All Over Albany

The week ahead

Here are a few things to keep in mind, look forward to, or keep busy with this week, from the weather (workable), to baseball, to architecture, to strawberries, to burlesque, to Neil Gaiman, to all sorts of music...

Weather

Here's the paraphrased forecast for this week:

Monday: Some sun, maybe some rain in the afternoon. Highs in the low 80s.

Tuesday: Cloudy, maybe some rain. Upper 70s

Wednesday: Sunny and 73.

Thursday: Sunny and 77.

Friday: Sunny and 79.

Weekend: Sunny, low 80s.

OK, we can work with this.

Play ball!

The Tri-City ValleyCats open their season Monday at The Joe against the Vermont Lake Monsters. It's schedule magnet giveaway night, and fireworks follow the game. The ValleyCats will also be at home against the Lake Monsters Tuesday and Wednesday. 7 pm - $5.50 and up (ahead)

Stories and poets

Front Parlor
Monday: The Front Parlor storytelling series is back at the Olde English in Albany. The theme: "CO-OPeration" -- stories about the Honest Weight co-op. 7:30 pm

Nitty Gritty
Tuesday: The Nitty Gritty Poetry Slam is back at Valentine's. Nitty Gritty is getting ready to send its team to the National Poetry Slam in Boston later this summer, but this night is open slam -- everyone's invited to sign up. sign up at 7 pm, slam at 8 pm - $5

History and architecture

The Tudors
Wednesday: Historic Albany Foundation has organized a talk and walk about the Holland Ave Tudors in Albany. The houses were built by Jesse Leonard -- who built 200some homes around Albany -- in the 1930s. "The houses are perhaps the best example of Tudor style architecture in the city." (The houses are currently vacant, and apparently in some sort of limbo.) Albany city historian Tony Opalka will talk about Leonard and the houses, Kim Alvarez from Landmark Consulting will lead the walk to see the houses. Wednesday 5:30 pm, starts at Albany Law - $10

GE Realty Plot
Saturday and Sunday: For the first time since 2009, the GE Realty Plot house tour is back. The plot is just east of the Union College campus. General Electric bought it at the end of the 1800s and it was subdivided as a neighborhood for company executives. The design of the neighborhood was inspired by New York's Central Park. Tour blurbage:

This year's tour includes five elegant homes, Union College's Abbe Hall, (a historic preservation award winner), the First Unitarian Society, and lovely gardens -- all nestled in a park like setting. Be the first to get a behind the scenes look at the home used in the new movie The Place Beyond the Pines with Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling.

The tours are Saturday at 11 am and Sunday at noon. Tickets are $25.

The Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums
Saturday: The Rensselaer County Historical Society is bringing Franklin Vagnone -- executive
director of the Historic House Trust of New York City -- to Troy for a talk: "The Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums" (10 am, Bush Memorial Sage College, free). RCHS has a few other anarchical events lined up that day at its own historical house museum, the Hart Cluett House: a light lunch with Vagnone (noon, $20); and a four-course dinner in the house's courtyard catered by Sweet Sue's (6 pm - $125).

Strawberries

Strawberry season has arrived in the Capital Region. Here's our annual round up of pick-your-own spots. It sounds like the season will probably be peaking later this week. It only lasts a few weeks, so don't wait.

Benefits

Two benefits for local arts venues this week:

The Egg
Wednesday: The Egg has a 35th anniversary fundraiser lined up. "Please plan to join us as we celebrate 35 years of presenting the performing arts in one of the world's most unique theatres and unveil a new season of music, dance and family performances." Wednesday 5:30 pm - $35 and up

Park Playhouse
Thursday: There's a benefit concert at the Palace for Albany's Park Playhouse, which in its 25th year. "A live orchestra will join actors from the company's history as they present tunes from such classics as West Side Story, The Producers, The Sound of Music, Cabaret, Hairspray, and many others." 8 pm - $20

Neil Gaiman

Thursday: Award-winning author Neil Gaiman will be at the Saratoga City Center to read from, and talk about, his soon-to-be-released book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Tickets are $35 (one seat and one book) and $45 (two seats and one book). It starts at 6 pm. (As mentioned.)

Gaiman's appearance is being sponsored by the Northshire Bookstore and WAMC -- Gaiman will be talking with Joe Donahue for the public radio station's aptly named Book Show.

Soul

Thursday: The Soul Cinema Series at Proctors continues with a screening of Wattstax, a concert documentary about the 1972 LA Coliseum show that featured "virtually the entire Stax Records roster." A performance by a group of Schenectady High School students follows the screening. 7 pm - $9 / $6 students

Robert Irvine

Friday: celebrity chef Robert Irvine -- of Food Network fame -- will be at Proctors for a series of events related to the launch of a food social networking thing. The day culminates with Irvine doing a live cooking show on stage. Friday 8:30 pm - $87.50

C. Amanda Boutahorse

Friday: C. Amanda Boutahorse's Cult Classics -- a bi-monthly series of burlesque shows with cult classic film themes -- starts in Troy. "Some of the area's sexiest entertainers will be delighting your senses with burlesque homages to Hedwig & The Angry Inch." (The show is at "The Hangar," a performance space across from the Ale House.) 9 pm - $10

Solid Sound

Solid Sound -- the Wilco sponsored music/arts/comedy festival at MASS MoCA -- starts Friday and runs through the weekend. The lineup includes Neko Case, Yo La Tengo, Low, Medeski Martin & Wood, Sean Rowe, John Hodgman, Radio Lab, a bunch of others -- and, of course, Wilco. Three-day passes are $149. Single-day tickets are $65 -- Saturday singles are sold out.

Music

Tuesday: Billy Payne at the Linda
Keyboardist for Little Feat. 8 pm - $18 ahead / $23 at door

Wednesday: Fleetwood Mac at the TU Center
Don't stop thinking that they'll keep going. 8 pm - $37.50 and up

Wednesday: Streetlight Manifesto at Upstate Concert Hall
Ska punk. With: Rodeo Ruby Love, Empty Orchestra. 7:30 pm - $17.50 ahead / $20 day of

Wednesday: Leo Kottke at Helsinki Hudson
Acoustic guitar master. 8 pm - $42 ahead / $45 at door

Wednesday: Aquanett at Rockin' on the River in Troy
80s tribute band. The first Rockin' on the River of the season. 5 pm - free

Thursday: The Airborne Toxic Event at Upstate Concert Hall
Chamber rock. With: Leagues. 8 pm - $18 ahead / $20 day of

Thursday: The Refrigerators at Alive at Five
"Horn fueled party band." With: Molly Durnin. 5 pm - free

Thursday: Hand Habits at Valentine's
With: The Way Down. 8 pm

Friday: Social Distortion at Upstate Concert Hall
Pillars of punk. With: Cheap Time, Dave Hause. 8 pm - $29.50 ahead / $32 day of

Friday: Melissa Etheridge at Tanglewood
With: Eric Hutchinson. 7 pm - $23.50 and up

Friday: Alexis P. Suter Band at The Linda
Blues, "a gale force voice." 8 pm - $18

Friday: Chic Gamine at Helsinki Hudson
"Embody the '60s girl-group vibe all grown up and living in a new century." 9 pm - $15

Friday: George Porter Jr and the Runnin Pardners at Red Square
Bassist, funk progenitor. With: The McLovins. 8 pm - $17 ahead / $20 day of

Friday: Tim and Myles Thompson at Caffe Lena
"International Fingerstyle Guitar Champion" and son. 8 pm - $15

Friday: Chandler Travis Philharmonic at Putnam Den
"Colorfully garbed" 9-piece. With: Holly & Evan. 9:30 pm - $8 ahead / $10 at door

Friday: Rick Rourke and Lost Wages at Upbeat on the Roof at the Tang
Acoustic blues/roots. 7 pm - free

Friday: Cool Britannia Dance Night at Valentine's
Aja from WEXT will be playing hip-hop, Brit-pop, electro, and new wave from the UK. midnight

Friday: Hot Tuna at The Egg is sold out.

Saturday: Suzanne Vega at Helsinki Hudson
Her last name at birth was "Peck." 9 pm - $55 ahead / $60 at door

Saturday: Joey Bada$$ at Upstate Concert Hall
Indie hip hop, kid from Brooklyn, 'fork fave. This video was directed by Albany-native Vashtie Kola. With: The Underachievers, AMJ, Dao Jones, Eli McFly, DJ Playground. 8 pm - $20 ahead / $22 day of

Saturday: Session Americana at Caffe Lena
"Possibly a folk band in a whiskey bottle." Pre-show reception and tours at the Tang for the exhibit "Inside America's Legendary Caffe Lena." 6 pm reception, 8 pm show - $26 show and reception / $18 show

Saturday: Assembly of Dust at Putnam Den
Alt-country jam band. 9:30 pm - $12 ahead / $15 day of

Sunday Saturday: Tom Petty at SPAC
And the Heartbreakers. 8 pm - $39.50 and up

Sunday: Joan Baez and The Indigo Girls at Tanglewood
Two generations of folk stars. 2:30 pm - $23.50 and up

Sunday: The Handsome Family at Helsinki Hudson
Alt-country. With: Sean Rowe. 8 pm - $20

Sunday: Sgt. Dunbar and Hobo Banned at Valentine's
They've been turning out a new EP each month. With: Alpenglow. 8 pm -
____

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

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Airborne Toxic Event photo: Autumn DeWilde
Gaiman photo: Allan Amato