All Over Albany

Stuff to do this weekend

Happy first weekend of 2017. If you've still got some energy left after all the celebrating and working this week, we've got some fun stuff you can do.

After the jump, museums, concerts, skating rinks, films and more.

Planning something you don't see on our list? Drop it in the comments so the rest of us can see. And whatever you're up to, keep warm and have a fantastic weekend.

1st Friday
Friday: It's the first Albany 1st Friday of 2017. Participating shops, museums and restaurants will be open with music, art, performances and specials. The Albany Institute of History and Art will be open late, free of charge. It's also hosting an open-mic night for local performers. The Cheese Traveler will host a poetry reading, art show and cooking demo, and the monthly 1st Friday swing dance at the Elks Club at 25 South Allen Street features Sonny & Perley's Jive Five. Friday starting at 5 pm

Comedy

Mike Birbiglia
Friday-Saturday: Comedian/actor/filmmaker Mike Birbiglia is booked for four shows this weekend at The Funny Bone at Crossgates -- the early sets are already sold out, so check for availability. Friday, 7:30pm (SOLD OUT) and 10 pm, Saturday 7:30pm (SOLD OUT) and 9:45 pm -- $25

Al Park & Jay Nog
Friday-Saturday: Comedians Al Park (winner of the recent Boston Comedy Festival and Cleveland Comedy Festival competitions) and Jay Nog (MTV, AMC) are at The Comedy Works in Saratoga this weekend. Friday and Saturday 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm -- various prices

Mop & Bucket Company
+ Friday: An evening of short and long form improv with The Mop & Bucket Company. Scenes songs and games, created on the spot based on audience suggestions. Friday, doors at 7:30, show at 8pm $10, $6 for students and seniors
+ Saturday: The Mop and Bucket Company opens a new season of Spontaneous Broadway. In act one improvisors make up songs based on audience suggestions. The audience votes on their favorite song and in act II the company builds a whole Saturday 8 pm -- $15 / $6 for students and seniors

Adam Mamawala
Sunday: NYC-based comedian Adam Mamawala -- one of Funny or Die's 30 under 30 comedians to watch -- brings his stand-up show to The Funny Bone. Sunday 7 pm -- $10

Curling open house
Saturday-Sunday: The Albany Curling Club is hosting its annual winter open house for people who want to learn about, or try, curling. Trainers will teach you to throw the curling stone and sweep it in. Wear warm, comfortable clothes and clean sneakers. Saturday 10 am to 4 pm, Sunday noon to 4 pm -- free

Skating

Empire State Plaza
The ice skating rink at the ESP is open this weekend. Friday-Sunday 11 am-8 pm (closed 3-4 pm for maintenance). It's free to skate. Skate rentals are $4 / $3 for kids / free on Fridays.

Swinburne: The city of Albany's Swinburne Skating Rink is also open for the season. see the link for hours -- $1 admission / under 18 is .50 / skate rental $3

Music

Friday: Alejandro Escovedo at Helsinki Hudson
Alt country, Chicano rock and Rolling Stones covers by the Austin icon. With: The Minus 5. Friday 8 pm -- $25 and up

Friday: Evie Ladin Band and Red Tail Ring at Caffe Lena
Caffe Lena's back in old, now renovated, space.. African roots meets Appalachian. Friday 8 pm -- $18

Friday: Udo Dirkschneider at Upstate Concert Hall
German heavy metal singer from Accept on a farewell tour. Friday 8 pm -- $25

Friday: The SongTeller Sessions featuring Bryan Thomas at the Altamont Free Library
Part of a new monthly first Friday concert series in which performers answer the same list of ten questions through song. Friday 7 pm -- free

Friday: Asa Morris And The Mess, William Hale, Hill Haints, Mons Ampere, Michael LaBelle, Loren Swears at Putnam Den
A benefit for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Friday 8 pm -- $10 suggested donation

Saturday: Albany Symphony Orchestra at The Palace
Piano virtuoso Sergei Babayan plays Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto and Symphony No. 1 by Grammy Award-winning composer John Corigliano. Saturday 7:30 pm -- $28 and up

Saturday: Elvis Birthday Bash at The Hangar
Featuring Johnny Rabb's Big Band and The Tichy Boys. 8 pm -- $10

Saturday: Half Step at Putnam Den
"Drawing on musical influences from the Allman Bros., Bob Dylan, Santana, Pink Floyd, and The Grateful Dead, is an ever growing presence on the East Coast with a strong and loyal following." Saturday 10 pm -- $5

Sunday: Hot Club of Saratoga at Caffe Lena SOLD OUT
Local gypsy jazz quintet. Sunday 7 pm

Film

Bow Tie classics
The Bow Tie in Saratoga is screening the 1964 Bette Davis thriller Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte as its Saturday and Sunday morning Movies and Mimosa classic. The Friday and Saturday late night Insomnia Theater pick this month is 2001, A Space Odyssey.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Friday-Sunday: The Madison is screening the classic comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail this weekend. Also screening this weekend: Willow and the 1954 version of The Seven Samurai. Friday-Sunday various times

Hoops
Saturday: The Siena men's basketball team takes on St. Peter's at the TU Center. Saturday 7 pm -- $10 and up

Twelfth Night

Salutations of the Season!
Saturday: The Schuyler Mansion hosts Salutations of the Season, a 12th Night celebration. "An evening of merriment for everyone! Special Twelfth Night festivities will highlight the holiday season as it may have been celebrated by the Schuyler family in the 18th century. Come and revel in the holiday traditions of Albany's past with live music, bonfires, traditional fare and wassail toasts." Saturday 4-7 pm -- $6 / $5 for seniors and students / $1 for kids 12 and under

12th Night at Crailo
Saturday:Crailo State Historic Site in Rensselaer will host an open house to celebrate 12th Night, with costumed interpreters and open hearth cooking demonstrations. Saturday 4-7 pm -- $6 / $5 for seniors and students / $1 for kids 12 and under

If you want to go to both the Schuyler Mansion and Crailo events there's a combined admission ticket: $7 / $6 for seniors and students / $2 kids 12 and under

Museums/galleries

MiSci Trains
Friday-Sunday: miSci's annual Holiday Train Show continues for two more weekends with a 19x27-foot display of running Lionel model trains. Friday-Sunday -- free with museum admission

Rock & Roll Icons
The Albany Institute has 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.)

Nick Cave Until
MASS MoCA is exhibiting 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." (On display through August 2017.)

The People's Art
The State Museum just opened a new exhibit about ice ages in New York. And the The People's Art: Selections from the Empire State Plaza Art Collection continues with works by artists such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline, David Smith, and Alexander Calder. (On display through September 3, 2017.)

Also at the State Museum: Hudson Valley Ruins. (On display through the end of 2017.)

The Clark
In addition to its permanent collection, The Clark also has the exhibits Japanese Impressions: Color Woodblock Prints from the Rodbell Family Collection (on display through April 2) and Photography and Discovery (on display through February 5).

Norman Rockwell Museum
The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge has an exhibit of Rockwell's holiday cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post (on display through January 29), along with Hanna-Barbera: The Architects of Saturday Morning (on display through May 29).

Gravity and Light
The Opalka Gallery has Gravity and Light: Caroline Ramersdorfer Sculpture, 1985-2016. "Starting with huge blocks of marble, granite and other stone, Ramersdorfer carves intricate interiors as if from the inside out, harnessing light and the material's innate properties." (On display through March 5.)

Patterns
The Tang has Sixfold Symmetry: Pattern in Art and Science. "Patterns, systems, and networks are all around us, and in this digital age we are increasingly aware of their influence on our lived experience. This exhibition explores some of the ways in which human beings create and manipulate patterns, and why we are intrinsically driven to do so." (On display through March 12.)

Day trips
Explore New Paltz, head for The Berkshires, the Catskills, or Columbia County.

Farmers' markets

+ Troy Waterfront Farmers Market is in the Atrium for the season. Saturday 9 am-2 pm
+ The Saratoga Farmers' Market is in the the Lincoln Baths in Spa Park. Saturday from 9 am-1 pm
+ The Schenectady Greenmarket is indoors at Proctors. Sunday from 10 am-2 pm.
+ The Spa City Farmers' Market is indoors at the Lincoln Baths. Sunday from 10 am-3 pm

The Madison, The Mop & Bucket Company, The Albany Institute of History and Art, and NYS OGS advertise on AOA.

photo: Brian Friedman