The Weekend Shortlist January 28 to 30
Friday January 28
Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Bands: Fergus & Geronimo
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Cakeshop
Food: Paladar
Drink: Welcome to the Johnsons
Miscellaneous: Economy Candy
Indie rock by way of Denton, Texas, Fergus & Geronimo bring a raw kind of garage rock with influences as far as black and Chicano doo wop and as close as psychedelia and soul. Joining them are the Honey Do’s. 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.
Friday January 28
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: Blockhead Get Tickets Here
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Music Hall of Williamsburg
Food: Fornino
Bar: D.O.C. Wine Bar
Miscellaneous: Verb Café
Hip hop beats with an indie rock attitude, Blockhead is a NYC producer having worked with Aesop Rock and on Ninja Tune and many others. Expect downtempo trip-hop beats. Joining them is Emancipator. What also rocks is finding a decent pizza! Fornino offers just that, wrapped up in an original concept. Serving wood oven burning pizza, the menu is broken up into three generations, the first being your basic pizza ingredients while the second and third go off the gourmet deep end, giving you more than 20 options total. For drinks, the D.O.C. Wine Bar has a homey atmosphere and an excellent wine list of strictly Italian wines and small plates of food. If coffee is your thing, The Verb Café offers not only coffee but sandwiches, desserts, and soup. Chill at a table and write that novel, look for jobs online, or hang with a friend like everyone else there.
Saturday January 29
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Bands: Iron & Wine Get Tickets Here
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Radio City Music Hall
Food: Sullivan Street Bakery
Drink: Rudy’s Bar & Grill
Miscellaneous: The Shops at Columbus Circle
Singer/songwriter Samuel Beam AKA Iron & Wine has a new album out in Walking Far From Home which continues to solidify him as a talented folky indie-pop songwriter. Joining him is Edie Brickell. Yes, that Edie Brickell. Arguably one of the top bread makers on the east coast, and good to get gourmet pizza’s and sandwiches, Sullivan Street Bakery makes exquisite food using ingredients you’d see on the Food Network! More bar than grill, Rudy’s Bar & Grill is like going back to college, minus the books. The beer is cheap and by “grill,†they mean free popcorn and hot dogs. If you have trouble finding the bar, just look for the 6 foot tall fiberglass pig standing outside! To get out of the cold and see what an upper-class mall is like, stop by The Shops at Columbus Circle. Expensive restaurants like MASA and shops like Williams Sonoma are fun to browse through to see how the other half lives.
Saturday January 29
Location: Upper West Side, NYC
Art: Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork
Show time: See website for schedule; Through February 13, 2011
Venue: Whitney Museum of American Art
Food: Brother Jimmy’s Bait Shack
Drink: BB&R
Miscellaneous: Dylan’s Candy Bar
In the exhibition Charles LeDray: workworkworkworkwork, the artist features his sculpture work over his 20 year career from the 80s, using materials like sewn cloth, carved human bone, and glazed ceramics. If you’ve got a craving for barbeque, check out Brother Jimmy’s Bait Shack as the ribs, chicken, beef, and pork are all smothered in some amazing BBQ sauce. BB&R, which stands for Blonde, Brunette, and a Redhead is the brainchild of three best friends. What they’ve created is something between a neighborhood bar and a lounge with leather seats in the front and a pool table, photo booth, and video games in the back. Looking more like it came out of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Dylan’s Candy Bar is a colorful place to get lollipops, licorice, and all things sugary. Don’t go crazy though, or your sweet tooth might melt here!
Sunday January 30
Location: Chelsea, NYC
Film: Larry Clark
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Luhring Augustine
Food: Pop Burger
Drink: Gaslight Lounge
Miscellaneous: Amy’s Bread
Known for his films Kids, Gummo, and Wassup Rockers which all pull no punches on being a teen, Larry Clark is also a photographer, who got his start taking photographs of drug addicted teens in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now, for the first time, after coming across the footage he recorded on film, he shows 64 minutes of the daily life of drug addled teens in 1964 Tulsa. Burger joint in the front, upscale lounge in the back, the menu at Pop Burger includes basics like 2 pop burgers for $5 for a quick fix or if your lounging, the likes of tuna tartar with soy truffle jus ($15). The Gaslight Lounge, a great hotspot bar in the meatpacking district, is dark and cozy while affordable for the area. If you don’t know Amy’s Bread, when you order a sandwich at a café or restaurant in the city, ask where they got the bread. There’s a good chance it’s from Amy’s because she’s one of the best bread makers in the city.