All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

And just like that, it's November.

Step away from the online election clatter and the leftover Halloween candy this weekend and do something fun.

After the jump, a long list of stuff happening this weekend. Vote on your favorites and enjoy.

Planning something that isn't on our list? Share it in the comments so the rest of us can check it out.

And whatever you're up to, have a fantastic weekend!

1st Friday
Friday: It's 1st Friday in Albany. Here are a few things you can check out
+ Upstate Artists Guild's Portraits and Propaganda show
+ EBA's Brave New Dances concert
+ Albany Barn hosts an UNTrash The Block Party and Breathing Lights City Celebration, a film screening of Arbor Hi(LL)story, and an opening reception for the New Neighbors interactive installation
+ Eight to the Bar hosts the monthly 1st Friday Swing Dance at the Albany Elks Lodge at 25 South Allen ($15)

Arts Fest Friday
Friday: Saratoga's Arts Fest Friday comes to the Tang Museum this month with Dear America: History Meets Hip-Hop. "An evening of eclectic historic- and election-themed entertainment including vintage campaign songs from musician/artist Brian Dewan, hip-hop poets and performers from Saratoga Springs High School and Skidmore College, and historic reenactors from across the Capital Region." Friday 5-7:30 pm -- free

BUILT
Saturday: Historic Albany's annual BUILT event will be at the State Museum. The annual art show, silent auction, and reception examines Albany's environment and architecture through the eyes of artists, and is always filled with fun and fascinating projects. More than 200 works of art will be available to view and bid on in the silent auction. There's also a Breathing Lights After Party at the Albany Barn. Saturday 6:30 pm -- $75 each / $50 for under 35 / after party is $15

Northeast Ski & Craft Beer Showcase
Friday-Sunday: The Empire State Plaza hosts the Northeast Ski & Craft Beer Showcase, New York largest winter sports show. Friday 4 pm to 9 pm, Saturday 10 am to 6 pm, Sunday 10 am to 5 pm -- $8 advance / $10 at the door

Albany Auto Show
Friday-Sunday: The Albany Auto Show returns to the TU Center. More than 150 new vehicles from more than 25 manufacturers, plus exhibitor booths with auto products and services. Friday 11 am to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 7 pm, Sunday 10 am to 5 pm -- $9 / under 12 free

Stage

Wonderful World
Friday-Sunday: Albany Civic Theater opens director Gary Hoffmann's production of Wonderful World, Richard Dresser's play about the forces that pull families apart and the bonds that hold them together. Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 3pm -- $18 / $10 for students

Farragut North
Friday-Sunday: Curtain Call presents Farragut North, a political drama written by one of the creators of the US version of House of Cards. (The play was adapted as a film starring Ryan Gosling and George Clooney a few years ago.) Friday and Saturday 8 pm, Sunday 2 pm -- $20

Lysistrata
Friday-Sunday: Steamer 10 theater presents Lysistrata, the bawdy Aristophanes comedy about gender relations and anti-war sentiment that was first performed in 411 BC and still resonates today. Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm -- $20 / $10 for seniors

Comedy

Bill Maher
Friday: Sunday: Comedian/talk show host Bill Maher will be at The Palace for a stand-up show. Friday 8 pm -- $39.50 and up

Mopco Improv
MopCo's new North Jay Street theater is open in Schenectady:
+ Friday: MopCo presents Friday Fringe with improv by House Team Alf Pacino and the all-female team The Lady Allstars. Friday 8 pm -- $10 / $6 for students and seniors
+ Saturday: TheaterSports with The Mop and Bucket Company . Two teams compete with improvised scenes, games and songs based on audience suggestions. Saturday 8 pm -- $15 / $6 for students and seniors

Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show: Shane Mauss
Sunday: The Pretty Much the Best Comedy Show series is back at Proctors with Shane Mauss and The Good Trip -- a one-man show about psychedelics. Mauss has specials on Comedy Central and Netflix and interviews scientists for the podcast Here We Are. The Good Trip is billed as part stand-up, part storytelling and part TED talk. Sunday 7 pm -- $15 in advance / $20 at the door

Talks

Producing The Band
Friday-Sunday: Record producer John Simon will be at a series of venues around the region talking about his work producing recordings for The Band. It's part of the New York Living Legacy series associated with The Egg. Venues: Albany Public Library Friday at noon, Bethlehem Public Library Saturday at 1 pm, Guilderland Public Library Saturday at 3:30 pm, Saratoga Springs Public Library Sunday at 12:30 pm, Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library Sunday at 3 pm. free

Restoring Alexander Hamilton's home
Friday: Architect Douglas Bucher will be at the Albany Institute for a talk about moving and restoring Alexander Hamilton's NYC home. Friday 6 pm -- free

Music

Friday: Jlin + Qrion at EMPAC
"Jlin and Qrion each create dance music perfectly suited to the contemporary moment, when regional flavors and the tension between sampled material and self-composed sounds are finding common other-worldly ground." 9 pm -- $18 / $6 students

Friday: Steve Vai at The Egg
Rock guitarist. 8 pm -- $39.50 and up

Friday: Beartooth at Upstate Concert Hall
Metalcore. With: Everytime I Die, Fit For a King, Old Wounds. 7 pm -- $19.50 ahead / $23 day of

Friday: GX3+ at Old Songs
"Guitar trio featuring Fiery flamenco, classical, Baroque, Latin & Appalachian sounds." 7:30 pm -- $20 / $5 kids 12 and under

Friday: Tom Hamilton's American Babies at The Hollow
Americana. With: Hayley Jane and the Primates. 8 pm -- $12

Friday: Garnet Rogers at Caffe Lena at Universal Preservation Hall
Folk. 8 pm -- $22

Saturday: Golden Oldies Spectacular at Proctors
Headlined by Darlene Love and Bobby Rydell. 7 pm -- $39.75 and up

Saturday: Arlo Guthrie at The Egg
Folk royalty. 7:30 pm -- $39.50 and up

Saturday: Big Thief at MASS MoCA
Indie rock. 8 pm -- $12 ahead / $18 day of / $10 students

Saturday: Albert Cummings at The Linda
Blues. With: Andrew Wheeler Band. 8 pm -- $20

Saturday: Micah Schnabel at The Low Beat
From Two Cow Garage. With: The Goat Stingers. 8 pm

Saturday: Blind Owl Band at The Hollow
Psycho bluegrass. With: Black Mountain Symphony. 8 pm -- $12

Sunday: Pat Donohue at Caffe Lena at Universal Preservation Hall
Grammy winner, longtime guitarist on Prairie Home Companion. 7 pm -- $22

Film

Underwater Dreams
Friday: The NYS Writers Institute film series will be showing Underwater Dreams, a documentary "about a group of high school students, sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants, who enter a sophisticated underwater robotics competition and take on engineering students from MIT." The doc's director, Mary Mazzio, and one of the students, Lorenzo Santillan, will be there for a discussion after the film. Friday 7 pm, downtown UAlbany campus, Page Hall -- free

Warren Miller Ski Movie
Saturday: Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga hosts a screening of Here There And Everywhere, a Warren Miller ski movie. Saturday 7 pm -- $15

The Lennon Report
Sunday: Proctors is screening The Lennon Report, a film based on what transpired at Roosevelt Hospital after John Lennon was shot outside the Dakota apartments. Sunday at noon and 6 pm -- $5

Political films
The Madison is screening All the President's Men. If you'd prefer escapism to politics this weekend, it's also showingHook.

Ghosts of Albany Walking Tour
Friday-Saturday: Ghosts of Albany is a historic walking tour of Albany with a paranormal twist. Tour meets at 40 Lodge Street, outside the Hilton Albany. Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm -- $20

Holiday Art Fair
Saturday-Sunday: The Sand Lake Center for the Arts kicks off the holiday shopping season with a Holiday Art Fair. Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm -- free admission

Hockey

RPI
Friday-Saturday: The RPI men's hockey team takes on Brown and Yale this weekend -- Brown on Friday, Yale on Saturday -- at Houston Field House. both games start at 7 pm -- $12 / $9 kids and seniors

Union
Friday-Saturday: The Union men's hockey team has the opposite schedule from RPI, with a game against Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday at Messa Rink. both games start at 7 pm -- $12.

Museums/galleries

Breathing Lights
Friday-Sunday: The Breathing Lights exhibit continues this weekend. The public art project is illuminating windows in hundreds of vacant homes in Albany, Schenectady and Troy (the slowly pulsing lights will be active from 6-10 pm each night).

Rock & Roll Icons
Saturday: The Albany Institute opens an exhibit of 1970s and 1980s rock and roll act photography by Capital Region resident Patrick Harbron. "The exhibition features many photographs that have never been published or exhibited. Harbron photographed artists such as Blondie, Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Police, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Elvis Costello early in their careers." (On display through February 12.)

The Art of Seating
Also recently opened at The Albany Institute of History and Art: The Art of Seating: Two Hundred Years of American Design. Blurbage: "The chair is experienced not only as a functional item, but as sculptural in view--the chair as art. Each of the more than forty chairs in the exhibition was chosen for its beauty and historical context with important social, economic, political, and cultural influences." (On display through December 31.)

Nick Cave Until
MASS MoCA recently opened Until, a new immersive installation by artist Nick Cave. Blurbage: "Through exuberant, politically charged materials, Cave probes issues relating to gun violence, race, and gender inequality. Wrapped in bright glitter, the work is sharp and also painfully beautiful."

The People's Art
The State Museum recently opened The People's Art: Selections from the Empire State Plaza Art Collection, which includes works by artists such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline, David Smith, and Alexander Calder. (On display through September 3, 2017.)

Hudson Valley Ruins
Also recently opened at the State Museum: Hudson Valley Ruins. It includes more than 80 photographs by Robert Yasinsac and Thomas Rinaldi of "forgotten historic sites and cultural treasures in the Hudson River Valley." (On display through the end of 2017.)

A More Perfect Union
The Tang presents: A More Perfect Union -- a new exhibit featuring Mel Ziegler's Multi-Year Project Flag Exchange. The installation includes 50 American flags collected by Ziegler, who traveled the country trading new flags for tattered ones flying at homes and public locations. (Runs through January.) free admission (suggested donations of $2-$5)

Sculpture parks
Maybe you'd like to explore some sculpture parks around the region.

Day trips
Explore some waterfalls, head for The Berkshires, The Catskills, or Columbia County. Or check out a state park.

Markets

Farmers markets
Farmers markets are moving their indoors this weekend:
+ Troy Waterfront Farmers Market moves to the Atrium for the season. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market moves to the Lincoln Baths in Spa Park. Saturday from 9 am-1 pm
+ The Delmar Farmers Market is at Bethlehem Central Middle School. Saturday 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is back indoors at Proctors. Sunday from 10 am-2 pm.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market moves indoors at the Lincoln Baths. Sunday from 10 am-3 pm

The Madison, Northeast Ski and Craft Beer Show, Troy Music Hall, and The Mop & Bucket Company advertise on AOA. And AOA is a media sponsor for Historic Albany's BUILT.