All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

So this has been a rough week for parts of the Capital Region. We're all ready for a three day weekend. If you've got some time, there's plenty of stuff that's still scheduled this weekend, from music and theater to fairs and barbecues.

After the jump, pick something you want to try. Heck, you've got three days, pick a few things.

If we're missing something on your list, be sure to let us know. And have a great weekend.

1st Friday
Today marks 5 years of 1st Fridays in Albany. That's 60 Fridays for you kids following along at home. Shops and galleries all over Albany are open late tonight with art and music. The Grand Street Community Arts is hosting a party and an auction of the Boarded Up paintings in the windows of St. Anthony's (selections from the Boarded Up series a few years back), Iron Gate Cafe is open for its annual Burger Roast, Teresa Broadwell headlines the Capital Swing Dance and there's a kick-off event for the Living Walls project at Marketplace Gallery. You'll find the full schedule of events here.

Fairs
End-of-the-season fairs are a great way to squeeze the last out of summer.The Fonda Fair will go on as planned this weekend. The fairgrounds in Montgomery County were underwater a few days ago, but with the help of volunteers they managed to get things up and running. The Schaghticoke Fair and Columbia County Fair are also underway this weekend.

Music
+ The Tanglewood Jazz Festival opens tonight and runs through Sunday. Performers include Dianne Reeves, Angelique Kidjo, the Mingus Orchestra and dozens of other performers. This year it's being held in conjunction with a wine and food festival on the Tanglewood grounds. Tickets start at $19

+ Journey is at SPAC tonight with Night Ranger. If you and enjoy it non-ironically, we won't tell anyone. 7:30 $20 - $135

+ Steve Earle is at at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock tonight. There are only standing-room tickets remaining. 9 pm - $40

+ Rich Ortiz plays tonight on the roof of the Tang teaching museum at Skidmore for its Upbeat on the Roof series. 7 pm - free.

+ High Peaks Band is at Putnam Den in Saratoga tonight with Kindlewood. 8 pm - $3 at the door

+ Hudson's Yassou Benedict plays its last East Coast show tonight at Helsinki Hudson before heading out on tour. Tonight at 9 pm $10

+ Elton John is at SPAC Sunday night. 8 pm - $26.00 - $179.50

All things Scottish
The Capital District Scottish Games are underway all weekend at the Altamont Fairgrounds. Plenty of Scottish food, music, highland dancing, crafts, a bonnie dog contest, caber tossing, and hammer throwing. Good times!

A day at the races
This is the last weekend of racing at Saratoga, so if you've been meaning to go, better make a plan. Today they're bumping post time to 2:30 pm and following up the last race with a closing party with music and food. Sunday is family fun fest day with games and entertainment for kids.

Final Stretch Festival Festival
Saratoga celebrates the end of racing season with a three day music festival. Tonight, Saturday night and Sunday night from 7-11 there will be bands playing all over Broadway and lots of great people watching downtown. Head out early, grab some space on a patio and watch it all go by. free

Theater
+ This is closing weekend for Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment at the Berkshire Theater Festival. Also playing: Birthday Boy.

+ Barrington Stage is performing My Name is Asher Lev, the story of a Jewish painter torn between his Hasidic upbringing and his art. They're also doing a staged reading of the new play Kunstler, based on the life of radical lawyer William Kunstler.

+ Shakespeare & Company continues its summer festival season with Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo and Juliette, As You Like It, The Memory of Water, The Hound of the Baskervilles and Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins. On Monday they're doing a Studio festival. It's a full day of staged readings of new, cutting-edge plays. $16 per play, $60 for the seven play festival.

Dance Party
This Sunday MASS MoCA hosts the "I Love Vinyl Dance Party," founded by NYC-based DJ/producer Scribe. "All-star djs Ge-Ology, Boston's native Amir (Kon & Amir), The Twilite Tone (Great Weekend), OP! (Decon), Jon Oliver (The Main Ingredient/EVR) and Scribe comprise The Dream Team. They'll play everything from soul, disco, Dilla and boogie to new jack swing, jazz, latin and afrobeat. 8PM in the Courtyard C of the Hunter Center. $15 advance / $19 day of show / $10 students & kids

Art
+ Union College's pulp fiction art exhibit continues at Mandeville Gallery in the Nott Memorial.

+ This is the last weekend for The Albany Institute of History and Art's Free Friday and Half Price Saturday admissions for the summer. On Saturday they're openinging First in the Hearts of his Countrymen, a new exhibit about George Washington.

+ Pissarro's People, portraits by impressionist Camille Pissarro, is the big exhibit this summer at The Clark, but while you're there, be sure and check out Spaces: Photographs by Candida Hofer and Thomas Struth. The large scale photographs kind of bent our minds recently. The photos examine how people interact with spaces, history and the passage of time.

+ The Hyde Collection's big summer exhibit, New York New York: The 20th Century, includes over 60 works of art that depict New York City and human interaction with it.

Comedy
Chris Tucker's stand-up comedy tour makes a stop at the Palace Theater Saturday night. (What happened to Chris Tucker after all those Rush Hour movies? We have no idea -- maybe he'll talk about it.) 7:30 pm - $49.50 and up

Garden party at a glass house
There are still a few tickets to the AIDS Council's Columbia County garden party at Taghkanic House, the fabulous glass and steel, modernist home of Moyra Mullholland. Sunday afternoon from 3-6. $75 ticket benefits The AIDS Council of Northeast NY.

BBQ
Have some friends over for a labor day barbecue. Maybe you should stop at Rolf's on the way home.

Help some folks who need it
Got a little time? Looking for a way to help the victims of this week's flooding? Here are a few ideas.

Staycation
We've still got a little summer left. No time to get away? Here are a few close to home ideas that will make you feel like you've had a vacation.

Farmers' markets
The farmers' markets in Troy, Saratoga, Delmar and Schenectady will be open this weekend in their regular spaces, so stop in, support area farmers and get as much seasonal goodness as you can.

Take a swim
This is the final weekend of the season for most of the public pools and beaches.

Quadruple feature at the drive-in
The Malta Drive-in has almost-all-nighters on two screens. Screen one: Kung Fu Panda/Captain America/Transformers and Super 8. Screen 2: Spy Kids/Harry Potter/Horrible Bosses/Final Destinations. Other drive-ins:
+ Jericho: Smurfs/Kung Fu Panda 2/ Bridesmaids
+ Hollywood: Smurfs/Planet of the Apes

Ice Cream!
Take a trip to Chatham to try some Golden Organics ice cream, head over to The Snowman for a Boston Milkshake. If you're up for a challenge, take the AOA Ice Cream Tour or make a stop on Daniel's Tour de Soft Serve. Did we mention you're running out of summer?

Brunch
Relax with a nice cold mimosa or Bloody Mary over brunch (one of our current favs is The Iron Gate on Washington Ave in Albany. Get a table outside if you can) or enjoy a great diner breakfast.