The Weekend Shortlist October 9 to 11
Friday October 9
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Music: The Complete Live Score of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings Get Tickets Here
Show time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Radio City Music Hall
Food: Vinyl
Drink: Cellar Bar
Miscellaneous: The Bryant Park Hotel
No matter how much you love the movie or how many times you’ve watched your DVD’s, you have never seen the Lord Of The Rings, like this! Radio City presents The Complete Live Score of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings. At this unique 2-night event the Lord of the Rings film will be shown accompanied by a live orchestra of 3oo musicians on Oct 9th and 10th, to play Howard Shore’s brilliant Academy Award winning score of the first LOTR film. Prepare to get your geek on! A perfect compliment to a night of music 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.
Friday October 9
Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Or, the Whale
Show time: 9 PM
Venue: Pianos
Food: Paladar
Drink: Welcome to the Johnsons
Miscellaneous: Economy Candy
San Francisco’s Or, the Whale effortlessly blends indie pop and country and on their recently released self-titled album they really create beautiful music with a country twang that rocks. 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 October 10
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Bands: KISS Get Tickets Here
Show time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Madison Square Gardene
Food: Fat Annie’s Truck Stop
Drink: Stout
Miscellaneous: Jack’s 99 Cent Stores
After 35 years on, KISS celebrate all the highs and lows of being one of the greatest bands in rock, face-paint, moonboots and all. Fat Annie’s Truck Stop offers truck stop style food oddly positioned in Herald Square. Burgers, chilli, po boys and pie are some options in this fun restaurant. Right next store, Stout may look like a sports bar but it has one of the largest selections of dark stout beers in the city. Yeah, it’s a 99 cent store but Jack’s 99 Cent Stores is more like watching a train wreck happen slowly. The place is packed with people trying to get by, yelling, and elbowing each other. True the deals are great, but you’ll either find it hysterical or swear you’ll never go back.
Saturday October 10
Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Peelander Z + Math the Band + Uncle Monsterface
Show time: 8 PM
Food: Minca
Drink: Common Ground
Miscellaneous: Beard Papa Sweets Cafe
What I love about Peelander Z is that they look like a rock and roll version of the Power Rangers, their music has much better anime and their live show would make Godzilla blush. This Japanese band is absolutely amazing live. Math the Band mix casio beats with indie rock to make some high octane music. Hailing themselves as a sock puppet rock band, Uncle Monsterface make fake children’s music for a new generation of children young and old. If you’ve never been to Minca for dinner, go right now! This small noodle bar makes some amazing ramen noodles from scratch. Try the Minca Ramen, a mild broth with pork, chicken & dried seafood ($8.50). One of the newer bars in the East Village, Common Ground has a dark wood interior, a relaxed atmosphere, and excellent cocktails like the Blueberry Pie. If you like pastries filled with cream, check out Beard Papa Sweets Cafe. They offer cream fillings like earl grey, green tea, coffee, and the standard vanilla, chocolate, strawberry among others.
Sunday October 11
Location: Noho, NYC
Event: Nightmare: Vampires Get Tickets Here
Show time: See website for performance schedule; Through November 7
Venue: Noho Event Center
Food: Babbo
Drink: The Dove
Miscellaneous: Café Reggio
If you take your Halloween seriously, you’ve probably already planned your costume out and have been practicing your naughtiest faces for a while now. To help change your mood from ordinary worker bee during the day to blood thirsty monster by night, check out Nightmare: Vampires, an original horror story set in the Museum of Vampyric Artifacts (MoVa) and sees you confronting Vampire legends from the media, movies and from around the world and running for your life from them. Looks like the Halloween season is upon us! One of the six Italian eateries of celebrity chef Mario Battali, Babbo takes Italian American cooking to another level. While the food can be expensive and reservations would be the best way to get a table, this place is highly regarded among food connoisseurs is is nothing short of amazing. Disguised as a lounge The Dove is really a neighborhood bar dressed up in red, white, and gold décor with a nice selection of beers on tap and a very good mixed drink menu featuring delicious martini’s. One of my favorite coffee houses, Café Reggio has the most literate and West Village atmosphere I have been to. A real slice of New York, it was also in the movie Superfly. Go there or be square!