All Over Albany

Y La Bamba at The Linda

Luz Elena Mendoza of Y La Bamba

Indie folk pop act Y La Bamba is set to play a show at The Linda May 9. Tickets are $12.

From an NPR review of the act's album Ojos Del Sol:

The biggest step forward on the new record lies in how Y La Bamba uses Luz Elena Mendoza's voice: It's employed like a musical instrument, as part of an ensemble sound. That may sound easy, but it's difficult to pull off. Singing delicately in her upper register, she seems enmeshed in the instrumental arrangements, which gives her bicultural storytelling an almost otherworldly feel.

Ojos Del Sol represents a major step forward for Y La Bamba, not least because it fully establishes Mendoza as one of the most innovative and exciting young vocalists around.

The lineup for the show includes two strong locals, as well: The Parlor and Bell's Roar.

photo: Christal Angélique

Asbury Short Film Concert at The Linda 2016

A still from Drawcard, one of the shorts in this year's lineup. (It's about an office joke gone wrong.)

The Asbury Short Film Concert series will be back at The Linda this Saturday, October 1. This is 35th year for the series, which a traveling "concert" of short films. Blurbage:

Did you ever watch the Academy Awards when they were presenting the Best "Live Action" Short Film or Best Short Animation Oscars and say to yourself...

"Where are these films, and why haven't I seen any of them?"

Well, the The Asbury Shorts Concerts has been giving people the opportunity to see these little gems in a real theater format on a big screen since 1980.

The Asbury Shorts Concerts covers it all: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Documentary and Experimental.

Our show is like a trip to the best film festivals in the world where you sample the elite of the short film genre but without competition and plenty of live surprises!

Tickets are $10 and available online. The event at The Linda starts at 8 pm Saturday it's about two hours long.

Here's a quick description of some of the films on this year's slate, if you're curious...

(there's more)

Andrea Gibson at The Linda

Poet Andrea Gibson is set for a spoken word performance at The Linda October 17. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $18.

Poets don't typically end up in the "star" category in modern culture. But Gibson's page has more than 76,000 likes on Facebook, and a Twitter stream with almost 27,000 followers. And Gibson has produced six spoken-word albums and published three books of poetry.

Gibson identifies as gender queer. From a conversation with Tig Notaro in Interview last year:

That just means that I don't necessarily identify within a gender binary. I've never in my life really felt like a woman and I've certainly never felt like a man. I look at gender on a spectrum and I feel somewhere on that spectrum that's not landing on either side of that.

And later in the conversation:

I think that I have a lot of repeating themes [in my work]. I just made a t-shirt that says, "Feelings are not the enemy." I guess that's what it's about--just being expressive with your feelings and the ways that we're culturally expected to closet our emotions. The idea that there's just a closet around love or sexuality is sort of hilarious. I think we're also that way with grief and panic and anxiety and depression, and I think we also closet our bliss. We're culturally expected to taper it all down. I would say that's sort of the theme of my show.

The opener for the show at The Linda is poet Sarah Kay.

[via @thomjob]

Special Front Parlor storytelling night at The Linda

Jeff Simmermon

The Front Parlor storytelling series has a special night lined up at The Linda February 8 to celebrate its three-year anniversary. Event blurbage (links added):

Since February 2011, a community of storytellers has gravitated to the monthly Front Parlor Series events in Troy and Albany. From the hilarious to the heartbreaking, the Front Parlor has provided a stage for some of the most engaging and talked about stories in the capital region. On February 8th, Front Parlor will celebrate its third year, showcasing eight of these storytellers, with hosts Abby Lublin and Gregor Wynnyczuk and featuring special guest, Jeff Simmermon, who has told his awe-inspiring stories on The Moth and This American Life. Immediately following the show, DJ Truemaster will head up the Front Parlor dance party from 10pm-midnight.

The event starts at 8 pm on February 8 (a Saturday). Tickets are $12. We hear the organizers are expecting a sell out, so if you're interested in going, probably better to get tickets sooner rather than later.

More Front Parlor: This month's Troy storytelling night for the series is tonight (January 14) at The Ale House at 7:30 pm. The theme is "music." And the next Albany night, at the Olde English, is January 20.

Earlier on AOA: Front Parlor: story night at The Ale House (2011)

AOA is a media sponsor of the event at The Linda.

photo via And I Am Not Lying

Short film "concert" at The Linda

From The Lost Thing

A touring "short film concert" from the Asbury Shorts series in New York City will be playing at the Linda September 15. From the blurbage:

"The NY Short Film Concert" features the best in live action comedy, drama and outstanding animation, without promoting competition. Four-time Academy Award nominated Director Jason Reitman ("Juno," "Up in the Air", "Thank You for Smoking," and "Young Adult") calls Asbury Shorts: "The Best Short Film Show I've ever seen!" Screening classic shorts, combined with new international festival winners, ASNY provides a rare opportunity for the public to see world-class films on the big screen, in a theatrical setting, instead of an iPod or computer.

Among the films on the slate: The Lost Thing, the 2011 Oscar winner for best animated short; and Her Telling Heart, an adaption of Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart by local filmmaker Eli Meissner that was shot in Schodack.

Tickets are $10.

RISK! from the Linda, back at the Linda

This past spring the RISK! storytelling show made a stop at the Linda. That episode has now been posted -- you can listen via stream or download. (Just a heads up: you probably don't want to listen to these stories in an office without headphones.)

The Albany episode features stories from Chrissy Swanson, Michael Oatman, Ethan Ullman, and Gregor Wynnyczuk -- and music from the Charlie Watts Riots. Video of Ethan's story is embedded above. Clips of the stories from Chrissy, Michael, and a bonus story from Kate Sweater are after the jump (we couldn't find the video for Gregor's story).

RISK! host Kevin Allison says in the intro to the ep that the Linda show was so successful they decided they had to come back. So they are -- September 8. Tickets are $17.

By the way: The Front Parlor storytelling series is back at The Ale House in Troy this coming Tuesday (August 14) -- the theme is "Heat." And the next Albany night is August 20 at the Olde English -- the theme is "Vacation (or Road Trip)."

(Thanks, Jessica!)

(there's more)

RISK! at The Linda

This Saturday at The Linda: "RISK! True Stories Boldly Told Live." From the show's blurbage:

RISK! is a live show and podcast "where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share in public" hosted by Kevin Allison, of the legendary TV sketch comedy troupe The State. The award-winning live show happens monthly in New York and Los Angeles. It's featured people like Janeane Garofalo, Lisa Lampanelli, Kevin Nealon, Margaret Cho, Marc Maron, Sarah Silverman, Lili Taylor, Rachel Dratch, Andy Borowitz and more, dropping the act and showing a side of themselves we've never seen before. The weekly podcast gets hundreds of thousands of downloads each month.

We get the impression it's a somewhat drunker, dirtier version of The Moth.

The theme of the show at The Linda is "power." Storytellers lined up: Michael Oatman, Gregor Wynnyczuk, Kurt Przybilla, Kate Sweater, Chrissy Swanson, (added) Ethan Ullman. Musical guest: The Charlie Watts Riots.

The show starts Saturday at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $17.

Storytelling studio: RISK! host Kevin Allison will be teaching a "storytelling intensive" on Sunday in Albany. It's $150.

Zombie Walk 2011

A few of the undead from last year.

The annual Zombie Walk in Albany is this coming Saturday. (You still have time to refine your undead look.) The walk starts staging at 4 pm and will stagger forward at 6 pm.

This year's walk is taking a different route from previous years. It will start at the Linda, head down Central to Robin, and loop back to the Linda.

Some people go all out for this -- and while the looks can be kind of scary, the event is more goofy than anything else. It's fun to watch the undead parade -- and to see the reactions from people who just happen upon all the staggering.

The Zombie Walk is part of the annual Zombie Film Feast at the Linda, which opens Friday night (all movies pass is $30, individual movies $6). After the Zombie Walk on Saturday, there's a "brain" eating competition (brains are limited, so sign up early). And then the Zombie Prom that night ($10).

Earlier on AOA:
+ Zombie Walk 2010 photos
+ Photos from Zombie Walk 2009