Stuff to do this weekend
I'm going to the Sheep and wool festival at Thacher Nature Center. What are you gonna do?
Well, no excuses for boredom this weekend. There's a crazy amount of music, festivals and other stuff going on.
We sifted through to find what we thought might be fun. Here's our list.
Let us know what we missed. And have a great weekend
1st Friday.
Shops and galleries are open late all over Albany. Meet up in Washington Park for a family bike ride at 6. Stop by The Albany Institute of History and Art and check out their "Tomorrow's Masters Today" exhibit, highlighting emerging artists. 50 original works by 50 local artists. Finish up with the Capital Swing Dance at The Albany Elks Lodge. Here's the full schedule.
Roller Derby
The Albany All Stars' Empire Skate Troopers take on the Jerzey Derby Brigade's
Corporal Punishers at the Washington Avenue Armory on Saturday. Doors open at
6, bout starts at 7.$10 advance, $12 at the door, $4 under 12*
Baseball
The Albany Dutchmen play the Cooperstown Hawkeyes tonight at 7 at Bleeker Stadium. $5. $4 student/senior. $3 5-12. Under 5- Free.
MUSIC
Friday
+The Throwbacks and Raisin' Cain are at Red Square on Friday at 8.
+Slick Fitty is having a CD release party at the Marketplace Gallery tonight.
+9 Maple Ave. is a very tiny bar (the martini menu might actually be larger), but it might be worth the squeeze tonight to hear the Arch Stanton Quintet play with Brian Cassier. Cassier started playing as a kid in Saratoga and today he's one of the most sought after players in NYC.
Darlingside plays Putnam Den tonight with Saving Atlantis
+Dave Matthews Band is at SPAC tonight and tomorrow...but unless you've got tickets already, good luck getting in. Both shows are sold out.
+Harold Ford plays a Johnny Cash Tribute tonight at 8 at The Linda. $20.
+Radio Woodstock's Mountain Jam Fest VI--This three day jam band festival was named one of Rolling Stone's 47 Coolest Tours and Festivals of the summer . Curated by Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Haynes it includes Donald Fagen, Ray La Montagne, Alison Krauss, Levon Helm Grace Potter. Tickets are not cheap though -- the weekend will run you $150-$180. On site camping is available.
Saturday
+Beware! the Other Head of Science joins Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, the Mathematicians and Paper Ships in what promises to be a fantastic show at Valentines on Saturday night. 8PM. $7
+William Nicholson and Mike Grutka (remember his MyExit Show) hold their CD release party on Saturday at Bread and Jam. 8:00.
+Sean Rowe plays the Marketplace Gallery on Saturday night.
+The Bluegrassy, swinging, country, honky-tonk quintet, Yarn, brings its CD release tour to
Red Square on Saturday night. 8PM. $10
+Erin Harkes plays The Dublin Underground on Saturday night with her new all-girl band Babeband
Sunday
+Kings of Leon come to SPAC on Sunday night. 7PM $35-$55.**
+Revolution Hall is holding a Nick Castle Memorial concert on Sunday at 2:30. A handful of bands are playing including Casanova Frankeinstein and The Disco Boys, The Viking, Electrick noise and Crashing Funerals.
Dance
The Capital Swing Dance caps off 1st Friday in Albany tonight.Things get underway at the Albany Elks Lodge No. 49 tonight at 7:30 with a beginner lesson. Dancing from 8:30 to 11:30.
Poetry
Caffe Lena hosts the 2nd Annual Poetry Festival today and tomorrow with workshops and readings. Taylor Mali reads tonight at 8 ($17). Tomorrow's events go from 12:30 to 10. Featured poets include Dan Nester, Barbara Ungar, and Diane Lockwood.
Film
+Shorts, feature films, documentaries and other cool events are all part of the Berkshire International Film Festivalthis weekend. Screenings will be held at The Triplex, Beacon Cinema the Berkshire Museum and The Mahaiwe.
+So what if it's not Halloween. Anytime is the right time to do The Time Warp.
There's an 11PM screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (with a shadow cast) tonight at The Linda. $6
Festival
+Saratoga's Caroline Street Arts and Blues Festival kicks off at 1PM. Music, art and kids stuff. 1-7 PM Free.
+Jay Street in Schenectady is hosting its 16th annual Kids Arts Festival on Saturday from Noon to 4.
+If you're up for about an hour drive north to Cambridge, you can catch the hot air balloons at the Cambridge Balloon Festival this weekend.
+Five Rivers Environmental Education Center holds an Art Gone Wild Festival on Saturday from 9 to 4. It's a day of workshops and activities on the artistic interpretation of nature. Make nature prints with real grasses, paint landscapes and much more. Some workshops may have small materials fees.
+Greek food, music, art and umm... more food... at the St. Basil Greek Festival . The festival starts today at 5 and continues through Sunday in Downtown Troy.
+If you've never checked out the The Albany Pine Bush Preserve, this could be a fun weekend to give it a look. They're hosting their annual Lupine Festival at the Blueberry Hill West Trailhead no. 5 with bird walks, butterfly tours, hikes, music and kids activities. Saturday from 10 to 4. Free.
+Cars and crafts at the Shenedehowa Rotary Car Show at the YMCA Kidz Lodge on Saturday at 10AM
+The 4th Annual Sheep and Wool Gathering festival takes place on Saturday from 10 to 4 at Thacher Nature Center.
Youth Media Showcase
The Sanctuary for Independent Media hosts the NY Shout Out:Youth Media Showcase on Saturday at 7.
Elvisfest
Elvis-fest is already underway in Lake George. You'll see "The King" all over the village this weekend as at least 50 tribute artists from as far away as Australia and Brazil take part in the world's second largest Elvis Tribute Artist Competition.
Swim
Cool off at one of the local beaches or sprinkler pads. Need a swimsuit first?
Ice Cream!
It makes everything more fun. Here a map of the AOA Ice Cream Tour, and here's a list of seasonal places you may want to try.
*The Albany All Stars advertise on AOA
*SPAC is also an AOA advertiser
Photo: flickr user Brew ha ha
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Comments
FREE Christian Music Concert with many artists at Our Savior Lutheran Center in Colonie on Sunday night at 6pm. (VIP tickets are also available for a price)
... said Rich R on Jun 4, 2010 at 11:08 AM | link
Free Carwash (donations welcomed) at Good Ground Church in Cohoes Saturday June 5th from 10am-2pm.
... said Rich R on Jun 4, 2010 at 11:10 AM | link
FREE ice cream at Friendly's Saturday from Noon til 5pm.
... said Rich R on Jun 4, 2010 at 11:12 AM | link
For anyone interested in the First Friday bike ride, the meeting spot is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial in Washington Park.
Here's the exact spot: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=42.656664,-73.76677&sll=42.656665,-73.766761&sspn=0.00117,0.00284&ie=UTF8&ll=42.656442,-73.766434&spn=0.004679,0.011362&t=h&z=17
It's a fun, casual ride around some of the places you might otherwise miss, without worrying about parking.
... said Ken on Jun 4, 2010 at 12:28 PM | link
The APL Delaware Branch will be showing the USA vs. England Soccor Tourney on Saturday. Serving all American coca cola.
http://www.albanypubliclibrary.org/calendar/?eventid=6822
Editors: just a heads-up, that's next Saturday June 12. We're excited for the World Cup, too.
... said Albany Citizen One on Jun 4, 2010 at 4:30 PM | link
Here's an interesting link from someone who came through (and stayed) in Albany recently.
http://emeralddreamsphoto.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/a-dead-city/
They guy's got a point.
... said Patrick on Jun 7, 2010 at 9:43 AM | link
@patrick: what would that point be? Some pretty cool photos here (of the Education building especially), but really, he was definitely not where "it's at". There is some action downtown (Broadway/Pearl), but that's much later in the day. And he seems to have carefully avoided Center Square; people hardly hang out near the plaza or government buildings during the weekend, especially at night. If I visit a new city, I usually do a bit of homework :)
... said -S on Jun 7, 2010 at 10:45 AM | link
Agreed; it's no surprise that the government office building area is going to be deserted on the weekend. If you want to see things happening, even in that same area, check it out any weekday between 11am-1pm or after work hours on an Alive @ 5 day. He also would have seen plenty of people in the Plaza/Museum area this Saturday, with the Freihofer's Run. I walked past that this weekend after watching my girlfriend play football in Lincoln Park for a while, then returned to Lincoln to see a couple of football games, a softball game, and some cricket in progress.
Of course, Center Square is much more vibrant at night than downtown proper, and this past Friday would have been a good time since it was a 1st Friday.
That guy will be getting referral links to this post, so hopefully he'll read it and see why he missed the action. I appreciate that he tried to visit Albany and check it out, but just because everything didn't come to where he was doesn't mean it's a zombie town. Patrick, I'm also curious what you think the point was.
... said B on Jun 7, 2010 at 11:43 AM | link
> That guy will be getting referral links to this post, so hopefully he'll read it
Or, you know, you can just leave a comment on his blog :) I did, he answered, no harm done. I like his cross-process and flare photos, gave me some ideas.
... said -S on Jun 7, 2010 at 1:30 PM | link