Friday August 26
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Band: School of Seven Bells
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Cameo Gallery
Food: SEA
Drink: Zablozki’s
Miscellaneous: Zenkichi
With voices like sirens, School of Seven Bells blend vocal harmonies with electronic induced indie rock to make some incredibly catchy and heavenly music. Just as much fun as any show, SEA is one BIG Thai restaurant. Big enough to have a pool surrounded by tables as a giant Buddha stands above it. Luckily, the food is really great. Offering traditional Pad Thai ($7) to more involved dishes like the Mummy Fish ($14). On N6th, a street full of bars and restaurants, Zablozki’s is the local bar of the bunch, with a pool table and a friendly atmosphere and 12 beers on tap. A modern Japanese brasserie, Zenkichi boasts a gorgeous wood interior and a menu that features affordable and traditional Japanese fare like the Grilled Saikyo Black Cod ($16.50) that is out of this world.
Friday August 26
Location: Tribeca, NYC
Bands: Juliana Hatfield
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: City Winery
Food: Pakistan Tea House
Drink: Mocca Lounge
Miscellaneous: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
90s indie darling Juliana Hatfield returns with a new album in There’s Always Another Girl and joining her is former D Generation frontman, singer Jesse Malin. 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.
Saturday August 27
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bands: Male Bonding
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Glasslands Gallery
Food: Wild Ginger Pan-Asian Vegan Café
Drink: Teddy’s Bar & Grill
Miscellaneous: Verb Café
English punk act Male Bonding bring some raw power to the stage as well as their well received album Nothing Hurts. These guys are on a serious roll, find out why in person! Joining them are Love Inks, and Fort Lean. 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 27
Location: Chelsea, NYC
Art: The View from a Volcano: The Kitchen’s Soho Years, 1971–1985
Show time: See website for schedule; Through August 27; FREE
Venue: The Kitchen
Food: Pop Burger
Drink: Gaslight Lounge
Miscellaneous: Amy’s Bread
The View from a Volcano: The Kitchen’s Soho Years, 1971–1985, an exhibition revealing the depth of its early history as a home for both experimental performance-based work and exciting new developments in the visual arts. The show offers a unique perspective on the vibrant, interconnected downtown New York arts scene of the 1970s and early 1980s and features single-channel videos and other artworks presented alongside audio, video, and print documentation related to the institution’s programming during its fifteen years in Soho (1971-85). 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.
Sunday August 28
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Art: Cory Arcangel: Pro Tools
Show time: See website for schedule; Through September 11
Venue: Whitney Museum of American Art
Food: Brother Jimmy’s Bait Shack
Drink: BB&R
Miscellaneous: Dylan’s Candy Bar
In the exhibition Cory Arcangel: Pro Tools, the artist presents new works that revolve around the concept of “product demonstrations.†All of the works featured in the exhibition—ranging from video games, single channel video, kinetic sculpture, and prints, to pen plotter drawings—have been created by means of technological tools with an emphasis on the mixing and matching of both professional and amateur technologies, as well as the vernaculars these technologies encourage within culture at large. 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!
