All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Well, what do you know! The first weekend of summer will look like -- the first weekend of summer.

Grab your sunscreen and get a plan.

After the jump, a few activities we thought might interest you. Got something planned that isn't mentioned here? You know how it works -- drop it in the comments and share with the rest of the crowd. And whatever you're up to, have a fantastic weekend!

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.

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

History and architecture

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).

Round Lake Antiques Festival
Strolling the village of Round Lake is like a walk back in time, with brightly painted old houses, and a giant pipe organ in the auditorium at its center. This weekend you can wander the greens and parks and browse cool old stuff at the 41st annual Round Lake Antiques Festival. Saturday & Sunday 9 am-5 pm - free admission

Festa
The annual St. Anthony's Festa on Seward Place in Schenectady is Friday-Sunday. The street festival, run by St. Anthony's Catholic church, has been going on for 80some years. It includes game, music, and of course, food --lots of of traditional Italian food (and, in recent years because of a parish merger, Spanish food, too). Friday 5-11 pm, Saturday 3 pm-11 pm, Sunday 2 pm-9 pm

Theater
Summer theater festival season is underway. Here's a sample of what you can see this weekend:

Lion in Winter
Square One Productions, comprised entirely of alumni of the bygone UAlbany theater program -- presents James Goldman's play, The Lion in Winter -- a look at Christmas with the family of Henry II that will make your family seem a whole lot less dysfunctional. At Steamer 10 theater in Albany. Friday & Saturday at 8p.m., Sunday at 3p.m. $8

On the Town
Barrington Stage presents On the Town, the rarely-performed Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Comden & Green musical about three sailors on a 24-hour leave in New York City in 1944. Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 8p.m. , Sunday at 5p.m.Various prices from $15.

La Cage Aux Folles
La Cage Aux Folles, The Jerry Herman musical that was turned into the film The Bird Cage, opens this weekend at Mac-Hayden theater in Chatham. Friday 8 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m. & 7 p.m. - $28-$30 / under 12 $12 with adult

Master Class
Terrence McNally's Tony-winning play Master Class, about legendary opera diva Maria Callas, continues this weekend at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. Friday 8:30 p.m., Saturday 3p.m. - $21-$50

Love's Labors Lost
Also at Shakespeare and Company this weekend, The Bard's comedy Love's Labors Lost.Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 $15-$50.

Heroes
The story of three WWI veterans during their twilight years in a nursing home,Heroes won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. It's also in rep at Shakespeare and Company. Saturday at 8:30p.m and Sunday at 3p.m. $15 to $50

H.M.S. Pinafore
Opera Saratoga presents Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, H.M.S. Pinafore Sunday, 2p.m. $50 - $85.

The Audience
The London National Theater version of The Audience, starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II is being screened at The Spectrum. Sunday at noon $15, under 12 $12.

Comedy

Improv at The Comedy Works
Saturday night, weekly short form improv comedy show MopCo is back at The Comedy Works on Northern Blvd in Albany. Think Whose Line is it Anyway. 8 pm - $15-$20

Music

Friday: The Social Distortion show at Upstate Concert Hall has been cancelled because of illness.

Friday: Hot Tuna at The Egg is sold out.

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

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: 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 -

Swim
Saratoga Spa State Park's Victoria Pool is open again this weekend. You can swim there on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Also, Grafton Lake State Park and Moreau Lake State Park are open for swimming this weekend. In Albany you've got to wait for Monday to swim at the city pools, but the spray pads are open on Saturday, should you want to go run through a sprinkler. Follow up with a popsicle. Then repeat.

Summer Hikes
The Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center is hosting a summer solstice hike Saturday morning. 10a.m. to 11:30a.m.$3 per person,$5 per family --Children under 5 yrs free. Registration required.

The Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center is holding a Super Moon Hike on Sunday. 7 pm-9 pm

Strawberries
Strawberry season has arrived in the Capital Region. Here's our annual round up of pick-your-own spots. It only lasts a few weeks, so don't wait.

Farmers' markets
The outdoor season for farmers' markets are in swing in Troy (Saturday), Delmar (Saturday), Saratoga (Saturday), Schenectady (Sunday), and the new Spa City Farmers Market -- at the Lincoln Baths in Saratoga Springs (Sunday).

Film Festival of Dance
The Saratoga Film Forum and is hosting the 2nd annual Film Festival of Dance, with dance films Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including Best Documentary Oscar nominee A Portrait of Giselle, following Balanchine ballerina Patricia McBride as she prepares to take on the classic role of Giselle, and great ballerinas who danced Giselle in the past. Friday through Sunday. Various prices and times.

Jewels of the Sea
Summer makes us think of seashells. And there are actually some to be found in the Capital Region. Discovery Hall's Jewels of the Sea exhibit contains more than 800 species and 1,000 variations of seashells--coras, seas stars, lobster, sea horses, fossils of extinct species and more. 426 Second St. in Troy. Adults $2, Kids 12 and up $1. Kids 11 and under Free.

Cemetery Tour
Historic Greenridge Cemetery in Saratoga is holding a cemetery tour on Sunday morning. 10:30 am, rain or shine - $8

Playland
Take your favorite kid on a retro-visit to Hoffman's Playland while you can.

Ice Cream
What a fantastic weekend for ice cream. Well, OK, it's not like there's a bad weekend for ice cream. Check out the Tour de Soft Serve and the Tour de Hard Ice Cream before you make up your mind. There's also Moxie's vanilla tour.

Movies
In addition to summer blockbusters like Superman, Star Trek and Gatsby, Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing -- a version of the Shakespeare comedy filmed in Whedon's house and featuring something like half the actors in the Whedonverse -- is screening this weekend at The Spectrum.

Drive-In
One of the great things about summer in the Northeast -- seeing a movie outside. Check out a double feature at The Malta, Jericho or The Hollywood Drive-in.

Live Nation, The Mop & Bucket Company and Proctors advertise on AOA.

photo: ZeroStudio Photography / Wilco FB