Columbus Day weekend events

I don't really know what I will be doing over the Columbus Day weekend, but here are several highlights:

This weekend is the 4th-Annual Bed-Stuy Alive! Festival.
Also, Saturday night, 10 pm, features a free performance at the BAMcafé, featuring Spanish singer Rosalía. The event is described on the BAM Café Live website as follows:

"In conjunction with BAM’s New Voices from Spain series (2008 Next Wave Festival), BAMcafé Live presents an artist on the smoother, sexier side of Iberia’s burgeoning music scene: the keen-eared, classically-trained guitarist/singer Rosalía. Steeped in Spanish folklore, Latin rhythms, and jazz, Rosalía’s guitar lines are lush and sinuous, guiding the listener/vagabond into the most unlikely nooks and crannies of modern Spanish culture."

I recommend getting there early; space fills up fast!

Also, ISSUE Project Room will be having musical events every evening, featuring highlights of experimental music and videos from the 80's, 90's and 2000's, every evening, tonight through Saturday. Each event is $10 and begins at 8 pm. Sunday they are hosting an event at Spiegeltent.

And tomorrow, Friday, I will be seeing Of Montreal at Roseland Ballroom. There are also a LOT of other big shows on Friday; again, many of which may already be sold out, but go after tickets if you want 'em! Beck is playing again, Man Man (not sold out yet!) is playing ... and check out ohmyrockness for more suggestions.

DUMBO Arts Festival, Dance Parties and Ratatat

The title just about summarizes my weekend. Friday evening started with an exploration around the art "happenings" of DUMBO, where art, just as it was promoted, really was to be found under bridges, in elevators, and projecting off buildings (in addition to the standard gallery displays of art). I was so impressed with this array of artwork, this blurring of convention, and the general charm of the neighborhood, that I returned to DUMBO again Saturday afternoon to get a chance to see openings and happenings not yet open or going on the previos night. Below are some photos to give you the general idea of the festival.

(above: my friend standing next to a laser light with mohair string tied to it...)
(above: the new Galapagos space in DUMBO. The former one in Williamsburg is now called Public Assembly.)

Dumbo art happenings: definitely worth it. The area, DUMBO, in general is pretty adorable, from the panoramic views from the park to the cute galleries and cafes along the streets.

Friday night I attended the "No Big Deal" party at alphabeta, a warehouse space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, after accidentally scoring a free taxi ride. (I got upset that the driver didn't know where Franklin Ave was, and he refused to take my money, telling me to get out of his cab. Upon my exit, a group of people immediately veered to take the cab, and he curtly replied that he was off duty, to which the girl in the group replied, "No, we're going to New York." Not able to help myself, I replied back, "Honey, this is New York," and walked the remaining three blocks to my destination (after they managed to convince the cabbie to take them and I was informed by friendly local kids that my destination was indeed only a few blocks away).

The "No Big Deal" party was part grafitti warehouse and store, and part totally hoppin' house party -- complete with free Sparks drinks -- with an expansive backyard Below are some pictures of the event.





And then, true Brookyln undergound party-style, it got shut down by the police.

We proceeded afterwards to a bar by the name of CoCo 66 (see their myspace profile here and the NY Mag write-up here), which was a fun dancing time to be had.
Luckily, though tired, I was not too exhausted to make it back to DUMBO the next day, OR go to the Ratatat show and have a blast there.


The show exceeded my expectations. Terminal 5 was packed, their performance had the crowd fully pumped, and their set was short but sweet. And that perfectly describes how my weekend felt: short but sweet.

Art. Music and Parties This Weekend

I am--mildly--bummed. Not that I plan to dwell on it or anything: there are other plans to be made, and believe me, I will make them. But I am bummed because, duh, the weather is so crappy and promises to continue in the same vein for the entire weekend. I had planned to go on a hike tomorrow, Saturday, and I had even sold my Ratatat tickets for Saturday night, figuring I would be slightly exhausted after a long day hike and early morning. (See their Myspace page here.) Well... Ratatat's show had been sold out for some time, and I managed to sell my tickets for slightly more than I had paid for them: apparently they have recently exploded. I saw them perhaps two years ago play live at the Guggenheim, and yes, they were fun, but at the time, their audience mostly consisted of high school/young college kids. Also, the Improv Everywhere event I mentioned on my last posting: still happening in the rain! Hmm... should be interesting. And I have to say, I am mighty curious what the synchronized song is that they have everyone to play tomorrow at exactly the same time.

ANYWAY, so I think I may be going to go to the BAM Takeover event this Saturday night instead of Ratatat, featuring the lovely St. Vincent performing, among other featured events of the evening at BAM. Unless... I end up going to Ratatat after all, with my friend who still has extra tickets... NYC life: part complete spontaneity and flexibility, and part meticulous advance planning... the two are currently uncomfortably and excitingly colliding in my life (but aren't they always?).

Apart from this dilemna, I also plan on going out tonight, possibly to this:
For a full description of this event, see the Going.com write-up. And a snippet from their description:
"No Big Deal is new art/music/remix collective project, and of course, party. Whoever you are, it doesn't matter, come for the love of music and art. Dance with your eyes closed. Go crazy, who cares. It's no big deal."
The party is tonight, at alphabeta, located at 70 Greenpoint Ave in Brooklyn.

Also, ongoing this weekend:
The website gives details of this extensive festival, sponsored by Current. From the website:

For the 12th year running, the entire neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn, will become a multi-sensory art arena, FREE and open to all.

Over the FESTIVAL weekend, art will be happening everywhere: streets, sidewalks, storefronts, elevators, lobbies, the water, the waterfront, parks, nooks, crannies, NY Water Taxi, and more. Along with the 65+ new public art projects, over 100 local artists will open their studios to the public and at the new Galapagos Art Space, video_dumbo will feature a non-stop program of cutting edge video art from NYC and around the world.

The FESTIVAL presents art that breaks the white cube: art that is touchable, accessible and interactive. The appeal is universal: for many of the anticipated 150,000 visitors, the FESTIVAL will be their first encounter with art and artists.

DAC, the big impact small non-profit, has been making the annual 3-day event possible since it was founded by local artists in1997. As New York City's creative edge is increasingly threatened by skyrocketing rents, DAC is committed to preserving what is possibly the last urban oasis of its kind: a site where young artists can test their ideas in the public domain, have unprecedented freedom and play. Visual artists have a long tradition of harnessing New York City as their canvas, seeing no boundaries between studio and street. The FESTIVAL allows artists to act upon that impulse by providing them with a place where the unpredictable, the spontaneous and the downright weird can still happen.

I will let these words from the DAC website speak for themselves.