All Over Albany

The week ahead

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look ahead to, or take care of this week -- from the weather (balancing out), to movies, to pizza, to beats, to Peter Gabriel, to all sorts of music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast:

Monday: Fog in the morning. After that, sunny and 85.

Tuesday: Sunny and mid-80s. Chance of showers in the afternoon.

Wednesday: Sunny and around 80.

Thursday: Repeat.

Friday: Repeat.

Weekend: More of that.

And things start to balance out for last week.

Fourth of July

OK, it's not this week. But it's the Monday of next week. So get cracking if you're planning a barbecue (might a trip to Rolf's be in order?) or making travel plans. And, yep, the fireworks on the ESP are that night.

Movies

Mike Mills' Beginners, starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, opens locally this week at the Spectrum. Reviews have been good and Plummers' performance is great, apparently. And if the movie is anywhere as charming as its trailer, it should be a worthwhile see.

Also recently opened: The Tree of Life, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, and Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

Pizza

Pasquale's -- the two-time winner of the Tournament of Pizza -- is for sale. So, who knows how much longer Viktoria will be making pizzas there. So go get a pizza (we recommend the sausage or the margherita). Enjoy it. And thank her for making pizza the hard way.

Beat*Shot Festival

The annual Beat*Shot Festival is set up at Red Square this Thursday, Friday and Saturday with DJs from all over the East Coast and local spinning hip-hop, R&B, house, funk, electro, reggae, bub-step, jungle, breaks, drum and bass, and dance. $15 for all 3 days

Music

+ Monday at SPAC: Peter Gabriel, playing many of his hits re-arranged with an orchestra. (The orchestra is apparently the go-to move for old pop stars.) 8 pm - $65 - $150

+ Wednesday at the Palace: Engelbert Humperdinck. (Yep, he's still alive.) 7 pm - $28 and up

+ Wednesday at Rockin' on the River in Troy: The Hillbilly Horns. 5 pm - free

+ Thursday at Alive at Five: country night with Thompson Square. 5 pm - free

+ Friday at Tanglewood: James Taylor and the Boston Pops (with John Williams). 8:30 pm - $21 for the lawn

+ Friday at Helsinki Hudson: New Orleans brass from Glen David Andrews. From a review of an Andrews' performance this past May: "But if you weren't in the Gospel Tent on Sunday at the close of New Orleans Jazz Fest 2011, you can't appreciate his ability to summon energies of prodigious scope in the name of God almighty. Approximating the power released by a six-pack of hydrogen bombs detonated at tent central, carrying his audience along on a wild ride from one detonation to the next, Andrews was searingly, exhaustingly astonishing." 9 pm - $18

+ Friday at Caffe Lena: Forward Kwenda, Zimbabwean master of the mbira (thumb piano). 8 pm - $15 ahead / $17 at the door

+ Friday at Valentine's: act-name-of-the-week candidate JP Harris and the Tough Choices, setting out "to right the wrongs done to a music so classically and quintessentially American" (the music in question would be country). With Dan Johnson and the Expert Sidemen. 9 pm

+ Saturday at Valentine's: one-man banjo, fiddle, guitar band Possessed by Paul James. With Yankee Cockfight, Yard Sale, and Henry's Rifle. 8 pm

+ Saturday at Putnam Den: bluesy pop with MaryLeigh and The Fauves. With Kyle Miller, Brothers McCann. 9 pm - $5 ahead / $7 at the door

+ Saturday at Caffe Lena: indie pop from Heather Maloney and guy with a guitar from Brad Yoder. 8 pm - $10

+ Saturday at Jillian's: Ten Year Vamp.

+ Sunday at Valentine's: The Loom (back up from Brooklyn), Bear Grass (that would be Katie Hammon), Archaeology (from Portland, Oregon), and Dolfish (from Columbus, Ohio). 8 pm - $7

These are a just a few things for this week. Know of something people should be looking forward to this week? Please share!

Look for our "Stuff to do this weekend" post on Friday.

photo via Glen David Andrews Band Facebook