The Weekend Shortlist October 25 to 27
Friday October 25
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Music: Minus the Bear
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Best Buy Theater
Food: Yoshinoya Beef Bowl
Drink: Rudy’s Bar and Grill
Miscellaneous: Peking Duck House
Seattle indie rock act, Minus the Bear blend rock with experimental overtones. Their newest EP Acoustics II sees them taking several of their previous songs and stripping them bare, so this concert should see plenty of craziness as well as quieter versions that show just how good their songs really are. Also on board are INVSN and Slow Bird. Making fast food healthy, Yoshinoya serves bowls of rice, vegetables, and your choice of beef, teriyaki chicken, veggie, or a combo of meats. Super cheap, it’s a favorite spot of mine in midtown. A great dive, Rudy’s Bar and Grill serves up cheap beer by the pint or by the pitcher, and as for the grilling, that includes free hot dogs and popcorn! Though slightly on the expensive side, if you’re in the mood for duck and are a couple or in a group of four or more, Peking Duck House makes some of the best duck you will ever likely have.
Friday October 25
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Music: Halloween In The Black Lodge
Show time: 11:30 PM
Venue: Glasslands
Food: Dumont Burger
Drink: Radegast Hall & Biergarten
Miscellaneous: Verb Cafe
Halloween In The Black Lodge features Tamaryn (DJ Set), WOLVVES (DJ Set), Ghost Cop (DJ Set), a place both wonderful and strange (DJ set), TWIN PEAKS COSTUME CONTEST judged by + prizes from Welcome To Twin Peaks.com, Creative Direction by @sheisdp. 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 complements 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!
Saturday October 26
Location: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Music: Electronium: The Future Was Then
Show time: See website for schedule; Through September 28
Venue: BAM
Food: ICI
Drink: Moe’s
Miscellaneous: Tillie’s
Following the critical acclaim of last year’s Shuffle Culture, Ahmir “Questlove†Thompson (The Roots) returns to BAM with Electronium: The Future Was Then, an all-star mash-up that celebrates the pioneering works of electronic music. DJ-composer Jeremy Ellis, R&B singer-producer Tom Krell (How to Dress Well), avant-R&B outfit Sonnymoon, and conductor Andrew Cyr & Metropolis Ensemble join Grammy Award winner Questlove to sample and deconstruct seminal recordings by everyone from Robert Moog and Raymond Scott to Stevie Wonder and George Clinton into a feverishly modern new playlist. Old-school blips and beeps, sine waves, and analog synth solos mix with live vocals and contemporary electronics in this ecstatic riff on the analog revolution that paved the way for our music today. Creating a seasonal menu filled with fresh and locally grown ingredients along with wines from small interesting local wineries, ICI creates innovative dishes like Wild Striped Bass with shitake mushrooms, fennel butter, and fennel slaw ($25). An eclectic bar in Ft. Greene that has absolutely nothing to do with The Simpsons, Moe’s offers a decent beer selection, a neighborhood vibe, and big windows to people watch. For coffee and a place to just sit and relax, Tillie’ss serves a great cup of joe, while consistently having performances, and serving excellent baked goods and vegan food.
Saturday October 26
Location: Union Square, NYC
Event: The Awesome 80s Prom
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Webster Hall
Food: Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar
Drink: McSorley’s Old Ale House
Miscellaneous: Mudd Cafe
Relive the best and worst of coming of age in high school at The Awesome 80s Prom. This interactive show is part musical and full-on party as the audience gets to drink, dance and vote for the Prom King and Queen. 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, at McSorley’s Old Ale House 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 Mudd Cafe on East 9th for coffee and a healthy, vegan, and vegetarian menu.
Sunday October 27
Location: Midtown West, NYC
Theater: Kinky Boots
Show time: See website for schedule
Venue: Al Hirschfeld Theatre
Food: Eatery
Drink: Valhalla
Miscellaneous: Central Park
From Grammy Award-winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper and four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein comes the exhilarating new musical Kinky Boots, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell. Charlie Price (Tony nominee Stark Sands) has suddenly inherited his father’s shoe factory, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Trying to live up to his father’s legacy and save his family business, Charlie finds inspiration in the form of Lola (Billy Porter). A fabulous entertainer in need of some sturdy stilettos, Lola turns out to be the one person who can help Charlie become the man he’s meant to be. As they work to turn the factory around, this unlikely pair finds that they have more in common than they ever dreamed possible… and discovers that when you change your mind about someone, you can change your whole world. Nearby and delicious, Eatery offers a new American menu that’s asian influenced. Try the Red Curry Chicken Breast over roti pancake, with baby carrots and red curry coconut sauce ($16.95). Valhalla’s minimalist space is chill, letting the 24 brands of beer from all over the world on tap be the main attraction at this bar. While its warm out, waste a little time walking through Central Park, relax, and get out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Just watch your step. The working horses tend to leave surprises behind them!