. On the outside it looks upscale but inside it’s a funky mix of couches, art, coffee shop, and Ikea-like design making for a super relaxing place for a drink or meal. At Cavo Café Lounge grab some traditional Greek and Mediterranean dishes off the menu and sit inside or outdoors in their Mediterranean themed backyard that is simply amazing.
Sunday July 19
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Bands: The Dead Weather + Screaming Females Get Tickets Here
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Terminal 5
Food: Vinyl
Drink: Cellar Bar
Miscellaneous: The Bryant Park Hotel
Jack White’s newest supergroup The Dead Weather featuring Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Jack White, Dean Fertita from Queens of the Stone Age, and Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes make some dynamic blues infested rock that sees White playing drums and Mosshart taking the lead vocals. Their album Horehound while slightly different, still has that Jack White sound. Joining them are the great rock act Screaming Females. A perfect compliment to a night of music, well sort of, is Vinyl. At this rock and roll themed restaurant, the menus are made of old album covers and the food is a mix of American and Thai. Don’t forget to check out the bathroom, each one has a music icon theme. With vaulted ceilings and a mostly red and cream interior, the Cellar Bar, located in the Bryant Park Hotel, is one gorgeous place, creating a sexy atmosphere. The drinks are pricey, but worth the stopover. For kicks, take a little walk through The Bryant Park Hotel. This chic boutique hotel, designed by British architect David Chipperfield, not only has the Cellar Bar but the Koi Restaurant, a fantastic Japanese spot.
