The week ahead
Buke and Gass, at MASS MoCA this week.
Here are a few things to keep in mind, look ahead to, or keep busy with this week -- from the weather (champ-like), to bones, to ballet, to theater, to all sorts of music...
Weather
Here's the paraphrased forecast:
Monday: Sunny. Hot. Highs around 90.
Tuesday: The same, but with possible bonus thunderstorms.
Wednesday: Sunny and cooler (in this case, that means highs in the low 80s).
Thursday: Repeat.
Friday: Repeat.
Weekend: Yep, you guessed it. Repeat.
July is delivering like a champ.
Blood, Bones and Butter
Gabrielle Hamilton -- the chef/owner of Prune in Manhattan and the author the well-reviewed memoir Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef -- will be reading and talking at The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts late Monday afternoon. Chances are the event is already sold out, but it's worth a call if you'd be interested in seeing her. (The reading starts at 4 pm -- but, you're summering, aren't you, dahling). 4 pm - $10
Ballet
This is the last week of The New York City Ballet's run at SPAC. There are performances lined up Tuesday-Saturday. Each night has a different event associated with it. Among them: Tuesday is American Girl Night (kids are $5), Thursday is "Date Night" (food and wine tastings), and Saturday is a "Glee Night" (a Columbia University a capella group will be performing ahead of the ballet).
Theater
The Williamstown Theater Festival continues its season. Jon Robin Baitz's Three Hotels, starring Steven Weber and Maura Tierney, is still running. And One Slight Hitch, a comedy written by Lewis Black, is in its last week (among the cast: Justin Long -- the "I'm a Mac" guy -- above). $50 and $33
Fiction and non-fiction
The NYS Writers Institute summer reading series continues at Skidmore. This week's lineup includes William Kennedy (Friday). Monday-Friday, 8 pm - free
Comedy
Laughs on Lark is back at Elda's in Albany Wednesday night. Four comics are on the slate. 9 pm
Harry Potter
The final Harry Potter movie -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 -- opens Friday. The big mutli-plexes and The Spectrum are showing midnight screenings Thursday night. If you'd like to go, buy tickets ahead -- 8 screenings at Colonie Center and 8 at Crossgates have already sold out. And, we kid you not, the Regal Crossgates even has a 3 am IMAX screening scheduled.
Music
The annual Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival starts Thursday in the northern Catskills and runs through Sunday. More than 35 acts are on the slate. One-day tickets start at $30.
+ Tuesday at Valentine's: Canadian punk band No Problem, which wants to add nuance to its rebellion against authority. 8 pm
+ Tuesday at Valentine's: Dan Johnson's Americana Club with Red Haired Strangers, and The Pool Boys. Yep, punk downstairs, bluegrass upstairs. A range of options, you have. 8 pm
+ Wednesday at Rockin' on the River in Troy: Soul Session. 5 pm - free
+ Thursday at Alive at Five: Irish night with Carbon Leaf and Enter the Haggis. 5 pm - free
+ Thursday at The Linda: blues guitarist Rory Block. 8 pm - $22
+ Thursday at Helsinki Hudson: Latin funk band Grupo Fantasma. They've won a Grammy and played with Prince. 8 pm - $18
+ Thursday at Valentine's: Olivia Quillio, Mikaela Davis (maybe a little bit like Joanna Newsom -- she has a harp), and Dylan's Hot Pants. 7:30 pm
+ Friday at Helsinki Hudson: Railbird and Yassou Benedict. 9 pm - $10
+ Friday at Caffe Lena: Americana duo Beaucoup Blue, with "folk troubadour" Greg Klyma. 8 pm - $15 ahead / $17 at the door
+ Friday at Red Square: Engloria, Olivia Quillio, Tweed McGee, The Shoutout, Carl Daniels. 7:30 - $8 ahead / $10 day of
+ Friday at Jillian's: funk band Chinatown Lights, with MIRK, and The City Never Sleeps.
+ Saturday at MASS MoCA: http://www.bukeandgass.com/, "oddly catchy prog-punk" that was an All Songs Considered fave last year. And as Stereogum notes: "the buke is 'a self-modified six string baritone ukelele' and the gass is 'a guitar-bass hybrid.'" (One of the members builds instruments for Blue Man Group, the other fixes bikes.) 8 pm - $14 ahead / $18 day of
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.
Yep, SPAC does advertise on AOA.
photo: Buke and Gass
WTF photo: T. Charles Erickson
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Not So Common Players is proud to present Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella!
FREE MUSICAL THEATRE sponsored by the Town of Clifton Park
Clifton Common, Vischer Ferry Road, Clifton Park, NY
Performances will be outside on the Clifton Commons Stage
Performance dates: July 15-17 and 21-24, 2011, 8 pm
In addition, Not So Common Kids presents Beauty and the Beast, Jr. as a finale to their Theatre Camp on July 22 and 23 at 6 PM on the Clifton Common.
These are really great events to bring kids to - bring your bug spray and lawn chairs!
http://notsocommonplayers.org/
... said Jessica R on Jul 11, 2011 at 10:19 AM | link
Metroland listed the capital region's theater scene as one of it's '"best kept secrets". (This amused me, as Metroland is one of those media sources that's helped to keep that secret so well) I love the berkshire theater scene, but Williamstown isn't exactly All Over Albany. Dig a bit deeper next time.
... said natebeynon on Jul 11, 2011 at 10:49 AM | link